Genesis 49:29-50:14

International Children’s Bible

²⁹ Then Israel gave them a command. He said, “I am about to die. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. ³⁰ That cave is in the field of Machpelah east of Mamre. It is in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought that field from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place. ³¹ Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried there. Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried there. I buried my wife Leah there. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittite people.” ³³ After Jacob finished talking to his sons, he lay down. He put his feet back on the bed, took his last breath and died.

Jacob’s Burial

50 When Jacob died, Joseph hugged his father and cried over him and kissed him. ² He commanded the doctors who served him to prepare his father’s body. So the doctors prepared Jacob’s body to be buried. ³ It took the doctors 40 days to prepare his body. This was the usual time it took. And the Egyptians had a time of sorrow for Jacob. It lasted 70 days.

⁴ When this time of sorrow had ended, Joseph spoke to the king’s officers. He said, “If you think well of me, please tell this to the king: ⁵ ‘When my father was near death, I made a promise to him. I promised I would bury him in a cave in the land of Canaan. This is a burial place that he cut out for himself. So please let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.’”

⁶ The king answered, “Keep your promise. Go and bury your father.”

⁷ So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king’s officers, the elders of his court and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph. ⁸ Everyone who lived with Joseph and his brothers went with him. And everyone who lived with his father also went. They left only their children, their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ Men in chariots and on horses also went with Joseph. It was a very large group.

¹⁰ They went to the threshing floor of Atad, east of the Jordan River. There they cried loudly and bitterly for Jacob, also called Israel. Joseph’s time of sorrow continued for seven days. ¹¹ The people that lived in Canaan saw the sadness at the threshing floor of Atad. They said, “Those Egyptians are showing great sorrow!” So now that place is named Sorrow of the Egyptians.

¹² So Jacob’s sons did what their father commanded. ¹³ They carried his body to the land of Canaan. They buried it in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham had bought this cave and field from Ephron the Hittite. He bought the cave to use as a burial place. ¹⁴ After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt. His brothers and everyone who had gone with him to bury his father also returned.