Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God the Protector of His People^[a]

The Death and Burial of Jacob

²⁹ Then Jacob commanded his sons, “Now that I am going to join my people in death, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ^30 (A)at Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought this cave and field from Ephron for a burial ground. ^31 (B)That is where they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; that is where they buried Isaac and his wife Rebecca; and that is where I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. Bury me there.” ^33 (C)When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he lay back down and died.

50 Joseph threw himself on his father, crying and kissing his face. ² Then Joseph gave orders to embalm his father's body. ³ It took forty days, the normal time for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

⁴ When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the king's officials, “Please take this message to the king: ^5 (D)‘When my father was about to die, he made me promise him that I would bury him in the tomb which he had prepared in the land of Canaan. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will come back.’”

⁶ The king answered, “Go and bury your father, as you promised you would.”

⁷ So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king's officials, the senior men of his court, and all the leading men of Egypt went with Joseph. ⁸ His family, his brothers, and the rest of his father's family all went with him. Only their small children and their sheep, goats, and cattle stayed in the region of Goshen. ⁹ Men in chariots and men on horseback also went with him; it was a huge group.

¹⁰ When they came to the threshing place at Atad east of the Jordan, they mourned loudly for a long time, and Joseph performed mourning ceremonies for seven days. ¹¹ When the citizens of Canaan saw those people mourning at Atad, they said, “What a solemn ceremony of mourning the Egyptians are holding!” That is why the place was named Abel Mizraim.^[a]

¹² So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them; ^13 (E)they carried his body to Canaan and buried it in the cave at Machpelah east of Mamre in the field which Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground. ¹⁴ After Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him for the funeral.

¹² Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards! ¹³ As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you. ¹⁴ And since you are within those limits, we were not going beyond them when we came to you, bringing the Good News about Christ. ¹⁵ So we do not boast about the work that others have done beyond the limits God set for us. Instead, we hope that your faith may grow and that we may be able to do a much greater work among you, always within the limits that God has set. ¹⁶ Then we can preach the Good News in other countries beyond you and shall not have to boast about work already done in someone else's field.

^17 (A)But as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast about what the Lord has done.” ¹⁸ For it is when the Lord thinks well of us that we are really approved, and not when we think well of ourselves.