1
So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He told him, "My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen."
2
He then presented his brothers to the king.
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The king asked them, "What is your occupation?" "We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were," they answered.
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"We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen."
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The king said to Joseph, "Now that your father and your brothers have arrived,
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the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock."
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Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing,
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and the king asked him, "How old are you?"
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Jacob answered, "My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings."
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Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left.
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Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded.
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Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.
13
The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger.
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As they bought grain, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace.
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When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food! Don't let us die. Do something! Our money is all gone."
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Joseph answered, "Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone."
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So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18
The following year they came to him and said, "We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.
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Don't let us die. Do something! Don't let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king's slaves, and he will own our land. Give us grain to keep us alive and seed so that we can plant our fields."
20
Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king's property.
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Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other.
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The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on.
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Joseph said to the people, "You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields.
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At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families."
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They answered, "You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king's slaves."
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So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.
27
The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children.
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Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old.
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When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "Place your hand between my thighs and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt.
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I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried." Joseph answered, "I will do as you say."
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Jacob said, "Make a vow that you will." Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.
1
Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob.
2
When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
3
Jacob said to Joseph, "Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
4
He said to me, 'I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.' "
5
Jacob continued, "Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon.
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If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh.
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I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath, as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath." (Ephrath is now known as Bethlehem.)
8
When Jacob saw Joseph's sons, he asked, "Who are these boys?"
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Joseph answered, "These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt." Jacob said, "Bring them to me so that I may bless them."
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Jacob's eyesight was failing because of his age, and he could not see very well. Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged them and kissed them.
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Jacob said to Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your children."
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Then Joseph took them from Jacob's lap and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.
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Joseph put Ephraim at Jacob's left and Manasseh at his right.
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But Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the older.
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Then he blessed Joseph: "May God, whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac served, bless these boys! May God, who has led me to this very day, bless them!
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May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them! May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys! May they have many children, many descendants!"
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Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head; so he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to the head of Manasseh.
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He said to his father, "Not that way, father. This is the older boy; put your right hand on his head."
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His father refused, saying, "I know, son, I know. Manasseh's descendants will also become a great people. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become great nations."
20
So he blessed them that day, saying, "The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' " In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21
Then Jacob said to Joseph, "As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your ancestors.
22
It is to you and not to your brothers that I am giving Shechem, that fertile region which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."
1
Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future:
2
"Come together and listen, sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel.
3
"Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength And the first child of my manhood, The proudest and strongest of all my sons.
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You are like a raging flood, But you will not be the most important, For you slept with my concubine And dishonored your father's bed.
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"Simeon and Levi are brothers. They use their weapons to commit violence.
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I will not join in their secret talks, Nor will I take part in their meetings, For they killed people in anger And they crippled bulls for sport.
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A curse be on their anger, because it is so fierce, And on their fury, because it is so cruel. I will scatter them throughout the land of Israel. I will disperse them among its people.
8
"Judah, your brothers will praise you. You hold your enemies by the neck. Your brothers will bow down before you.
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Judah is like a lion, Killing his victim and returning to his den, Stretching out and lying down. No one dares disturb him.
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Judah will hold the royal scepter, And his descendants will always rule. Nations will bring him tribute And bow in obedience before him.
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He ties his young donkey to a grapevine, To the very best of the vines. He washes his clothes in blood-red wine.
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His eyes are bloodshot from drinking wine, His teeth white from drinking milk.
13
"Zebulun will live beside the sea. His shore will be a haven for ships. His territory will reach as far as Sidon.
14
"Issachar is no better than a donkey That lies stretched out between its saddlebags.
15
But he sees that the resting place is good And that the land is delightful. So he bends his back to carry the load And is forced to work as a slave.
16
"Dan will be a ruler for his people. They will be like the other tribes of Israel.
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Dan will be a snake at the side of the road, A poisonous snake beside the path, That strikes at the horse's heel, So that the rider is thrown off backward.
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"I wait for your deliverance, LORD.
19
"Gad will be attacked by a band of robbers, But he will turn and pursue them.
20
"Asher's land will produce rich food. He will provide food fit for a king.
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"Naphtali is a deer that runs free, Who bears lovely fawns.
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"Joseph is like a wild donkey by a spring, A wild colt on a hillside.
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His enemies attack him fiercely And pursue him with their bows and arrows.
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But his bow remains steady, And his arms are made strong By the power of the Mighty God of Jacob, By the Shepherd, the Protector of Israel.
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It is your father's God who helps you, The Almighty God who blesses you With blessings of rain from above And of deep waters from beneath the ground, Blessings of many cattle and children,
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Blessings of grain and flowers, Blessings of ancient mountains, Delightful things from everlasting hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, On the brow of the one set apart from his brothers.
27
"Benjamin is like a vicious wolf. Morning and evening he kills and devours."
28
These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he spoke a suitable word of farewell to each son.
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,
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at Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought this cave and field from Ephron for a burial ground.
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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
When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he lay back down and died.
1
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:
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'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.
12
So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them;
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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.
15
After the death of their father, Joseph's brothers said, "What if Joseph still hates us and plans to pay us back for all the harm we did to him?"
16
So they sent a message to Joseph: "Before our father died,
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he told us to ask you, 'Please forgive the crime your brothers committed when they wronged you.' Now please forgive us the wrong that we, the servants of your father's God, have done." Joseph cried when he received this message.
18
Then his brothers themselves came and bowed down before him. "Here we are before you as your slaves," they said.
19
But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid; I can't put myself in the place of God.
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You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.
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You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children." So he reassured them with kind words that touched their hearts.
22
Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father's family; he was a hundred and ten years old when he died.
23
He lived to see Ephraim's children and grandchildren. He also lived to receive the children of Machir son of Manasseh into the family.
24
He said to his brothers, "I am about to die, but God will certainly take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land he solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
25
Then Joseph asked his people to make a vow. "Promise me," he said, "that when God leads you to that land, you will take my body with you."
26
So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of a hundred and ten. They embalmed his body and put it in a coffin.
