Genesis 37:2-36

² This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. ⁴ His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹ He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” ¹⁰ He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?” ¹¹ His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

¹² His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”

¹⁷ The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’”

Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”

²¹ Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” ²² Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

²⁵ They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” ³¹ They took Joseph’s coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. ³² They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son’s coat or not.”

³³ He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” ³⁴ Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol^[a] to my son mourning.” His father wept for him. ³⁶ The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

Genesis 39-50

39 Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there. ² Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴ Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake. Yahweh’s blessing was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. ⁶ He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate.

Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷ After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. ⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

¹⁰ As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. ¹¹ About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. ¹² She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!”

He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. ¹⁵ When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” ¹⁶ She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. ¹⁷ She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, ¹⁸ and as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” his wrath was kindled.²⁰ Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.²¹ But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. ²³ The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.

40 After these things, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker. ³ He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. ⁵ They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.⁶ Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. ⁷ He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.”

Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”

⁹ The chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer. ¹⁴ But remember me when it will be well with you, and please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you.” ²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.²¹ He restored the chief cup bearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; ²² but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cup bearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him.

41 At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river. ² Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. ³ Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. ⁴ The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. ⁶ Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸ In the morning, his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. ¹¹ We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. ¹² There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted. ¹³ As he interpreted to us, so it was. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river: ¹⁸ and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass, ¹⁹ and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. ²⁰ The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle, ²¹ and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²² I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good: ²³ and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. ²⁶ The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh. ²⁹ Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. ³⁰ There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.³² The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ “Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. ³⁵ Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine.”

³⁷ The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” ³⁹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, ⁴³ and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. ⁴⁸ He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same. ⁴⁹ Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. ⁵⁰ To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh,^[a] “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” ⁵² The name of the second, he called Ephraim^[b]: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ⁵⁴ The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

42 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” ³ Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” ⁵ The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?”

They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. ⁹ Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹⁰ They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

¹² He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

¹³ They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”

¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵ By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” ¹⁷ He put them all together into custody for three days.

¹⁸ Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God.¹⁹ If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰ Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.”

They did so. ²¹ They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” ²³ They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵ Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.

²⁶ They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there.²⁷ As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” ²⁹ They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. ³⁴ Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”

³⁵ As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”

³⁸ He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”^[c]

43 The famine was severe in the land. ² When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.”

³ Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food, ⁵ but if you’ll not send him, we’ll not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”

⁷ They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’”

⁸ Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. ⁹ I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever, ¹⁰ for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.”

¹¹ Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; ¹² and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man.¹⁴ May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵ The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷ The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. ²¹ When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. ²² We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³ He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵ They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth. ²⁷ He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?”

²⁸ They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly. ²⁹ He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”³⁰ Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. ³¹ He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”

³² They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another. ³⁴ He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

44 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack’s mouth. ² Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money.” He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. ³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. ⁴ When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good? ⁵ Isn’t this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’” ⁶ He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.

⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house? ⁹ With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ He said, “Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my slave; and you will be blameless.”

¹¹ Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹² He searched, beginning with the oldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

¹⁴ Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?”

¹⁶ Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”

¹⁷ He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ ²⁰ We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ ²¹ You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’²³ You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’ ²⁴ When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ Our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’ ²⁶ We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons: ²⁸ and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces”; and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’^[d] 30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life; ³¹ it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.^[e] 32 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’ ³³ Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”

45 Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.² He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”

His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. ⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”

They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest. ⁷ God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. ⁸ So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. ¹⁰ You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ ¹² Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.”¹⁴ He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵ He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Also, don’t concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.”

²¹ The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. ²² He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. ²³ He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. ²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. ²⁶ They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them. ²⁷ They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. ²⁸ Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

46 Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. ² God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

He said, “Here I am.”

³ He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. ⁴ I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.”

⁵ Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his offspring^[f] with him, ⁷ his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his offspring^[g] with him into Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.¹¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. ¹⁶ The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls. ¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ²¹ The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. ²³ The son of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴ The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven. ²⁶ All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct offspring, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six. ²⁷ The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.

²⁸ He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³ It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

47 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”² From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” ¹⁰ Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹ Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹² Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

¹³ There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”

¹⁷ They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. ¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. ²² Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴ It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵ They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

²⁶ Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.²⁹ The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.”

He said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ He said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.

48 After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ² Someone told Jacob, and said, “Behold, your son Joseph comes to you,” and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. ³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring^[h] after you for an everlasting possession.’⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine. ⁶ Your issue, whom you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).”

⁸ Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.”

He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring^[i] also.” ¹² Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. ¹⁴ Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, ¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring^[j] will become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ He blessed them that day, saying, “In you will Israel bless, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” He set Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”

49 Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

² Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob.
    Listen to Israel, your father.

³ “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength;
    excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.
⁴ Boiling over like water, you shall not excel;
    because you went up to your father’s bed,
    then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brothers.
    Their swords are weapons of violence.
⁶ My soul, don’t come into their council.
    My glory, don’t be united to their assembly;
for in their anger they killed men.
    In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.
⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
    and their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob,
    and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ “Judah, your brothers will praise you.
    Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.
    Your father’s sons will bow down before you.
⁹ Judah is a lion’s cub.
    From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down, he crouched as a lion,
    as a lioness.
    Who will rouse him up?
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs.
    To him will the obedience of the peoples be.
¹¹ Binding his foal to the vine,
    his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
he has washed his garments in wine,
    his robes in the blood of grapes.
¹² His eyes will be red with wine,
    his teeth white with milk.

¹³ “Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea.
    He will be for a haven of ships.
    His border will be on Sidon.

¹⁴ “Issachar is a strong donkey,
    lying down between the saddlebags.
¹⁵ He saw a resting place, that it was good,
    the land, that it was pleasant.
He bows his shoulder to the burden,
    and becomes a servant doing forced labor.

¹⁶ “Dan will judge his people,
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
¹⁷ Dan will be a serpent on the trail,
    an adder in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
    so that his rider falls backward.
¹⁸ I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

¹⁹ “A troop will press on Gad,
    but he will press on their heel.

²⁰ “Asher’s food will be rich.
    He will produce royal dainties.

²¹ “Naphtali is a doe set free,
    who bears beautiful fawns.

²² “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine by a spring.
    His branches run over the wall.
²³ The archers have severely grieved him,
    shot at him, and persecute him:
²⁴ But his bow remained strong.
    The arms of his hands were made strong,
    by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),
²⁵ even by the God of your father, who will help you;
    by the Almighty, who will bless you,
with blessings of heaven above,
    blessings of the deep that lies below,
    blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.
²⁶ The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors,
    above the boundaries of the ancient hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph,
    on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

²⁷ “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
    In the morning he will devour the prey.
    At evening he will divide the plunder.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing. ²⁹ He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. ³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: ³² the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.” ³³ When Jacob finished charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people. 50 ¹ Joseph fell on his father’s face, wept on him, and kissed him. ² Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.

⁴ When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.”

⁷ Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ All the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰ They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.¹² His sons did to him just as he commanded them, ¹³ for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.¹⁴ Joseph returned into Egypt—he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.” ¹⁶ They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive. ²¹ Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

²² Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. ²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.