1. Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.
2. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him,
3. taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4. When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, ‘If I have found favour in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him,
5. “My father made me swear an oath and said, ‘I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.” ’
6. Pharaoh said, ‘Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.’
7. So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him – the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt –
8. besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen.
9. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.
10. When they reached the threshing-floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father.
11. When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad, they said, ‘The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.’ That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.
12. So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them:
13. they carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.
14. After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
15. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?’
16. So they sent word to Joseph, saying, ‘Your father left these instructions before he died:
17. “This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.” Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.’ When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. ‘We are your slaves,’ they said.
19. But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
20. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
21. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
22. Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years
23. and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.
24. Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’
25. And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.’
26. So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.Footnotes for the Book of Genesisa 5 Or land; also in verse 6b 6 Or mistc 7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah); it is also the name Adam (see verse 20).d 12 Or good; pearlse 13 Possibly south-east Mesopotamiaf 20 Or the mang 21 Or took part of the man’s sideh 22 Or parta 1 Or The manb 1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired.c 1 Or have acquiredd 8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have ‘Let’s go out to the field.’e 15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very wellf 16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).g 22 Or who instructed all who work inh 25 Seth probably means granted.i 26 Or to proclaima 3 Or My spirit will not remain inb 3 Or corruptc 14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.d 15 That is, about 135 metres long, 23 metres wide and 14 metres highe 16 That is, about 45 centimetresf 16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.a 21 Or humans, fora 2 Sons may mean descendants or successors or nations; also in verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 20-23, 29 and 31.b 4 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text and Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:7); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text Dodanitesc 8 Father may mean ancestor or predecessor or founder; also in verses 13, 15, 24 and 26.d 10 Or Uruk and Akkad – all of them ine 10 That is, Babyloniaf 11 Or Nineveh with its city squaresg 15 Or of the Sidonians, the foremosth 21 Or Shem, the elder brother ofi 23 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:17; Hebrew Mash.j 24 Hebrew; Septuagint father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father ofk 25 Peleg means division.a 2 Or be seen as blessedb 3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)c 7 Or seeda 1 That is, Babylonia; also in verse 9b 13 Or a relative; or an allya 11 Ishmael means God hears.b 12 Or live to the east / ofc 13 Or seen the back ofd 14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.a 3 Or eyes, Lordb 6 That is, probably about 16 kilogramsc 18 Or will use his name in blessings (see 48:20)d 22 Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition but the Lord remained standing before Abrahame 24 Or forgive; also in verse 26a 16 That is, about 12 kilogramsa 13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind himb 18 Or seedc 18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)a 7 Or seedb 10 That is, North-west Mesopotamiac 22 That is, about 5.7 gramsd 22 That is, about 115 gramse 55 Or shef 63 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.a 4 Or seedb 4 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)c 20 Esek means dispute.d 21 Sitnah means opposition.e 22 Rehoboth means room.f 33 Shibah can mean oath or seven.g 33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.a 2 That is, North-west Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7b 3 Hebrew El-Shaddaic 13 Or There beside himd 14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)e 19 Bethel means house of God.f 20,21 Or Since God … father’s household, the Lordg 21,22 Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22thena 6 Dan here means he has vindicated.b 8 Naphtali means my struggle.c 11 Or ‘A troop is coming!’d 11 Gad can mean good fortune or a troop.e 13 Asher means happy.f 18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.g 20 Zebulun probably means honour.h 24 Joseph means may he add.a In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33.b 2 Mahanaim means two camps.c 7 Or campsd 8 Or campe 28 Israel probably means he struggles with God.f 30 Peniel means face of God.g 31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniela 7 Or againstb 10 Or move about freely; also in verse 21c 27 Or becausea 16 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (also verse 11 and 1 Chron. 1:36) does not have Korah.b 22 Hebrew Hemam, a variant of Homam (see 1 Chron. 1:39)c 24 Vulgate; Syriac discovered water; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.d 26 Hebrew Dishan, a variant of Dishone 39 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac (see also 1 Chron. 1:50); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text Hadara 29 Perez means breaking out.b 30 Zerah can mean scarlet or brightness.a 38 Or of the godsb 43 Or in the chariot of his second-in-command; or in his second chariotc 43 Or Bow downd 45 That is, Heliopolis; also in verse 50e 51 Manasseh sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for forget.f 52 Ephraim sounds like the Hebrew for twice fruitful.a 14 Hebrew El-Shaddaia 13 Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac (see also 1 Chron. 7:1); Masoretic Text Puvahb 13 Samaritan Pentateuch and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also Num. 26:24 and 1 Chron. 7:1); Masoretic Text Iobc 15 That is, North-west Mesopotamiad 16 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Num. 26:15); Masoretic Text Ziphione 20 That is, Heliopolisf 27 Hebrew; Septuagint the nine childreng 27 Hebrew (see also Exodus 1:5 and note); Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14) seventy-fiveh 29 Hebrew around hima 3 Hebrew El-Shaddaib 7 That is, North-west Mesopotamiac 20 The Hebrew is singular.d 21 The Hebrew is plural.e 22 The Hebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place name Shechem.a 9 Or charioteersb 11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.c 23 That is, were counted as his