Open English Translation GEN Chapter 46

46 So Yisra’el started his trip, taking everything he had. When they stopped in Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Yitshak. 2 During the night, God spoke to Yisra’el in visions sayings, “Yacob, Yacob.”

“I’m listening,” he answered. 3 Then God told him, “I’m God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt, because I’ll make you into a great nation there. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself will also surely bring you back here. And Yosef will be there with you when you die.”

5 Then Yacob departed from Beersheba, and his sons carried their father and their little ones and their wives in the carts that Far’oh had sent to carry him. 6 They had also brought along all their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in Canaan. Then they arrived in Egypt—Yacob and all of his offspring with him:[ref] 7 his sons and his sons’ sons with him, and his daughters and his sons’ daughters. So he brought all his offspring with him to Egypt.

8 These are the names of the Israel’s sons who went to Egypt, that is Yacob and his sons: Yacob’s firstborn was Reuben, 9 and Reuben’s sons were Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi. 10 Simeon’s sons were Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 Yehudah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah, but Er and Onan had died in Canaan. Perez’ sons were Hezron and Hamul. 13 Yissashkar’s sons were Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Yahleel. 15 Those were all Le’ah’s sons that she bore for Yacob in Paddan Aram, along with his daughter Dinah. The total number of those descendants was thirty-three.

16 Gad’s sons were Zifion,Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malkiel. 18 Those were all Zilpah’s sons, the slave woman that Lavan had given to his daughter Le’ah, and she gave birth to those sixteen descendants for Yacob.

19 Yacob’s wife Rahel’s sons were Yosef and Benyamin. 20 Yosef’s sons Manasseh and Efraim were born in Egypt. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, gave birth to them for Yosef.[ref] 21 Benyamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 Those were all Rahel’s descendants—a total of fourteen.

23 Dan’s son was Hushim. 24 Naftali’s sons were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 Those two were both Bilhah’s sons, the slave woman that Lavan had given to his daughter Rahel, and she gave birth to those seven descendants for Yacob.

26 The total count of those who went to Egypt with Yacob who were his descendants (not counting his daughters-in-law) was sixty-six. 27 As well as that, Yosef’s two sons were born in Egypt so that added up to a grand total of seventy.[ref]

28 As they all approached Egypt, Yacob sent Yehudah ahead of the others to find out from Yosef how to get to Goshen. As they all arrived in the Goshen area, 29 Yosef hooked up his chariot and went to meet his father Yisra’el there. He went up to his father, and hugged him for a long time as he cried. 30 “Now I can die,” Yisra’el said to Yosef, “since I’ve seen your face—seen that you’re still alive.”

31 Then Yosef spoke to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I’ll go and report to Far’oh and explain to him that my brothers and my father’s household who were living in Canaan have come to join me. 32 I’ll tell him that you’re herders of sheep—livestock farmers—and that you’ve brought your flocks and herds and everything that you own. 33 So when Far’oh calls for you and asks what your work is, 34 then you should answer, ‘Your servants have been livestock men from our youth and until now, both we and also our fathers,’ so that you can settle here in Goshen, because Egyptians despise sheep herders.”