UST GEN chapter 50

50 Then Joseph hugged his father in sorrow, and he cried over him and kissed him goodbye on the cheek. 2 Then he ordered his doctors who served him to prepare his father‘s body for burial. So they did that. 3 The process took forty days, which is how long it normally takes to prepare a body. The people in Egypt mourned for Israel for seventy days.

4 After that time of mourning Israel’s death, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s officials, “Please do this favor for me: please take a message to King Pharaoh for me and tell him 5 that when my father was about to die, he had me vow to him that I would bury his body in the region of Canaan, in a tomb that he had prepared for himself there. So ask the king to please let me go to Canaan and bury my father‘s body there. After that, I will come back here.” 6 When Pharaoh heard Joseph’s message, he replied, “Tell Joseph that he may go to Canaan and bury his father’s body just as his father made him vow that he would do.”

7 So Joseph started the trip to Canaan to bury his father’s body, and all Pharaoh’s officials escorted him, including the important leaders from Pharaoh’s court and all the other important leaders in the country of Egypt. 8 All of Joseph’s family also went with him, including his brothers and the rest of his father’s family. They only left behind their children and their livestock in Goshen Province. 9 Many soldiers also escorted Joseph, including those who were riding chariots and those who were riding horses, so that the entire group was very large.

10 They traveled to the other side of the Jordan River and stopped at a grain threshing place owned by a man named Atad. There Joseph and the others mourned for his father very loudly and sorrowfully for seven days. 11 When the Canaanites who lived in the area saw them mourning like that at Atad’s threshing place, they exclaimed to each other, “Wow! Those people from Egypt are mourning very sorrowfully for someone who died!” That is why the name of that place on the other side of the Jordan River is Abel Mizraim, which means “Egyptians’ mourning place.”

12 Jacob’s sons did everything for him just as he had instructed them to do: 13 They took his body to the region of Canaan and buried it in the cave that is in the field in the Machpelah area, near the city of Mamre. It was the field and cave that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite as a place to bury his dead relatives. 14 After Joseph buried his father’s body, he returned to the country of Egypt, along with his brothers and everyone else who had accompanied him to his father’s funeral.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers That He Has Forgiven Them

50:15-21

15 Now that their father was no longer alive, Joseph’s brothers were worried and said to each other, ”If Joseph is angry at us for the terrible way that we treated him, he might punish us severely for what we did.” 16 So they sent a messenger to Joseph to tell him, “Before our father died, he told us 17 to ask you to please forgive us, your brothers, for sinning against you and treating you so badly. So then, as servants of God whom our father worshiped, we beg you to forgive us for sinning against you.” When Joseph heard his brothers’ message to him, he was very sad and cried. 18 Then his brothers came to him, prostrated themselves before him to show respect, and said to him, “Here we are, we will be your servants!” 19 But Joseph replied to them, “You do not need to be afraid. After all, I am not God! So I have no right to punish you. 20 It is true that you planned to harm me, but God is using that to benefit us all. Right now he is doing what he planned, to keep many people from dying. 21 So then, you do not need to be afraid. I myself will provide everything that you and your children need.” In that way, Joseph assured them that he had forgiven them, and he also said other things to encourage them.

Joseph Dies in Egypt

50:22-26

22 Joseph continued to live in the country of Egypt, along with the rest of his father Jacob’s family, until he was 110 years old. 23 He lived long enough to see his son Ephraim’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The children of his grandson Machir, who was Manasseh’s son, also grew up during his lifetime.

24 Then one day Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will definitely help you and take you and your descendants from this country to the land that he vowed to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 When God does that, you must take my body back to Canaan with you and bury it there.” Then Joseph had his brothers and the rest of the descendants of Israel vow that they would do that.

26 So Joseph died at the age of 110 years. Then his doctors prepared his body for burial, and they put it in a burial box in the country of Egypt.

UST GEN Chapter 50