Genesis 50 - Exodus 1

Legacy Standard Bible

50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians ^(A)embalmed Israel. ³ Then the forty days to do this were fulfilled, because in this manner the days of embalming are fulfilled. And the Egyptians ^(B)wept for him seventy days.

⁴ Then the days of weeping for him were past, and Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘^(C)My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave ^(D)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” So now, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’” ⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very ^[a]immense camp. ¹⁰ And they came to the ^[b]threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they ^(E)lamented there with a very great and ^[c]immense lamentation; and he ^[d]observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ Now the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at ^[e]the threshing floor of Atad, and they said, “This is an ^[f]immense ^[g]mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named ^[h]Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Jacob’s Burial at Machpelah

¹² Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them. ¹³ Indeed, his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in ^(F)the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for his possession as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. ¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ Then Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, “^(G)What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and returns back to us all the evil which we dealt against him!” ¹⁶ So they ^[i]sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they dealt evil against you.”’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the slaves of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and ^(H)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your slaves.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, ^(I)you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do ^[j]what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive. ²¹ So now, do not be afraid; ^(J)I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their heart.

The Death of Joseph

²² Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ And Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were ^(K)born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴ And Joseph said to his brothers, “^(L)I am about to die, but God will surely ^[k]take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He swore to ^(M)Abraham, to ^(N)Isaac, and to ^(O)Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely ^[l]take care of you, and ^(P)you shall carry my bones up from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and ^(Q)they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Israel Multiplies in Egypt

1 Now these are the ^(R)names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one ^[m]with his household: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ And all the ^[n]persons who came from the loins of Jacob were ^(S)seventy ^[o]in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. ^6 (T)Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷ But the sons of Israel ^(U)were fruitful and ^[p]increased and multiplied and became exceedingly ^[q]mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸ And a new ^(V)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ^9 (W)And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ^[r]more and mightier than we. ¹⁰ Come, let us ^(X)deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it be ^[s]in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and ^(Y)go up from the land.” ¹¹ So they appointed ^(Z)taskmasters over them to afflict them with ^[t](AA)hard labors. And they built for Pharaoh ^(AB)storage cities, Pithom and ^(AC)Raamses. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, ^(AD)the more they multiplied and the more they ^[u]spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. ¹³ So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel ^(AE)to slave labor; ¹⁴ and they made ^(AF)their lives bitter with ^[v]hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally ^[w]compelled them to do.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ^[x]was named Shiphrah and the other ^[y]was named Puah; ¹⁶ and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^(AG)if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives ^[z](AH)feared God and ^(AI)did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can come to them.” ²⁰ So ^(AJ)God was good to the midwives, and ^(AK)the people multiplied and became very ^[aa]mighty. ²¹ Now it happened that because the midwives ^[ab](AL)feared God, He ^(AM)made ^[ac]households for them. ²² And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^(AN)Every son who is born ^[ad]you are to cast into ^(AO)the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”