Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 85
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3 The
body; so Jacob was embalmed.
embalming
process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
4When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said,
“Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on
my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me
swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about
to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan,
and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’
So please allow me to go and bury my father.
After his burial, I will return without delay.”
6Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and
bury your father, as he made you promise,” he
said. 7So Joseph went up to bury his father. He
was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all
the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and
all the senior officers of Egypt. 8Joseph also took
his entire household and his brothers and their
households. But they left their little children and
flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9A great
number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of
Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great
and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day
period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 11 The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them
mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then
they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim, for they said, “This is a place
of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded
them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of
Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that
Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site
from Ephron the Hittite.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
14After
burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt
with his brothers and all who had accompanied
... Genesis 50
him to his father’s burial. 15 But now that
their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became
fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay
us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they
said.
16So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before
your father died, he instructed us 17 to say to you:
‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong
they did to you—for their sin in treating you so
cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your
father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph
received the message, he broke down and wept.
18Then his brothers came and threw themselves
down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!”
they said.
19But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me.
Am I God, that I can punish you? 20You intended
to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He
brought me to this position so I could save the
lives of many people. 21No, don’t be afraid. I will
continue to take care of you and your children.”
So he reassured them by speaking kindly to
them.
The Death of Joseph
22 So
Joseph and his brothers and their families
continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age
of 110. 23He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see
the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son
Makir, whom he claimed as his own.
24 “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers,
“but God will surely come to help you and lead
you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you
back to the land he solemnly promised to give to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear
an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help
you and lead you back, you must take my bones
with you.” 26So Joseph died at the age of 110. The
Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was
placed in a coffin in Egypt.
