Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 88
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
47:27–48:11
in the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should receive one-fifth of all the crops
grown on his land. Only the land belonging to the priests was not given
to Pharaoh.
Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt.
There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population
grew rapidly. Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so
he lived 147 years in all.
As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and
said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and
swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. When I die, please take my body out of
Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”
So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”
“Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and
Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed.
One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing
rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two
sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see
you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land
of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I
will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations.
And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an
everlasting possession.’
“Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim
and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived.
They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. But any children
born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land
within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.
“Long ago, as I was returning from Paddan-aram, Rachel died in the
land of Canaan. We were still on the way, some distance from Ephrath
(that is, Bethlehem). So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the
road to Ephrath.”
Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. “Are these your sons?” he asked.
“Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are the sons God has given me here in
Egypt.”
And Jacob said, “Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them.”
Jacob was half blind because of his age and could hardly see. So Joseph
brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them. Then
