Genesis 50

1 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

Joseph went and hugged his father, weeping over him and kissing him.

2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. And the physicians embalmed Israel.

Then Joseph instructed the physicians who worked for him to embalm his father's body. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

3 And forty days were fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

This took a full 40 days, the normal time for the process, and the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days.

4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

Once the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to Pharaoh's officials, “If you'd be so kind, please speak to Pharaoh on my behalf, and explain to him that

5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die. In my grave which I have dug for me in the land of Canaan, there shall thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.

my father made me swear an oath, telling me, ‘You must bury me in the tomb I've prepared for myself in Canaan. Please allow me to go and bury my father and then I'll return.’”

6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

Pharaoh replied, “Go and bury your father as he made you swear to do.”

7 And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

Joseph went to bury his father, and all Pharaoh's officials went with him—all Pharaoh's senior advisors and all the leaders of Egypt—

8 and all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

as well as Joseph's family, his brothers, and his father's family. They only left the small children and their flocks and herds back in Goshen.

9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. And it was a very great company.

They were accompanied by chariots and horsemen—a really large procession.

10 And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan. And there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation. And he made a mourning for his father seven days.

When they got to the threshing floor of Atad, on the other side of the Jordan, they wept loudly in sorrow. Joseph held a seven-day ceremony of mourning for his father there.

11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians. Therefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

The Canaanites who lived there watched the ceremony of mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. They said, “This is a very sad time of mourning for the Egyptians,” so they renamed the place Abel-mizraim, which is on the other side of the Jordan.

12 And his sons did to him according as he commanded them.

Jacob's sons did what he had instructed them to do.

13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying place, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

They carried his body to Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brothers, and all who went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

After they had buried their father, Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt along with all those who had gone with them.

15 And when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully requite us all the evil which we did to him.

However, now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers became worried, saying, “Maybe Joseph is holding a grudge against us, and he'll pay us back for all the bad things we did to him.”

16 And they sent a message to Joseph, saying, Thy father commanded before he died, saying,

So they sent a message to Joseph to tell him, “Before your father died, he gave this order,

17 So shall ye say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the transgression of thy brothers, and their sin, because they did to thee evil. And now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

‘This is what you are to tell Joseph: Forgive your brothers their sins, the bad things they did to you, treating you in such a nasty way.’ Now please forgive us our sins, we who are servants of the God of your father.” When Joseph received their message, he cried.

18 And his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we are thy servants.

Then his brothers themselves came and fell down before Joseph and said, “We are your slaves!”

19 And Joseph said to them, Fear not, for am I in the place of God?

“You don't need to be afraid!” he told them. “I don't stand in the place of God, do I?

20 And as for you, ye meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

While you planned bad things for me, God planned it for good so that in the end many lives could be saved.

21 Now therefore fear ye not. I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

So don't worry. I'll go on taking care of you and your children.” Speaking kindly like this he calmed them down.

22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house. And Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.

Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father's whole family. He lived to be 110,

23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's sons of the third generation. Also the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph's knees.

and saw three generations of his son Ephraim, and the sons of Makir, Manasseh's son, were placed in his lap when they were born.

24 And Joseph said to his brothers, I die, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

“I'm going to die soon,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will be with you, and he will lead you out of this country to the land that he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

25 And Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from here.

Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, saying, “When God comes to be with you, you must take my bones with you when you leave.”

26 So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph died when he was 110. After his body was embalmed, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.