Genesis 50

1 Then Joseph hugged his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him.

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

2 Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So 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 Forty days were required for it, for that is how many the days it takes for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.

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

4 When the days for mourning for him had passed, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak 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 take an oath, saying, "Look, I am dying. Bury me in the tomb that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will return 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 your father, in keeping with your oath."

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

7 So Joseph went up to bury his father, and all the officials of Pharaoh went up with him, the elders of his household, 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 all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Gesen.

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. It was a very large company.

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

10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad which is across the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very bitter lamentation. And he observed seven days of mourning for his father.

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 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a deep mourning by the Egyptians." Therefore, its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is across 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 So his sons did to him just 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 near Mamre, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hethite.

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 Then after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all that went up with him to bury 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 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will pay us back in full for all of the evil that 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 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this command before he died, saying,

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

17 Thus you are to tell Joseph, "Now please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your 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 Then his brothers also went and fell down in front of him, and they said, "Look, we are your slaves."

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

19 But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, 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 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God turned it into good in order to bring about this present result, to save the lives of many people.

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

21 So therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones." And he consoled 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 So Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred ten years.

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

23 Joseph saw Ephraim's descendants to the third generation. The children also of Makir, the son of Manasseh, were counted as Joseph's own.

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 am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up out of this land to the land which he promised 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 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath, saying, "God will surely take care of you. Then you must 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 one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

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