CHAPTER 50
And Joseph
directed
the physicians
in his service
to embalm
his father
Israel.
So they
embalmed him,
taking the forty
days
required to complete
the embalming.
And the Egyptians
mourned
for him seventy
days.
When the days
of mourning
had passed,
Joseph
said
to
Pharaoh’s
court,
“If
I have found
favor
in your eyes,
please
tell
Pharaoh that
my father
made me swear an oath
when he said,
‘I
am about to die.
You must bury me
in the tomb
that
I dug
for myself in the land
of Canaan.’
Now
let me go
and bury
my father,
and then return.”
Then Joseph
went
to bury
his father,
and all
the servants
of Pharaoh
accompanied
him—
the elders
of Pharaoh’s household
and all
the elders
of the land
of Egypt—
along with all
of Joseph’s
household,
and his brothers,
and his father’s
household.
Only
their children
and flocks
and herds
were left
in Goshen.
When they reached
the threshing floor
of Atad,
which
is across
the Jordan,
they lamented
and wailed
loudly,
and Joseph mourned
for his father
seven
days.
When the Canaanites
of the land
saw
the mourning
at the threshing floor of Atad,
they said,
“This
is a solemn
ceremony of mourning
by the Egyptians.”
Thus
the place
across
the Jordan
is called
Abel-mizraim.
They
carried
him to the land
of Canaan
and buried
him in the cave
at Machpelah
in the field
near
Mamre,
which
Abraham
had purchased
from Ephron
the Hittite
as a burial
site.
After
Joseph
had buried
his father,
he returned
to Egypt
with his brothers
and all
who had gone
with him
to bury his father.
When Joseph’s
brothers
saw
that
their father
was dead,
they said,
“What if
Joseph
bears a grudge?
Then he will surely repay
us for all
the evil
that
we did
to him.”
‘This is what
you are to say
to Joseph:
I beg you,
please
forgive
the transgression
and sin
of your brothers,
for
they did
you wrong.’
So now, Joseph,
please
forgive
the transgression
of the servants
of the God
of your father.”
When their message
came to him,
Joseph
wept.
As for you,
what you intended
against me
for evil,
God
intended
for good,
in order to
accomplish
a day
like this—
to preserve the lives
of many
people.
Therefore
do not
be afraid.
I
will provide for
you
and your little ones.”
So Joseph reassured
his brothers
and spoke
kindly to them.
He
saw
Ephraim’s
sons
to the third generation,
and indeed
the sons
of Machir
son
of Manasseh
were brought up
on
Joseph’s
knees.
Then Joseph
said
to
his brothers,
“I
am about to die,
but God
will surely
visit
you
and bring you up
from
this
land
to
the land
He promised on oath
to Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob.”
And Joseph
made the sons
of Israel
take an oath
and said,
“God
will surely
visit
you,
and then you must carry
my bones
up from this place.”