| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. | 1Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him. |
| 2Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob was embalmed. | 2And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him, |
| 3The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days. | 3taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him 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. | 4When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please tell Pharaoh that |
| 5Tell 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.” | 5my 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.” |
| 6Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said. | 6Pharaoh replied, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.” |
| 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. | 7Then 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— |
| 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. | 8along 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. |
| 9A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph. | 9Chariots and horsemen alike went up with him, and it was an exceedingly large procession. |
| 10When 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. | 10When 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. |
| 11The 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.” | 11When 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. |
| 12So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. | 12So Jacob’s sons did as he had charged them. |
| 13They 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 | 13They 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. |
| 14After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. | 14After Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father. |
| 15But 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. | 15When 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.” |
| 16So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us | 16So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Before he died, your father commanded, |
| 17to 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. | 17‘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. |
| 18Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said. | 18His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!” |
| 19But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? | 19But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? |
| 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. | 20As 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. |
| 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 | 21Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them. |
| 22So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110. | 22Now Joseph and his father’s household remained in Egypt, and 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. | 23He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees. |
| 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.” | 24Then 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.” |
| 25Then 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.” | 25And Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath and said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” |
| 26So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. | 26So Joseph died at the age of 110. And they embalmed his body and placed it in a coffin in Egypt. |
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