Genesis 50
1 Joseph threw himself on his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him.
2 Then Joseph ordered his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 It took forty days, for that is how long the embalming takes; and the Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning were over, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s household: “If I have found favor in your eyes, please speak to Pharaoh for me:
5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die. In the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you must bury me.” Now please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’”
6 Pharaoh replied, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s servants went with him, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.
8 All Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household went too. They left only their children, sheep, and cattle in the land of Goshen.
9 Chariots and horsemen went up with him as well, and the company was very large.
10 They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, and there they held a great and solemn lament. Joseph mourned for his father for seven days.
11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn mourning for the Egyptians.” That is why the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is across the Jordan.
12 His sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. Abraham had bought the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial possession.
14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all those who had gone up with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hold a grudge against us and pay us back in full for all the harm we did to him.”
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before he died, your father gave this command:
17 ‘Tell Joseph, “Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin, for they did you harm.”’ Now please forgive the transgression of the servants of your father’s God.” Joseph wept as they spoke to him.
18 His brothers also came and fell down before him, saying, “Here we are, your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in God’s place?
20 You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, to bring about what we see today: the preservation of many people’s lives.
21 So don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” He reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
22 Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years.
23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, were also born on Joseph’s knees.
24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up from this land to the land he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
25 Joseph made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely come to your aid; then carry my bones up from here.”
26 Joseph died at 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
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