Episode 22: Even more about Joseph

(Genesis 46-50)

Jacob and his family travel to the land of Goshen

46 ¹ When Jacob began his journey to Egypt, God said to him,

² Jacob, Jacob. I am your father's God.

³ Don't be afraid to go to Egypt. I'll make a great nation from you while you're there.

⁴ I'll go to Egypt with you, and I'll bring you back again.

⁵ So Jacob and his family went to Egypt.

²⁷ There were a total of seventy people in Jacob's family when they came to Egypt.

Joseph meets Jacob and his family

^28-29 When Jacob and his family arrived in Goshen, Joseph drove his chariot over to meet them.

Pharaoh invites Jacob and his family to live in Goshen

47 ¹ When Joseph told the Pharaoh that his family had arrived in Egypt, ⁵ the Pharaoh said to Joseph,

⁶ Give your family the best land in Egypt.

They may live in the land of Goshen.

⁷ Joseph brought Jacob to Pharaoh.

⁸ The Pharaoh asked Jacob, "How old are you?"

⁹ Jacob replied, "One hundred and thirty."

Joseph collects all the money in Egypt

¹³ There was no food in Egypt or Canaan.

¹⁴ So Joseph gathered up all the money in Egypt and Canaan by selling bread to the starving people.

^15-16 When he had taken all their money, he took their animals.

¹⁸ When he had taken all their animals, he took their land.

^23-24 When the people had no money, animals, or land, Joseph made them plant crops and give 20% of their produce to the Pharaoh.

Joseph swears to bury Jacob in Canaan

²⁹ When it was time for Jacob to die, he called Joseph and said to him,

Put your hand under my thigh and promise you won't bury me in Egypt.

³⁰ Bury me with my fathers.

³¹ And Joseph swore.

Jacob's (messed up) blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh

48 ¹ When Joseph heard that his father Jacob was sick, he went to visit him with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

³ After they arrived, Jacob said,

⁵ Your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are now mine.

⁶ Any other children that you have will be yours.

¹³ Joseph brought his two sons to Jacob, with Ephraim toward Jacob's left hand, and Manasseh toward his right. ¹⁴ But Jacob put his right hand on the Ephraim's head, and his left hand on Manasseh's. (Manasseh was the older son.) And he blessed them.

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that Jacob put his right hand on the wrong head, he tried to reverse Jacob's hands, saying,

¹⁸ You've messed up the blessing, father. Put your right hand on the firstborn's head.

¹⁹ But Jacob refused, saying,

I know, I know. Manasseh will become a people and he'll be great.

But his younger brother Ephraim will be greater, and his seed will become a multitude of nations.

²⁰ And Jacob went on with the blessing.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Joseph,

I'm dying. But God will be with you and bring you to Canaan.

²² I'm giving you more than I'm giving your brothers (which I forcibly took from the Amorites).

Jacob's deathbed speech

49 ¹ When Jacob was preparing to die, he gathered his sons around him and addressed each of them individually. ³ He began with his oldest son, Reuben, and said,

Reuben will not excel because he had sex with his father's wife.

⁵ Jacob continued addressing his sons, saying,

Simeon and Levi are cruel.

^8-10 Judah is like a lion. His descendants will be kings until Shiloh comes.

¹¹ He washed his garments in wine, and his eyes will be red with wine.

¹³ Zebulun will live by the sea.

¹⁴ Issachar is a strong donkey.

¹⁶ Dan will be a snake that bites horse heels.

¹⁹ Gad will overcome at last.

²⁰ Asher will have fat bread and royal dainties.

²¹ Naphtali is a wild female deer that gives goodly words.

²² Joseph is a fruitful branch by a well, whose branches run over a wall.

²³ Archers shoot at him and hate him.

²⁵ God will bless him with blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁷ Benjamin is a wolf who will devour prey.

²⁸ These are the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jacob dies

³³ After Jacob stopped talking, he gathered his feet into the bed, and died.

Jacob's burial

50 ¹ Joseph fell on his father's face and wept. ² He commanded the physicians to embalm Jacob's body. ³ It took forty days to embalm the body, after which the Egyptians mourned for another seventy days.

¹³ Jacob's sons returned his body to Canaan, and he was buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah.

Joseph's brothers apologize to Joseph

¹⁵ After their father Jacob died, Joseph's brothers worried about what Joseph would do to them.

¹⁶ So they sent a messenger to Joseph, saying, "We're sorry. Please forgive us."

¹⁹ Joseph said to them,

Don't be afraid. Am I God?

²⁰ You tried to hurt me, but God made it all good.

Joseph dies