The Living Bible (19 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
One day not long after this, word came to Joseph that his father was failing rapidly. So, taking with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, he went to visit him.
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When Jacob heard that Joseph had arrived, he gathered his strength and sat up in the bed to greet him,
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and said to him,
“God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
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and said to me, ‘I will make you a great nation and I will give this land of Canaan to you and to your children’s children, for an everlasting possession.’
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And now, as to these two sons of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived, I am adopting them as my own, and they will inherit from me just as Reuben and Simeon will.
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But any other children born to you shall be your own, and shall inherit Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s portion from you.
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For your mother, Rachel, died after only two children
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when I came from Paddan-aram, as we were just a short distance from Ephrath, and I buried her beside the road to Bethlehem.”
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Then Israel looked over at the two boys. “Are these the ones?” he asked.
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“Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are my sons whom God has given me here in Egypt.”
And Israel said, “Bring them over to me and I will bless them.”
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Israel was half blind with age, so that he could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him and he kissed and embraced them.
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And Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought that I would see you again, but now God has let me see your children too.”
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Joseph took the boys by the hand, bowed deeply to him, and led the boys to their grandfather’s knees—Ephraim at Israel’s left hand and Manasseh at his right.
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But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to lay his hands upon the boys’ heads, so that his right hand was upon the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely.
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Then he blessed Joseph with this blessing: “May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless these boys.
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He is the Angel who has kept me from all harm. May these boys be an honor to my name and to the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they become a mighty nation.”
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But Joseph was upset and displeased when he saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head; so he lifted it to place it on Manasseh’s head instead.
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“No, Father,” he said. “You’ve got your right hand on the wrong head! This one over here is the older. Put your right hand on him!”
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But his father refused. “I know what I’m doing, my son,” he said. “Manasseh too shall become a great nation, but his younger brother shall become even greater.”
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So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “May the people of Israel bless each other by saying, ‘God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” (Note that he put Ephraim before Manasseh.)
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Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to Canaan, the land of your fathers.
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And I have given the choice land of Shekem to you instead of to your brothers, as your portion of that land which I took from the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me and I will tell you what is going to happen to you in the days to come.
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Listen to me, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father.
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“Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are the head of the list in rank and in honor.
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But you are unruly as the wild waves of the sea, and you shall be first no longer. I am demoting you, for you slept with one of my wives and thus dishonored me.
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“Simeon and Levi are two of a kind. They are men of violence and injustice.
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O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered a man, and maimed oxen just for fun.
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Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce and cruel. Therefore, I will scatter their descendants throughout Israel.
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“Judah, your brothers shall praise you. You shall destroy your enemies. Your father’s sons shall bow before you.
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Judah is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. He has settled down as a lion—who will dare to rouse him?
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The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes,
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whom all people shall obey.
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He has chained his steed to the choicest vine and washed his clothes in wine.
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His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth are whiter than milk.
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“Zebulun shall dwell on the shores of the sea and shall be a harbor for ships, with his borders extending to Sidon.
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“Issachar is a strong beast of burden resting among the saddlebags.
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When he saw how good the countryside was, how pleasant the land, he willingly bent his shoulder to the task and served his masters with vigor.
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“Dan shall govern his people like any other tribe in Israel.
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He shall be a serpent in the path that bites the horses’ heels, so that the rider falls off.
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I trust in your salvation, Lord.
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“A marauding band shall stamp upon Gad, but he shall rob and pursue them!
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“Asher shall produce rich foods, fit for kings!
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“Naphtali is a deer let loose, producing lovely fawns.
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“Joseph is a fruitful tree beside a fountain. His branches shade the wall.
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He has been severely injured by those who shot at him and persecuted him,
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but their weapons were shattered by the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
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May the God of your fathers, the Almighty, bless you with blessings of heaven above and of the earth beneath—blessings of the breasts and of the womb,
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blessings of the grain and flowers, blessings reaching to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. These shall be the blessings upon the head of Joseph who was exiled from his brothers.
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“Benjamin is a wolf that prowls. He devours his enemies in the morning, and in the evening divides the loot.”
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So these are the blessings that Israel, their father, blessed his twelve sons with.
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Then he told them, “Soon I will die. You must bury me with my fathers in the land of Canaan, in the cave in the field of Mach-pelah, facing Mamre—the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hethite for a burial ground.
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There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife; and there I buried Leah.
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It is the cave which my grandfather Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth.”
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Then, when Jacob had finished his prophecies to his sons, he lay back in the bed, breathed his last, and died.
Joseph threw himself upon his father’s body and wept over him and kissed him.
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Afterwards he commanded his morticians to embalm the body.
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The embalming process required forty days, with a period of national mourning of seventy days.
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Then, when at last the mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s staff and requested them to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf.
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“Tell His Majesty,” he requested them, “that Joseph’s father made Joseph swear to take his body back to the land of Canaan, to bury him there. Ask His Majesty to permit me to go and bury my father; assure him that I will return promptly.”
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Pharaoh agreed. “Go and bury your father, as you promised,” he said.
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So Joseph went, and a great number of Pharaoh’s counselors and assistants—all the senior officers of the land,
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as well as all of Joseph’s people—his brothers and their families. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
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So a very great number of chariots, cavalry, and people accompanied Joseph.
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When they arrived at Atad
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(meaning “Threshing Place of Brambles”), beyond the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn funeral service, with a seven-day period of lamentation for Joseph’s father.
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The local residents, the Canaanites, renamed the place Abel-mizraim (meaning “Egyptian Mourners”) for they said, “It is a place of very deep mourning by these Egyptians.”
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So his sons did as Israel commanded them, and carried his body into the land of Canaan and buried it there in the cave of Mach-pelah—the cave Abraham had bought in the field of Ephron the Hethite, close to Mamre.
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Then Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to the funeral of his father.
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But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers were frightened.
“Now Joseph will pay us back for all the evil we did to him,” they said.
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So they sent him this message: “Before he died, your father instructed us to tell you to forgive us for the great evil we did to you. We servants of the God of your father beg you to forgive us.” When Joseph read the message, he broke down and cried.
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Then his brothers came and fell down before him and said, “We are your slaves.”
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But Joseph told them, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, to judge and punish you?
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As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.
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No, don’t be afraid. Indeed, I myself will take care of you and your families.” And he spoke very kindly to them, reassuring them.
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So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph was 110 years old when he died.
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He lived to see the birth of his son Ephraim’s children, and the children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, who played at his feet.
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“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come and get you, and bring you out of this land of Egypt and take you back to the land he promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
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Then Joseph made his brothers promise with an oath that they would take his body back with them when they returned to Canaan.
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So Joseph died at the age of 110, and they embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.