Vayechi

47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the length of his life was 147 years. 47:29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “ If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 47:30 but when I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me with them.” Joseph answered, “ I will do as you have requested.” 47:31 “ Swear to me,” Jacob said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed. 48:1 Some time later Joseph was told, “ Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 48:2 When Jacob was told, “ Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed. 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me 48:4 and told me, ‘ Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ 48:5 And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 48:6 Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit. 48:7 Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” ( that is, Bethlehem). 48:8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “ Who are these?” 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “ They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “ Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”

48:10 Now Israel ’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. 48:11 “ I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “ but now God has let me see your children as well.” 48:12 Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown. 48:13 And Joseph took both of them — with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel ’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel ’s right hand — and brought them close to him. 48:14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh ’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. 48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said: “ May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, 48:16 the angel who has redeemed me from all harm — may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh ’s. 48:18 “ Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “ This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 48:19 But his father refused. “ I know, my son, I know!” he said. “ He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 48:20 So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “ By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘ May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “ Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 48:22 And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

49:1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come: 49:2 Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel. 49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. 49:4 Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it. 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. 49:6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim. 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. 49:8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father ’s sons shall bow down to you. 49:9 Judah is a young lion — my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. 49:11 He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 49:12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. 49:13 Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon. 49:14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. 49:15 He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant. 49:16 Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 49:17 He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse ’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward. 49:18 I await Your salvation, O LORD.

49:19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. 49:20 Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies. 49:21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful vine— a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall. 49:23 The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility. 49:24 Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 49:25 by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb. 49:26 The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.” 49:28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. The Death of Jacob 49:29 Then Jacob instructed them, “ I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 49:30 The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. 49:31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah. 49:32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” 49:33 When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people. 50:1 Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him. 50:2 And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him, 50:3 taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. 50:4 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 50:5 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.” 50:6 Pharaoh replied, “ Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.” 50:7 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 — 50:8 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. 50:9 Chariots and horsemen alike went up with him, and it was an exceedingly large procession. 50:10 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. 50:11 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. 50:12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had charged them. 50:13 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. 50:14 After Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father. Joseph Comforts His Brothers 50:15 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.” 50:16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “ Before he died, your father commanded, 50:17 ‘ 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. 50:18 His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “ We are your slaves!” 50:19 But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 50:20 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.

50:21 Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them. The Death of Joseph 50:22 Now Joseph and his father’s household remained in Egypt, and Joseph lived to the age of 110. 50:23 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. 50:24 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.” 50:25 And 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.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. And they embalmed his body and placed it in a coffin in Egypt.