Genesis Chapter 50
Showing all 26 verses for Genesis Chapter 50.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. "
"Joseph threw himself onto his father's face, wept over him, and kissed him."
Joseph falls upon his father's face, weeping and kissing him. Unashamed grief, expressed with tenderness even by a man of great power and position, honours both the person lost and the love that was real.
"And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. "
"Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father, and they embalmed Israel's body."
Joseph commands the physicians to embalm his father with care. Attending faithfully to the practical details after a loss, however painful, is part of how we honour someone even in the depths of grief.
"And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. "
"The embalming took forty days, the standard time required for the process, and the Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days."
Egypt mourns Jacob for seventy days, and the embalming takes forty. A loss significant enough to be mourned deeply and openly, over real time rather than rushed past, reflects how much a life truly mattered.
"And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, "
"When the mourning period was over, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's officials: "If I have found favour with you, please take this message to Pharaoh:""
Joseph asks Pharaoh's household to relay his request to bury his father in Canaan. Approaching those with authority over your circumstances with humility and respect, even in grief, remains the wise and honest path.
"My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. "
""My father made me swear an oath, saying, 'I am dying - bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself in Canaan.' So please let me go and bury my father, and I will come back.""
Joseph recalls the oath his father made him swear, and asks leave to keep his promise before returning. Keeping a promise made to someone now gone is one of the deepest ways we continue to honour them after they're no longer here to see it.
"And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. "
"Pharaoh replied, "Go and bury your father, just as you promised him.""
Pharaoh grants Joseph's request at once, telling him to go and bury his father as he swore. Trust and respect earned over a lifetime of faithful service tend to be repaid freely when the moment of real need arrives.
"And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, "
"So Joseph went up to bury his father, accompanied by all of Pharaoh's officials, the senior members of his household, and all the elders of Egypt."
A vast company of Pharaoh's officials and Egypt's elders accompanies Joseph on the journey. The honour shown to one faithful, humble life can end up drawing in and moving even the powerful people around it.
"And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. "
"Also the whole household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household went - they only left their children and their flocks and herds behind in Goshen."
Joseph's whole household, his brothers, and his father's house all go up together, leaving only the little ones and flocks behind. Standing together as a family in a shared act of honouring someone you've lost is a powerful, unifying kind of love.
"And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. "
"Chariots and horsemen went up with him too - it was a very large company."
Chariots and horsemen join the procession, making it a very great company. However humble someone's beginnings, the honour shown at the end of a faithful life can end up being far greater than anyone could have predicted.
"And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. "
"They came to the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, and there they mourned with loud, deep grief - Joseph observed seven days of mourning for his father."
At the threshing floor of Atad, they mourn with great and heavy lamentation for seven days. Giving yourself real time and space to grieve fully, rather than rushing past it, is a healthy and necessary part of honouring loss.
"And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan. "
"When the local Canaanites saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a solemn mourning for the Egyptians" - so the place was named Abel-mizraim, meaning "mourning of Egypt," and it lies beyond the Jordan."
The Canaanites, watching, name the place Abelmizraim, 'the mourning of Egypt.' Genuine grief, openly expressed, has a way of being recognised and respected even by those who are complete outsiders to the loss.
"And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: "
"His sons did for him exactly as he had instructed them."
Jacob's sons do for him exactly as he had commanded. Faithfully carrying out someone's final wishes, precisely as they asked, is one of the clearest ways love continues to be shown after they're gone.
"For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. "
"His sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre - the field Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial plot he owned."
They carry him to Canaan and bury him in the cave of Machpelah, the family's burial ground. Being laid to rest among the generations who came before connects a life's ending to the whole long story it belonged to.
"And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. "
"After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and everyone who had gone with him for the burial."
Joseph and his brothers return to Egypt after completing the burial. Finishing a hard, important task together, and returning changed by it, often strengthens the bonds between the people who shared it.
"And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. "
"When Joseph's brothers realised their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph still hates us and decides to pay us back for everything we did to him?""
The brothers, now fatherless, fear that Joseph will finally repay them for their old cruelty. Old guilt has a way of resurfacing at moments of vulnerability; it's worth remembering that genuine forgiveness, once given, doesn't quietly expire.
"And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, "
"So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Before he died, your father gave this instruction:""
They send Joseph a message, invoking their father's supposed final instruction. Fear can make us reach for whatever leverage feels safest, even embellished ones; a patient, honest hearer can see past that to the real fear underneath.
"So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. "
""Tell Joseph this: please forgive your brothers' offence and their sin, because they did wrong to you. So now, please forgive the wrongdoing of the servants of your father's God." Joseph wept when he heard this message."
They beg forgiveness for their trespass and sin, and Joseph weeps at their words. Being asked for forgiveness you already gave can still move you deeply; tears in that moment aren't weakness, but the fullness of real compassion.
"And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. "
"Then his brothers went and threw themselves down in front of him, saying, "Here we are, your slaves.""
The brothers fall down before Joseph, offering themselves as his servants. Complete humility, freely offered even after forgiveness has already been extended, reflects the brothers' genuine understanding of how much grace they'd been shown.
"And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? "
"But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in God's place?""
Joseph replies, 'Fear not: for am I in the place of God?' Real humility means remembering that judgement and vengeance were never truly ours to claim in the first place; that belongs to God alone.
"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. "
""You planned to harm me, but it was used for good, to bring about what has happened - the saving of many lives.""
Joseph tells them plainly: they meant evil, but God meant it for good, to save many lives. Trust that God can take even the worst thing done against you and weave it into a story that saves and blesses far more than you could have imagined.
"Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. "
""So don't be afraid - I will take care of you and your children." He reassured them and spoke kindly to them."
Joseph promises to provide for his brothers and their children, comforting them with kind words. Genuine forgiveness doesn't stop at words; it follows through with real, practical care for the very people who once wronged you.
"And Joseph in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father's family, and he lived to be a hundred and ten years old."
Joseph lives in Egypt to the age of a hundred and ten. A long life, well lived and full of reconciliation, is itself a quiet testimony to the faithfulness that carried him through every hardship along the way.
"And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees. "
"Joseph lived to see Ephraim's children to the third generation, and the children of Machir, Manasseh's son, were also raised on Joseph's knees."
Joseph lives to see Ephraim's children of the third generation, welcoming Machir's children onto his knees. Living long enough to see and embrace the generations that follow you is a rich, particular kind of blessing worth being grateful for.
"And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. "
"Joseph said to his brothers, "I am dying. God will certainly come to help you and bring you out of this land, to the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.""
Joseph tells his brothers he is dying, but assures them God will surely visit them and bring them to the promised land. Confidence in God's promises can remain steady and be spoken plainly, even from the very edge of your own life.
"And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. "
"Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, saying, "God will certainly come to help you, and when he does, you must carry my bones up from here.""
Joseph makes the children of Israel swear to carry his bones with them when God brings them out of Egypt. A faith that looks beyond your own lifetime, trusting a promise you won't personally see fulfilled, is one of the deepest expressions of hope there is.
"So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. "
"So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. He was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt."
Joseph dies at a hundred and ten, is embalmed, and is placed in a coffin in Egypt. A life that closes with forgiveness given, family reconciled, and hope fixed firmly on God's promises is a life that ends, in every way that matters, well.