1When Jacob died, Joseph cried and mourned over him. He bent over his father's body and kissed him.
2Joseph told the doctors to embalm his father's body and they did that. 3They worked for 40 days to embalm someone. After the 40 days, all the people of Egypt mourned for Jacob for 70 days.
4After the time of mourning, Joseph asked the people in Pharaoh's palace: ‘Please help me. Go and talk to Pharaoh and tell him that 5I promised my father that when he died, I would bury him in his grave that he had prepared in Canaan. I want to go now to bury my father and then I will come back.’ 6Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘Go and bury your father as you have promised.’
7Joseph went to Canaan to bury his father. All the officials of Pharaoh went with him, the advisors in his palace and the leaders of Egypt. 8Joseph's family, his brothers and his father's family also went to Canaan. Only the children, the sheep and goats and cattle stayed in Goshen. 9A lot of war-chariots and soldiers on horses also went with them.
10When they came to the threshing-floor of Atad near the Jordan River, they stayed there to mourn for their father for 7 days. 11When the people of Canaan saw Joseph and his family mourning, they said that the Egyptians mourn a lot. So they named that place Abel-Mizraim. It is east of the Jordan River.
12Jacob's sons did what he asked them to do and they buried their father in Canaan. 13His sons took his body and they buried him in the cave on the field of Machpelah. This is the field that Abraham had bought from Ephron, the Hittite, so that he could have a grave. It was near Mamre. 14After Joseph had buried his father, he went back to Egypt with his brothers and everyone who had gone with him.
Joseph's brothers become afraid of him
15After Jacob died, Joseph's brothers became worried and they said to each other: ‘Now Joseph will remember the bad things that we did to him and he will punish us. He will make us suffer and he will become our enemy.’ 16Then they sent a message to Joseph and said to him: ‘Before our father died, he said 17we must ask you to forgive us. We did something very bad to you. We sinned a lot. Joseph, we ask you to please forgive the wrong thing that we did. We also serve your father's God.’
Joseph cried when they told him this. 18Then his brothers came and bowed before Joseph and said: ‘Here we are. We are your slaves.’
19But Joseph said to them: ‘Don't be afraid. I am not God. 20You planned to do something bad to me, but God used your plan to save the lives of many people, to this day. 21Do not be afraid now. I will take care of you and your children.’ Joseph was very good to his brothers and he was friendly when he talked to them. Then they were no longer afraid.
Joseph dies
22Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father's family. He lived to be 110 years old. 23Joseph lived for many years and he saw Ephraim's children and grandchildren. He also adopted the children of Makir, Manasseh's son, and they were like his own children. 24Later Joseph said to his brothers: ‘I am going to die, but God will be with you and He will take you from this land to the land that He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ 25Joseph told his family to promise that they would take his body out of Egypt when they went to Canaan.
26Joseph lived to be 110 years old and then he died. They embalmed his body and they put it in a coffin in Egypt.
