28These 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

29Then 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.30The 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.31There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.32The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”33When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.

Mourning and Burial for Jacob

1Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him.2And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him,3taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

4When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please tell Pharaoh that5my 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.”

6Pharaoh replied, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

7Then 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—8along 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.9Chariots and horsemen alike went up with him, and it was an exceedingly large procession.10When 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.11When 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.12So Jacob’s sons did as he had charged them.13They 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.14After 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

15When 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.”16So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Before he died, your father commanded,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.18His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”19But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God?20As 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.21Therefore 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

22Now Joseph and his father’s household remained in Egypt, and Joseph lived to the age of 110.23He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.24Then 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.”25And 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.”26So Joseph died at the age of 110. And they embalmed his body and placed it in a coffin in Egypt.

The Israelites Multiply in Egypt

1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:

5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.6Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,7but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

Oppression by a New King

8Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”11So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.13They worked the Israelites ruthlessly14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.21And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

The Birth and Adoption of Moses

1Now a man of the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi,2and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.3But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.4And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.5Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.6When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

8“Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.10When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”