Side by side
Genesis 50
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 12: "God Intended It for Good"Verses 1 to 21
The brothers went home and told Jacob that Joseph was alive. At first Jacob did not believe them. Then he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him. Jacob said he would go and see his son before he died.
Jacob set out for Egypt with his whole family. At a place called Beersheba, God spoke to Jacob in a vision at night. God told Jacob not to be afraid to go to Egypt. God promised to make his family a great nation there. "I will go down with you to Egypt" (46:4).
The family arrived in Egypt. Joseph threw his arms around his father and cried for a long time.
Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 more years. Then Jacob died. Joseph wept over his father.
Now that their father was dead, the brothers were afraid again. They said, "What if Joseph still holds a grudge? He might pay us back for all the evil we did." They sent Joseph a message begging him to forgive them.
When Joseph heard their message, he wept.
The brothers came and bowed down to Joseph. "We are your slaves," they said. Once again, Joseph's dreams had come true.
Joseph said, "Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God?" (50:19).
"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" (50:20).
Joseph promised to take care of them and their children. He spoke kindly to them and comforted them.
The brothers meant to do Joseph harm. God used what they did to rescue many people.
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 that 5my 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. 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.
Between scenesVerses 22 to 26
This part isn't retold as its own scene.
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.
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