Genesis 46

¹ Israel left with his possessions, and reached Beersheba. There he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

² God spoke to Israel in a vision at night, ‘Jacob, Jacob’, he said. ‘I am here’, he replied.

³ ‘I am God, the God of your father’, he continued. ‘Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.

⁴ I myself will go down to Egypt with you. I myself will bring you back again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.’

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons conveyed their father Jacob, their little children and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to fetch him.

⁶ Taking their livestock and all that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his family with him:

⁷ his sons and his grand-sons, his daughters and his grand-daughters, in a word, all his children he took with him to Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of Israel’s sons who came to Egypt, Reuben, Jacob’s first born,

⁹ and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi.

¹⁰ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of the Canaanite woman.

¹¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, Merari.

¹² The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (though Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan), and Hezron and Hamul, sons of Perez.

¹³ The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub and Shimron.

¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, Jahleel.

¹⁵ These are the sons that Leah had born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, besides his daughter Dinah; in all, his sons and daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁶ The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Fri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷ The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with their sister Serah; the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; she bore these to Jacob – sixteen persons.

¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁰ Born to Joseph in Egypt were: Manasseh and Ephraim, children of Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On.

²¹ The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

²² These are the sons that Rachel bore to Jacob – fourteen persons in all.

²³ sons of Dan: Hushim.

²⁴ The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.

²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel; she bore these to Jacob – seven persons in all.

²⁶ The people who went to Egypt with Jacob, of his own blood and not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons, numbered sixty-six all told.

²⁷ Joseph’s sons born to him in Egypt were two in number. The members of the family of Jacob who went to Egypt totalled seventy.[*a]

²⁸ Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that the latter might present himself to him in Goshen. When they arrived in the land of Goshen,

²⁹ Joseph had his chariot made ready and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as he appeared he threw his arms round his neck and for a long time wept on his shoulder.

³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now I can die, now that I have seen you again, and seen you still alive.’

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s family, ‘I will go up and break the news to Pharaoh. I will tell him, “My brothers and my father’s family who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

³² The men are shepherds and look after livestock, and they have brought their flocks and cattle and all their possessions.”

³³ Thus, when Pharaoh summons you and asks, “What is your occupation?”,

³⁴ you are to say, “Ever since our boyhood your servants have looked after livestock, we and our fathers before us”. And so you will be able to stay in the land of Goshen.’ For the Egyptians have a horror of all shepherds.