Genesis 50:3-5

Living Bible

³ The embalming process required forty days, with a period of national mourning of seventy days. ⁴ Then, when at last the mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s staff and requested them to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf.

⁵ “Tell His Majesty,” he requested them, “that Joseph’s father made Joseph swear to take his body back to the land of Canaan, to bury him there. Ask His Majesty to permit me to go and bury my father; assure him that I will return promptly.”