Genesis 46 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Jacob Leaves for Egypt

46 Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba,^(A) and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ²That night God spoke to Israel in a vision:^(B) “Jacob, Jacob!” He said.

And Jacob replied, “Here I am.”

³God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.^(C) ⁴I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back.^(D) Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.”^[a]^(E)

⁵Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him,^(F) along with their children and their wives. ⁶They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his children went with him to Egypt.^(G) ⁷His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.

Jacob’s Family

⁸These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt:^(H)

Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben.
⁹Reuben’s sons:^(I) Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
¹⁰Simeon’s sons:^(J) Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
¹¹Levi’s sons:^(K) Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
¹²Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
Perez’s sons:^(L) Hezron and Hamul.
¹³Issachar’s sons:^(M) Tola, Puvah,^[b] Jashub,^[c] and Shimron.
¹⁴Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
¹⁵These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons:^[d] 33.
¹⁶Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
¹⁷Asher’s sons:^(N) Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.
¹⁸These were the sons of Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—that she bore to Jacob: 16 persons.
¹⁹The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁰Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On.^[e]
²¹Benjamin’s sons:^(O) Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
²²These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob: 14 persons.
²³Dan’s son:^[f] Hushim.
²⁴Naphtali’s sons:^(P) Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
²⁵These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel.^(Q) She bore to Jacob: seven persons.
²⁶The total number of persons belonging to Jacob—his direct descendants,^[g] not including the wives of Jacob’s sons—who came to Egypt: 66.
²⁷And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons.
All those of Jacob’s household who had come to Egypt: 70^[h] persons.^(R)

Jacob Arrives in Egypt

²⁸Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival^[i] at Goshen.^(S) When they came to the land of Goshen, ²⁹Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time.^(T)

³⁰Then Israel said to Joseph, “At last I can die, now that I have seen your face and know you are still alive!”

³¹Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him: My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.^(U) ³²The men are shepherds; they also raise livestock. They have brought their sheep and cattle and all that they have. ³³When Pharaoh addresses you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our fathers, have raised livestock^[j] from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians.”^(V)