- And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons:
- Reuben, Jacob’s first born. And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, and Job, and Shimron. And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore unto Jacob in Paddanaram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
- And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
- The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, who Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah priest of On, bore unto him. And the sons of Benjamin were Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen.
- And the sons of Dan: Hushim. And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter; and she bore these unto Jacob. All the souls were seven.
- All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, who came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six. And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.
- And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him. And he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are yet alive. And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto his father’s house, I will go up and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren and my father’s house who were in the land of Canaan have come unto me; and the men are shepherds, for their trade has been to feed cattle, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and shall say, What is your occupation? — that you shall say, Your servants’ trade has been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers — that you may dwell in the land of Goshen. For every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
- Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks and their herds, and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan. And behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, In order to sojourn in the land have we come, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore we ask of you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying, Your father and your brethren have come unto you. The land of Egypt is before you. In the best of the land make your father and brethren to dwell. In the land of Goshen let them dwell, and if you know any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
- And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old are you? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred thirty years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.
- And Joseph placed his father and his brethren and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household with bread, according to their families.
- And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
- And when money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money fails. And Joseph said, Give your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses. And he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
- When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord that our money is spent. My lord also has our herds of cattle. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why shall we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh. And give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land be not desolate.
- And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine prevailed over them; so the land became Pharaoh’s. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. Only the land of the priests bought he not, for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore, they sold not their lands.
- Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the increase that you shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh and four parts shall be your own — for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. And they said, You have saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.
- And Israel dwelled in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen. And they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty-seven years. And the time drew near that Israel must die. And he called his son Joseph and said unto him, If now I have found grace in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Bury me not, I pray you, in Egypt, but I will lie with my fathers. And you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as you have said. And he said, Swear unto me. And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.
- And it came to pass after these things that it was told to Joseph, saying, Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, saying, Look and behold, your son Joseph comes unto you. And Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, says the Lord. And I will make of you a multitude of people and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession. And now of your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born unto you in the land of Egypt before I came unto you into Egypt, behold, they are mine. And the God of my fathers shall bless them; even as Reuben and Simeon, they shall also be blessed, for they are mine. Wherefore, they shall be called after my name (therefore, they were called Israel). And your children whom you beget after them shall be yours, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance, in their tribes. Therefore, they were called the tribes of Manasseh and of Ephraim. And Jacob said unto Joseph, When the God of my fathers appeared unto me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, he swore unto me that he would give unto me and unto my seed the land for an everlasting possession. Therefore, O my son, he has blessed me in raising you up to be a servant unto me, in saving my house from death, in delivering my people, your brethren, from famine which was severe in the land. Wherefore, the God of your fathers shall bless you and the fruit of your loins, that they shall be blessed above your brethren and above your father’s house, for you have prevailed. And your father’s house has bowed down unto you, even as it was shown unto you before you were sold into Egypt by the hands of your brethren. Wherefore, your brethren shall bow down unto you from generation to generation, unto the fruit of your loins for ever. For you shall be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity from bondage, and to bring salvation unto them when they are altogether bowed down under sin. And therefore as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when we were yet but a little way to come unto Ephrath. And I buried her there in the way of Ephrath (the same is called Bethlehem).
- And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons whom God has given me in this land. And he said, Bring them, I pray you, unto me, and I will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see well. And he brought them near unto him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see your face, and behold, God has shown me also your seed. And Joseph brought them out from between his knees and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly, for Manasseh was the first born. And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. And he held up his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head, and Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the first born. Put your right hand upon his head. And his father refused and said, I know it, my son, I know it. He also shall become a people and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he. And his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh. And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die, but God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you one portion above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
- And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear, you sons of Jacob, and listen unto Israel your father.
- Reuben, you, my first born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellence of dignity, and the excellence of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel because you went up to your father’s bed, then you defiled it; he went up to my couch.
- Simeon and Levi are brethren, instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not into their secret; unto their assembly, my honor be not united. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dug down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
- Judah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise. Your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies. Your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion; and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk.
- Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Sidon.
- Issachar is a strong ass crouching down between two burdens. And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
- Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path that bites the horse heels so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for your salvation, O Lord.
- Gad, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last.
- Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
- Naphtali is a hind let loose, he gives beautiful words.
- Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have severely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), even by the God of your father who shall help you, and by the Almighty who shall bless you with blessings of Heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
- Benjamin shall be ravenous as a wolf. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
- All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. And this is it that their father spoke unto them and blessed them, every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
- And he charged them and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
- And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. And the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I die; in my grave which I have dug for me in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father, and I will come again. And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father according as he made you swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan. And there they mourned with a great and very bitter lamentation. And he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore, the name of it was called Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond Jordan. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them, for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
- And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will perhaps hate us and will certainly return to us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Your father did command before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph: Forgive, I pray you now, the trespass of your brethren, and their sin, for they did unto you evil. And now we ask of you, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we are your servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore fear not. I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spoke kindly unto them.
- And Joseph dwelled in Egypt, he and his father’s house. And Joseph lived a hundred ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
- And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die and go unto my fathers, and I go down to my grave with joy. The God of my father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affliction in the day of your bondage; for the Lord has visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the Lord that out of the fruit of my loins the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch, out of my loins and unto you whom my father Jacob has named Israel, a prophet — not the Messiah who is called Shiloh. And this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of your bondage.
- And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again, and a branch shall be broken off and shall be carried into a far country. Nevertheless, they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord when the Messiah comes; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days in the spirit of power, and shall bring them out of darkness unto light, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.
- A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. Thus said the Lord God of my fathers unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of your loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of your loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of your loins, his brethren. And he shall bring them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with your father. And he shall do whatever work I shall command him; and I will make him great in my eyes, for he shall do my work. And he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of your loins to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt, and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of your house, for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter and shall be called her son.
- And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of your loins. And unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of your loins — and not to the bringing forth my word only, says the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days. Wherefore, the fruit of your loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of your loins and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of your loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, says the Lord. And out of weakness he shall be made strong in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them who are of the house of Israel in the last days.
- And that seer will I bless. And they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded, for this promise I give unto you, for I will remember you from generation to generation. And his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto you, for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.
- And the Lord swore unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed for ever, saying, I will raise up Moses, and a rod shall be in his hand; and he shall gather together my people, and he shall lead them as a flock, and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod. And he shall have judgment, and shall write the word of the Lord. And he shall not speak many words, for I will write unto him my law by the finger of my own hand. And I will make a spokesman for him, and his name shall be called Aaron. And it shall be done unto you in the last days also, even as I have sworn.
- Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren, God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore unto Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph confirmed many other things unto his brethren, and took an oath of the children of Israel, saying unto them, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.
- So Joseph died when he was a hundred ten years old. And they embalmed him and they put him in a coffin in Egypt. And he was kept from burial by the children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulcher with his fathers. And thus they remembered the oath which they swore unto him.
Chapter 12