Genesis 50:20-26

50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, ¹  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ²  50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly ³  to them.

50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family. ⁴  Joseph lived 110 years. 50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. ⁵  He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. ⁶ 

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ⁷  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ⁸  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. ⁹  After they embalmed him, his body ¹⁰  was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

[50:20]  ¹ tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”

[50:20]  ² tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”

[50:21]  ³ tn Heb “spoke to their heart.”

[50:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “he and the house of his father.”

[50:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”

[50:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.

[50:24]  ⁷ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”

[50:24]  ⁸ tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[50:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “son of a hundred and ten years.”

[50:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he.”