Genesis 50:14-24

14 And Joseph turned again into Egypt with his brethren and all the fellowship, when his father was buried. (And after his father was buried, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers, and with all of his fellowship.)

15 And when their father was dead, the brethren of Joseph dreaded, and spake together, (and said,) Lest peradventure he be mindful of the wrong which he suffered, and yield to us all the evil, that we did. (And now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers were afraid, and spoke together, and said, Perhaps he shall remember all the wrong, or all the harm, which he suffered because of us, and give back to us all the evil that we did to him, and so we must ask him for mercy.)

16 And (so) they sent (a message) to him, and said, Thy father commanded to us, before that he died,

17 that we should say to thee these things by his words; I beseech thee, that thou forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin, and [the] malice that they haunted against thee; also we pray thee, that thou forgive this wickedness (which we did) to thy father, the servant of God. When these things were heard, Joseph wept. (that we should say these words of his to thee; My son, I beseech thee, that thou forget the wickedness of thy brothers, and the sin, and the malice that they did against thee; and we also pray thee, that thou forgive our wickedness, for we, like thee, be servants of the God of thy father. And when Joseph heard this message, he wept.)

18 And his brethren came to him, and worshipped low to the earth (and bowed low to the ground before him), and said, We be thy servants.

19 To which he answered, Do not ye dread; whether we may against-stand God's will? (To whom he answered, Do not ye fear; for can we stand against God's will?)

20 Ye thought evil of me, and God turned it into good, that he should enhance me, as ye see in this present time, and that he should make safe many peoples; (Ye thought to do evil to me, but God turned it into good, and he used what you did to me to advance me, as ye see at this present time, and by doing so he hath saved many people;)

21 do not ye dread (do not ye fear), I shall feed you and your little children. And he comforted them, and spake sweetly and lightly to them;

22 and Joseph dwelled in Egypt, with all the house of his father (and Joseph lived in Egypt, with all of his father's household, or all of his father's family). And he lived an hundred [and ten] years,

23 and he saw the sons of Ephraim till to the third generation; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were borne in the knees of Joseph (were brought up on Joseph's knees).

24 When these things were done, Joseph spake to his brethren, (and said,) After my death God shall visit you, and he shall make you to go up from this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (When these things were done, Joseph said to his brothers, Soon I shall die, but someday, God shall visit you, and he shall lead you out of this land to the land which he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.)

Genesis 50:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 50

This chapter contains a short account of what happened from the death of Jacob to the death of Joseph, and is chiefly concerned with the funeral of Jacob; it first gives an account how Joseph was affected with his father's death, of his orders to the physicians to embalm him, and of the time of their embalming him, and of the Egyptians mourning for him, Ge 50:1-3, next of his request to Pharaoh to give him leave to go and bury his father in Canaan, and his grant of it, Ge 50:4-6 and then of the grand funeral procession thither, the mourning made for Jacob, and his interment according to his orders, Ge 50:7-13 upon the return of Joseph and his brethren to Egypt, they fearing his resentment of their former usage of him, entreat him to forgive them; which they said they did at the direction of their father, to which Joseph readily agreed, and comforted them, and spoke kindly to them, and bid them not fear any hurt from him, for whatever were their intention, God meant it, and had overruled it for good, Ge 50:14-21 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Joseph's age and death, and of his posterity he saw before his death, and of the charge he gave to his brethren to carry his bones with them, when they should depart from Egypt, Ge 50:22-26.