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¹ So Jacob left , taking with him all his family and possessions . When they arrived at Beersheba , he offered sacrifices to God , the one whom his father Isaac worshiped . ² That night , God called to Jacob in a vision , saying , “ Jacob ! Jacob !” He replied , “ I am here !” ³ God said , “ I am God , the one your father worshiped . Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt , because I will give you many descendants , and they will become a great nation there . ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you , and later I will bring your descendants back to Canaan again . And Joseph will be with you when you die .”

⁵ So Jacob left Beersheba , and his sons took their father , their wives , and their children , in the carts that the king had sent for them to travel in . ⁶ In this way , Jacob and all his family went to Egypt . They took with them the livestock and all the other possessions that they had acquired in Canaan . ⁷ Jacob went to Egypt with all his sons , his daughters , grandsons , and granddaughters — his whole family .

⁸ This is a list of the names of the members of Jacob ’ s family who went with him to Egypt :

Reuben , Jacob ’ s oldest son ;

⁹ Reuben ’ s sons Hanok , Pallu , Hezron , and Carmi ;

¹⁰ Simeon and his sons Jemuel , Jamin , Ohad , Jakin , Zohar , and Shaul , who was the son of a woman who came from the Canaanite people group ;

¹¹ Levi and his sons Gershon , Kohath , and Merari ;

¹² Judah and his sons , Shelah , Perez , and Zerah ( his other sons , Er , and Onan , had died in Canaan land );

the two sons of Perez : Hezron and Hamul ;

¹³ Issachar and his sons Tola , Puah , Jashub , and Shimron ;

¹⁴ Zebulon and his sons Sered , Elon , and Jahleel

¹⁵ These were the sons of Jacob and Leah , who were born in Paddan Aram , in addition to Dinah his daughter . There were thirty - three sons and daughters altogether .

¹⁶ Gad and his sons Zephon , Haggi , Shuni , Ezbon , Eri , Arodi , and Areli ;

¹⁷ Asher and his sons Imnah , Ishvah , Ishvi , and Beriah ; and their sister Serah ;

Beriah ’ s sons : Heber and Malkiel ;

¹⁸ ( Those were the children and grandchildren of Jacob and Zilpah , the slave woman whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah . These were sixteen people altogether .)

¹⁹ Joseph and Benjamin , the sons of Jacob ’ s wife Rachel ;

²⁰ ( Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph ’ s two sons . They did not go down to Egypt because they had been born in Egypt . They were sons of Asenath , the daughter of On , who was the priest in the temple in the city of On .)

²¹ Benjamin and his sons Bela , Beker , Ashbel , Gera , Naaman , Ehi , Rosh , Muppim , Huppim , and Ard ;

²² ( These were the sons and grandsons of Rachel and Jacob . They were fourteen people altogether .)

²³ Dan and his son Hushim ;

²⁴ Naphtali and his sons Jahziel , Guni , Jezer , and Shillem .

²⁵ ( These were the sons and grandsons of Jacob and Bilhah , the slave girl whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel . They were seven people altogether .)

²⁶ Altogether there were sixty - six descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him . That number does not include his sons ’ wives . ²⁷ Including Jacob and Joseph and Joseph ’ s two sons who were born in Egypt , there were seventy members of Jacob ’ s family when they were all there in Egypt .

²⁸ Jacob sent Judah to go ahead of the rest of them to talk with Joseph and to ask for directions on how to travel to Goshen . Then Judah returned to the rest of his family and they all traveled to the region of Goshen . When they arrived there , ²⁹ Joseph got his chariot ready and went to Goshen to meet his father . When Joseph arrived , he threw his arms around his father ’ s neck and cried for a long time . ³⁰ Jacob said to Joseph , “ I have seen you , and now I know that you are still alive ! So I am ready to die .”

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to the rest of his father ’ s family , “ I will go to the king and say to him , ‘ My brothers and my father and the rest of his family , who were living in Canaan land , have all come to me . ³² The men are all shepherds . They take care of their livestock , and they have brought with them their sheep , goats , and cattle , and everything else that they own .’ ³³ When the king summons you and asks , ‘ What work do you do ?’ ³⁴ answer by saying , ‘ From the time when we were young , we have taken care of livestock , just as our ancestors did .’ If you tell him that , he will let you live in the region of Goshen .” Joseph told them to say that because the people of Egypt despised shepherds .