The Book of Jasher

Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel

Faithfully Translated

FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW INTO ENGLISH

Chapter 55

The Lord commands Jacob to go down to Egypt, where
He will make him a Great Nation. Joseph and all Egypt go to meet Jacob to do
him Honor when he arrives. The Land of Goshen is given to him and his
Children.

1 And it came to pass after this that Jacob said,
I will go and see my son in Egypt and will then come back to the land of Canaan
of which God had spoken unto Abraham, for I cannot leave the land of my birth-place.

2 Behold the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
Go down to Egypt with all thy household and remain there, fear not to go down to
Egypt for I will there make thee a great nation.

3 And Jacob said within himself, I will go and see
my son whether the fear of his God is yet in his heart amidst all the inhabitants
of Egypt.

4 And the Lord said unto Jacob, Fear not about Joseph,
for he still retaineth his integrity to serve me, as will seem good in thy sight,
and Jacob rejoiced exceedingly concerning his son.

5 At that time Jacob commanded his sons and household
to go to Egypt according to the word of the Lord unto him, and Jacob rose up with
his sons and all his household, and he went out from the land of Canaan from Beersheba,
with joy and gladness of heart, and they went to the land of Egypt.

6 And it came to pass when they came near Egypt, Jacob
sent Judah before him to Joseph that he might show him a situation in Egypt, and
Judah did according to the word of his father, and he hastened and ran and came
to Joseph, and they assigned for them a place in the land of Goshen for all his
household, and Judah returned and came along the road to his father.

7 And Joseph harnessed the chariot, and he assembled
all his mighty men and his servants and all the officers of Egypt in order to go
and meet his father Jacob, and Joseph’s mandate was proclaimed in Egypt, saying,
All that do not go to meet Jacob shall die.

8 And on the next day Joseph went forth with all Egypt
a great and mighty host, all dressed in garments of fine linen and purple and with
instruments of silver and gold and with their instruments of war with them.

9 And they all went to meet Jacob with all sorts of
musical instruments, with drums and timbrels, strewing myrrh and aloes all along
the road, and they all went after this fashion, and the earth shook at their shouting.

10 And all the women of Egypt went upon the roofs
of Egypt and upon the walls to meet Jacob, and upon the head of Joseph was Pharaoh’s
regal crown, for Pharaoh had sent it unto him to put on at the time of his going
to meet his father.

11 And when Joseph came within fifty cubits of his
father, he alighted from the chariot and he walked toward his father, and when all
the officers of Egypt and her nobles saw that Joseph had gone on foot toward his
father, they also alighted and walked on foot toward Jacob.

12 And when Jacob approached the camp of Joseph, Jacob
observed the camp that was coming toward him with Joseph, and it gratified him and
Jacob was astonished at it.

13 And Jacob said unto Judah, Who is that man whom
I see in the camp of Egypt dressed in kingly robes with a very red garment upon
him and a royal crown upon his head, who has alighted from his chariot and is coming
toward us? and Judah answered his father, saying, He is thy son Joseph the king;
and Jacob rejoiced in seeing the glory of his son.

14 And Joseph came nigh unto his father and he bowed
to his father, and all the men of the camp bowed to the ground with him before Jacob.

15 And behold Jacob ran and hastened to his son Joseph
and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept, and Joseph also embraced his
father and kissed him, and they wept and all the people of Egypt wept with them.

16 And Jacob said unto Joseph, Now I will die cheerfully
after I have seen thy face, that thou art still living and with glory.

17 And the sons of Jacob and their wives and their
children and their servants, and all the household of Jacob wept exceedingly with
Joseph, and they kissed him and wept greatly with him.

18 And Joseph and all his people returned afterward
home to Egypt, and Jacob and his sons and all the children of his household came
with Joseph to Egypt, and Joseph placed them in the best part of Egypt, in the land
of Goshen.

19 And Joseph said unto his father and unto his brethren,
I will go up and tell Pharaoh, saying, My brethren and my father’s household and
all belonging to them have come unto me, and behold they are in the land of Goshen.

20 And Joseph did so and took from his brethren Reuben,
Issachar Zebulun and his brother Benjamin and he placed them before Pharaoh.

21 And Joseph spoke unto Pharaoh, saying, My brethren
and my father’s household and all belonging to them, together with their flocks
and cattle have come unto me from the land of Canaan, to sojourn in Egypt; for the
famine was sore upon them.

22 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Place thy father
and brethren in the best part of the land, withhold not from them all that is good,
and cause them to eat of the fat of the land.

23 And Joseph answered, saying, Behold I have stationed
them in the land of Goshen, for they are shepherds, therefore let them remain in
Goshen to feed their flocks apart from the Egyptians.

24 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Do with thy brethren
all that they shall say unto thee; and the sons of Jacob bowed down to Pharaoh,
and they went forth from him in peace, and Joseph afterward brought his father before
Pharaoh.

25 And Jacob came and bowed down to Pharaoh, and Jacob
blessed Pharaoh, and he then went out; and Jacob and all his sons, and all his household
dwelt in the land of Goshen.

26 In the second year, that is in the hundred and
thirtieth year of the life of Jacob, Joseph maintained his father and his brethren,
and all his father’s household, with bread according to their little ones, all the
days of the famine; they lacked nothing.

27 And Joseph gave unto them the best part of the
whole land; the best of Egypt had they all the days of Joseph; and Joseph also gave
unto them and unto the whole of his father’s household, clothes and garments year
by year; and the sons of Jacob remained securely in Egypt all the days of their
brother.

28 And Jacob always ate at Joseph’s table, Jacob and
his sons did not leave Joseph’s table day or night, besides what Jacob’s children
consumed in their houses.

29 And all Egypt ate bread during the days of the
famine from the house of Joseph, for all the Egyptians sold all belonging to them
on account of the famine.

30 And Joseph purchased all the lands and fields of
Egypt for bread on the account of Pharaoh, and Joseph supplied all Egypt with bread
all the days of the famine, and Joseph collected all the silver and gold that came
unto him for the corn which they bought throughout the land, and he accumulated
much gold and silver, besides an immense quantity of onyx stones, bdellium and valuable
garments which they brought unto Joseph from every part of the land when their money
was spent.

31 And Joseph took all the silver and gold that came
into his hand, about seventy two talents of gold and silver, and also onyx stones
and bdellium in great abundance, and Joseph went and concealed them in four parts,
and he concealed one part in the wilderness near the Red sea, and one part by the
river Perath, and the third and fourth part he concealed in the desert opposite
to the wilderness of Persia and Media.

32 And he took part of the gold and silver that was
left, and gave it unto all his brothers and unto all his father’s household, and
unto all the women of his father’s household, and the rest he brought to the house
of Pharaoh, about twenty talents of gold and silver.

33 And Joseph gave all the gold and silver that was
left unto Pharaoh, and Pharaoh placed it in the treasury, and the days of the famine
ceased after that in the land, and they sowed and reaped in the whole land, and
they obtained their usual quantity year by year; they lacked nothing.

34 And Joseph dwelt securely in Egypt, and the whole
land was under his advice, and his father and all his brethren dwelt in the land
of Goshen and took possession of it.

35 And Joseph was very aged, advanced in days, and
his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, remained constantly in the house of Jacob, together
with the children of the sons of Jacob their brethren, to learn the ways of the
Lord and his law.

36 And Jacob and his sons dwelt in the land of Egypt
in the land of Goshen, and they took possession in it, and they were fruitful and
multiplied in it.