1 So Israel {Yisrael: Covenant Traveller} started out with everything that was his, and he came to Beersheba; there he offered sacrifices to the God {Elohei, Ancestral Promise-Keeper} of his father Isaac.
2 God {Elohim, Night Vision Revealer} communicated to Israel in visions {bemarot: night revelations} at night, declaring, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he responded, “Here I am.”
3 And He said, “I am God {El, Reassuring Speaker}, the God of your father {Elohei avikha, Faithful to Ancestors}. Do not fear going down to Egypt, because there I will make you into a great nation.”
4 I will go down with you to Egypt {mitsraymah: the land of Egypt}, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will place his hand upon your eyes {einekha: tender closing in death}.
5 Then Jacob arose from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel {benei Yisrael: family-clan leaders} put Jacob their father, their little children, and their wives into the wagons {baagalot: long-distance wagons} that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 They took their livestock {mikneh: herds and flocks} and all the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan {kenaan: ancestral territory}, and they entered Egypt—Jacob and all his offspring with him.
7 With him were his sons and his grandsons; also his daughters and his granddaughters; indeed, all his seed {zar'a: line of descent} he brought with him to Egypt {mitsraymah: land by the Nile}.
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel {Yisrael: God-striven identity} who came to Egypt: Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn {bechor: leading heir-status}.
9 And the sons of Reuben {Reuven: firstborn of Israel} were Hanokh, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi {Karmi: clan ancestor}.
10 And the sons of Simeon {shim'on: tribal ancestor}: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman {hakena'anit: non-Israelite lineage}.
11 And the sons {uvenei: direct male heirs} of Levi {levi: tribe ancestor} were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah {Yehudah: tribal ancestor} were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land {erets: claimed territory} of Canaan, and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons of Issachar {Yissakhar: name linked to reward} were Tola, Puah, Yov {Yov: distinct ancestral name}, and Shimron.
14 And the sons {ben: male descendants} of Zebulun {Zevulun: Leah’s sixth son} were Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons of Leah whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-Aram, together with Dinah his daughter {bito: direct descent}. The total souls {nefesh: individual lives} of his sons and daughters came to thirty-three.
16 The sons {uvenei: male descendants} of Gad {gad: tribal founder} were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher {Asher: tribal progenitor} were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Serah {Serach: noted daughter} was their sister. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.
18 These are the sons of Zilpah {Zilpah: maidservant mother}, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob—sixteen souls {nefesh: persons counted together}.
19 The sons {benei: male offspring} of Rachel {Rachel: beloved wife}, the wife of Jacob, were Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath {Asenat: Egyptian wife}, daughter of Poti-pherah, priest {kohen: religious official} of On, bore to him.
21 And the sons of Benjamin {vinyamin: right-hand son} were Bela, and Beker, and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim {mupim: plural-sounding name} and Huppim, and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel {Rachel: beloved wife}, who were born to Jacob {Yaakov: covenant ancestor}—all the persons were fourteen.
23 And the sons {uvenei: male family descendants} of Dan {Dan: tribal forefather} were Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali {Naftali: tribal ancestor} were Jahziel {Yachtseel: God apportions}, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These were the sons {bnei: male descendants} of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; all the persons were seven {shivah: exact household number}.
26 All the persons {nefesh: counted individuals} who came with Jacob to Egypt, those who came out of his loins {yerech: bodily descent image}, excluding the wives of Jacob’s sons, numbered sixty-six persons in all.
27 Joseph’s sons {uvenei: male descendants}—born to him in Egypt—were two persons; and all the persons of Jacob’s house {bayit: extended family group} who came into Egypt were seventy.
28 He sent Judah {Yehudah: appointed representative} ahead to Joseph, to direct {lehorot: provide guidance} before him toward Goshen, and they entered the land of Goshen.
29 And Joseph {Yosef: restored family leader} prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen {Goshna: region in Egypt} to meet his father Israel. When he appeared before him, he fell upon his neck and wept upon his neck for a long time.
30 Then Israel {Yisrael: transformed Jacob} said to Joseph, “I am ready to die after seeing your face {panekha: personal presence}, because you are still alive.”
31 And Joseph {Yosef: family rescuer} said to his brothers and to the house of his father, “I will go up and report to Pharaoh, and I will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan {Kenaan: former dwelling place} have come to me.’”
32 The men {anashim: male household leaders} are shepherds of flocks, for they have been men of livestock {mikneh: long-term herding work}; they have brought their flocks, their herds, and everything that belongs to them.
33 And it shall happen that Pharaoh {paroh: Egyptian royal title} will call for you and ask, “What is your occupation {maaseh: regular work tasks}?”
34 And you shall say, “Your servants have been keepers of livestock {mikneh: herders of animals} from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd of sheep is an abomination {to’avat: deeply despised} to the Egyptians.”