Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt

46 Jacob packed up everything he owned and left for Egypt. On the way he stopped near the town of Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God his father Isaac had worshiped. ² That night, God spoke to him in a dream and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” Jacob answered.

³ God said, “I am God, the same God your father worshiped. Don't be afraid to go to Egypt. I will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation. ⁴ I will go with you to Egypt, and later I will bring your descendants back here. Your son Joseph will be at your side when you die.”

^5-7 (A) Jacob and his family set out from Beersheba and headed for Egypt. His sons put him in the wagon that the king^[a] had sent for him, and they put their small children and their wives in the other wagons. Jacob's whole family went to Egypt, including his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters. They took along their animals and everything else they owned.

^33 (A) When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed and died.