Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26)

Vayechi 1st Portion (Gen 47)28 Ya‘akov lived in the land of Mitsrayim seventeen years, so the length of Ya‘akov’s life was a hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near for Isra’el to die, he called his son Yosef and said to him, “Please, if I have found favour in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Mitsrayim,

Vayechi 1st Portion (Gen 47)

30 but when I rest with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Mitsrayim and bury me in their burial place.”And he said, “I will do as you have said.”31 He said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him, and Isra’el bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

Vayechi 1st Portion (Gen 48)1 Now it came about after these events that one told Yosef, “See, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons M’nasheh and Efrayim with him. 2 When one told Ya‘akov, “See, your son Yosef has come to you,” Isra’el rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.3 Then Ya‘akov said to Yosef, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kena‘an and blessed me

Vayechi 1st Portion (Gen 48)4 and said to me, ‘See, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you an assembly of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’5 “Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Mitsrayim before I came to you in Mitsrayim, are mine; Efrayim and M’nasheh, they will be mine, as Re’uven and Shim‘on are.

Vayechi 1st Portion (Gen 48)6 But your children that have been born after them will be yours; and they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 Now as for me, as I came from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow in the land of Kena‘an on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Efrat. So I buried her there beside the road to Efrat (that is, Beit-Lechem).8 When Isra’el saw Yosef’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?”

Vayechi 1st Portion (Gen 48)

9 Yosef said to his father, “They are my sons, whom Elohim has given me in this place.”So he said, “Bring them to me, please, so I may bless them.”

Vayechi 2nd Portion (Gen 48)10 Now the eyes of Isra’el were so dim for age so that he could not see. Then Yosef drew them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.11 Isra’el said to Yosef, “I never expected to see your face, and now Elohim has let me see your children too.”12 Then Yosef removed them from his knees, and he bowed with his face to the earth.

Vayechi 2nd Portion (Gen 48)13 And Yosef took them both, Efrayim on his right hand toward Isra’el’s left hand and M’nasheh on his left hand toward Isra’el’s right hand, and brought them near to him. 14 But Isra’el stretched out his right hand and laid it on Efrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on M’nasheh’s head. He guided his hands consciously, although M’nasheh was the first-born.

Vayechi 2nd Portion (Gen 48)

15 Then he blessed Yosef and said,“The Elohim before whom my fathersAvraham and Yitz’chak walked,the Elohim who fed meall my life long to this day,

Vayechi 2nd Portion (Gen 48)16 the Messenger who has redeemed me from all evil—bless these youths.And may my name live on in themand the names of my fathers Avraham and Yitz’chak,and may they increase abundantly like fish,in the midst of the earth.”

Vayechi 3rd Portion (Gen 48)

17 And Yosef saw that his father was placing his right hand on Efrayim’s head, and it displeased him; so he held up his father’s hand to remove it from upon Efrayim’s head to place it on M’nasheh’s head. 18 And Yosef said to his father, “Not so, father, for this one is the first-born; put your right hand on his head.”

Vayechi 3rd Portion (Gen 48)19 But his father refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a group of nations.” 20 So he blessed them on that day, saying,“With you, Isra’el shall bless, saying,‘May Elohim make you like Efrayim and like M’nasheh,’ ”and he put Efrayim before M’nasheh.

Vayechi 3rd Portion (Gen 48)

21 And Isra’el said to Yosef, “Behold, I am going to die, and Elohim shall be with you, and he will return you to the land of your fathers. 22 And I have given you one sh’khem [shoulder, ridge, share, city of Sh’khem] over your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Emori with my sword and with my bow.”

Vayechi 4th Portion (Gen 49)

1 Then Ya‘akov called for his sons and said: “Gather yourselves that I can tell you that which will happen to you in the acharit-hayamim.2 “Assemble and hear, sons of Ya‘akov;and listen to Isra’el, your father.

Vayechi 4th Portion (Gen 49)3 “Re’uven, you are my first-born,my power, and the beginning of my strength,superior in exaltation, and superior in power.4 Turbulent as water, you will not excel,for you went up to your father’s bed;then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

Vayechi 4th Portion (Gen 49)5 “Shim‘on and Levi are brothers—weapons of violence are in their implements.6 Let my being not enter their council,let not my esteem be united with their assembly,for in their displeasure they slew menand with their pleasure they lamed oxen.

Vayechi 4th Portion (Gen 49)7 Cursed be their displeasure, for it is fierce,and their wrath, because it is cruel!I will divide them in Ya‘akovand scatter them in Isra’el.8 “Y’hudah, you are he whom your brothers will praise;your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;your father’s children will bow down to you.


9 Y’hudah is a lion’s cub;from the prey, my son, you return.He crouches, he lies down like a lion,and like a lion—who dares rouse him?


10 The scepter will not depart from Y’hudah,nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,until Shiloh comes,and to him will be the obedience of the nations.

Vayechi 4th Portion (Gen 49)11 He binds his donkey to the vine,and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;he washes his garments in wine,and his robes in the blood of grapes.12 His eyes will be red from wine,and his teeth white from milk.


13 “Z’vulun will live on the seashoreand he shall be a haven for ships;and his border will be toward Tzidon.14 “Yissakhar is a strong donkeylying down between two burdens.

Vayechi 4th Portion (Gen 49)15 When he saw a resting place,that it was good and the land, that it was pleasant,he inclined his shoulder to bearand he became an indentured laborer.16 “Dan will avenge his peopleas one of the tribes of Isra’el.


17 Dan will be a serpent by the way,an adder on the path,that bites the horse’s heelsso that its rider falls backward.18 “I look for your deliverance, יהוה.

Vayechi 5th Portion (Gen 49)19 “Gad [troop], raiders will troop forth from him,but he will troop back at their heels.20 “From Asher his bread will be rich;and he will provide regal delicacies.21 “Naftali is a deer let loose,he gives beautiful words.


22 “Yosef is a fruitful offshoot,even a fruitful offshoot by a fountain,whose branches run over a wall.23 The archers bitterly grieved him;and shot at him and hated him.


24 But his bow remained steady,and his arms were gildedfrom the hands of the Mighty One of Ya‘akov,from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Isra’el,


25 even from the El of your father who helps you,and with El Shaddai, who blesses youwith blessings of the heavens above,blessings of the deep that lies below,blessings of the breast and womb.

Vayechi 5th Portion (Gen 49)26 The blessings of your father surpassedthe blessings of my ancestors,the ends of the everlasting hills.May they be on the head of Yosef,and on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 49)27 “Binyamin shall ravin as a wolf;in the morning he devours the prey,and in the evening he divides the spoil.”28 All these are the twelve tribes of Isra’el, and this is it that their father spoke to them when he blessed them. He blessed them; each man with the blessing appropriate to him.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 49)29 Then he commanded them and said to them: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of ‘Efron the Hitti, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Makhpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Kena‘an, which Avraham bought along with the field from ‘Efron the Hitti for a burial site.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 49)31 There they buried Avraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Yitz’chak and his wife Rivkah, and there I buried Le’ah. 32 The field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Het.”33 When Ya‘akov had ended commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and breathed his last and was brought in to his people.


1 Yosef fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Yosef commanded his servants, the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Isra’el, 3 and forty days were completed for him, for such is the time completed for embalming. And the Mitsrites wept for him seventy days.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 50)4 When the days of weeping for him had passed, Yosef spoke to Pharaoh’s household, saying, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “See, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Kena‘an, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ”

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 50)6 Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”7 So Yosef went up to bury his father. And with him went up all Pharaoh’s servants—the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Mitsrayim— 8 and all the house of Yosef and his brothers and his father’s house. Only their little ones and their flocks and herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 50)9 And chariots and horsemen also went up with him. And it was a very great company.10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the other side of the Yarden, they lamented there with a very great and heavy lamentation; and he observed a mourning of seven days for his father.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 50)11 Now when the Kena‘ani, the inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Mitsrites.” Therefore, they called it Avel-Mitzrayim [mourning of Mitsrayim], which is on the other side of the Yarden.12 And his sons did to him just as he had commanded them.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 50)13 And his sons brought him to the land of Kena‘an, and they buried him in the cave of the field of Makhpelah, which field Avraham had bought for burial property from ‘Efron the Hitti before Mamre. 14 And Yosef returned to Mitsrayim, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.


15 Now Yosef’s brothers saw that their father had died, and they said, “Perhaps Yosef will hate us and return to us all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to go to Yosef, to say, “Your father commanded us before his death, saying:


17 ‘So shall you say to Yosef: Please, forgive now your brothers’ transgression and their sin, for they did evil to you.’ Now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the Elohim of your father.” Yosef wept when they spoke to him.

Vayechi 6th Portion (Gen 50)18 His brothers also went and fell before him, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”19 But Yosef said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I instead of Elohim? 20 Indeed, you intended evil against me, but Elohim intended it for good, in order to bring about what is at present to keep a great populace alive.

Vayechi 7th Portion-Maftir (Gen 50)

21 So now do not fear. I will sustain you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their hearts.22 So Yosef dwelt in Mitsrayim, he and his father’s household. And Yosef lived a hundred and ten years. 23 Yosef saw children of a third generation born to Efrayim. Also the children of Makhir the son of M’nasheh were born on Yosef’s knees.

Vayechi Maftir (Gen 50)24 Yosef said to his brothers, “I am going to die; Elohim shall certainly visit you and take you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Avraham, to Yitz’chak, and to Ya‘akov.” 25 And Yosef adjured the children of Isra’el, saying, “Elohim shall certainly visit you, and you shall bring up my bones out of here.”26 And Yosef died at the age of one hundred ten years. And they embalmed him, and he was placed into a coffin in Mitsrayim.

Spiritual

Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26)