YOḆELIM 46 (Jubilees 46)

1 And it came to be that after Ya’aqoḇ died, the children of Yisra’ĕl multiplied in the land of Mitsrayim, and they became a great nation, and they were of one accord in heart, so that brother loved brother and every man helped his brother, and they increased abundantly and multiplied exceedingly, ten weeks of years, all the days of the life of Yosĕph.

2 And there was no adversary nor any evil all the days of the life of Yosĕph which he lived after his father Ya’aqoḇ, for all the Mitsrites honoured the children of Yisra’ĕl all the days of the life of Yosĕph.

3 And Yosĕph died, being a hundred and ten years old. He lived seventeen years in the land of Kena’an, and ten years he was a servant, and three years in prison, and eighty years he was under the sovereign, ruling all the land of Mitsrayim.

4 And he died and all his brothers and all that generation.

5 And he commanded the children of Yisra’ĕl before he died, that they should carry his bones with them when they went out from the land of Mitsrayim.

6 And he made them swear regarding his bones, for he knew that the Mitsrites would not again take and bury him in the land of Kena’an, for Maḵamaran, sovereign of Kena’an, while dwelling in the land of Ashshur, fought in the valley with the sovereign of Mitsrayim and slew him there, and pursued after the Mitsrites to the gates of Ĕrmon.

7 But he was not able to enter, for another, a new sovereign, had become sovereign of Mitsrayim, and he was stronger than he, and he returned to the land of Kena’an, and the gates of Mitsrayim were closed, and none went out and none came into Mitsrayim.

8 And Yosĕph died in the forty-sixth Yoḇĕl, in the sixth week, in the second year, and they buried him in the land of Mitsrayim, and his brothers died after him.

9 And the sovereign of Mitsrayim went out to battle with the sovereign of Kena’an in the forty-seventh Yoḇĕl, in the second week in the second year, and the children of Yisra’ĕl brought out all the bones of the children of Ya’aqoḇ except the bones of Yosĕph, and they buried them in the field in the cave of Maḵpĕlah in the mountain.

10 And the majority returned to Mitsrayim, but a few of them remained in the mountains of Ḥeḇron, and Amram your father remained with them.

11 And the sovereign of Kena’an was victorious over the sovereign of Mitsrayim, and he closed the gates of Mitsrayim.

12 And he devised an evil plan against the children of Yisra’ĕl of afflicting them; and he said to the people of Mitsrayim,

13 “See the people of the children of Yisra’ĕl have increased and multiplied more than we. Come and let us deal wisely with them before they become too many, and let us afflict them with slavery before battle comes upon us and before they also fight against us. Maybe they shall join themselves with our enemies and go up out of our land, for their hearts and faces are towards the land of Kena’an.”

14 And he appointed over them slave-masters to afflict them with slavery; and they built strong cities for Pharaoh – Pithom and Ra’amses, and they built all the walls and all the fortifications which had fallen in the cities of Mitsrayim.

15 And they made them serve with harshness, and the more they dealt evilly with them, the more they increased and multiplied.

16 And the people of Mitsrayim loathed the children of Yisra’ĕl.