Single lesson
Jacob's Family Moves to Egypt
Genesis 46:1–47:12
Jacob’s family moved to Egypt because the famine was severe, yet this passage is also about God’s word, a family journey, Joseph’s careful planning, Jacob’s meeting with Pharaoh, and the family receiving a place to live and bread.
Before you teach
Israel, also called Jacob, travels from Beersheba with all he has. God speaks to him in the night and tells him not to be afraid to go to Egypt. The passage names the family members who came, records Joseph meeting Jacob, shows Joseph speaking with Pharaoh, includes Jacob’s appearance before Pharaoh, and ends with the family settled and fed.
Students will be able to sequence the events of Genesis 46:1–47:12 and state that God told Jacob not to be afraid and would go with him to Egypt, while Joseph and Pharaoh settled the family and Joseph fed them.
Welcome: Listen for the journey and the helpers
4 minIntroduce the passage and ask children to listen for three things as you read parts of it: where Jacob starts, what God says, and who helps the family once they arrive. Explain that Jacob is also called Israel here. Tell them they will build the order of the account as they learn it.
Genesis 46:1, Genesis 46:2, Genesis 46:3, Genesis 47:1, Genesis 47:12
Read and explain: God tells Jacob not to fear
7 minRead Genesis 46:1–7. Point out that Jacob offers sacrifices at Beersheba before continuing. God speaks by name and says, ‘Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt,’ and also says, ‘I will go down with you into Egypt.’ Then the family sets out with children, wives, livestock, and goods.
Genesis 46:1, Genesis 46:2, Genesis 46:3, Genesis 46:4, Genesis 46:5, Genesis 46:6, Genesis 46:7
Discuss: The whole family comes and Joseph meets Jacob
6 minExplain that the long list of names shows this was a real family moving together, not just a few travellers. Summarise the counted family members, then read how Judah goes ahead, Joseph comes in his chariot to meet Jacob in Goshen, and Jacob speaks when he sees Joseph alive.
Genesis 46:8, Genesis 46:26, Genesis 46:27, Genesis 46:28, Genesis 46:29, Genesis 46:30
Make and respond: Sequence the account
8 minChildren make sequence cards for key events from the passage and place them in order. Include these steps: Jacob offers sacrifices, God speaks, the family travels, Joseph meets Jacob, Joseph prepares what to say to Pharaoh, Pharaoh receives the family, Jacob meets and blesses Pharaoh, and Joseph settles and feeds the family. Retell the passage using the ordered cards.
Genesis 46:1, Genesis 46:2, Genesis 46:5, Genesis 46:29, Genesis 46:31, Genesis 47:3, Genesis 47:7, Genesis 47:10, Genesis 47:11, Genesis 47:12
Closing: Before Pharaoh and settled in the land
5 minRead Genesis 47:1–12 in selected parts. Note that the brothers say they are shepherds and ask to live in Goshen because the famine is severe. Pharaoh tells Joseph to settle them in the best of the land. Joseph brings Jacob before Pharaoh, Jacob blesses Pharaoh, speaks of his 130 years, and then Joseph gives the family a possession and bread.
Genesis 47:3, Genesis 47:4, Genesis 47:6, Genesis 47:7, Genesis 47:8, Genesis 47:9, Genesis 47:10, Genesis 47:11, Genesis 47:12
Questions to explore
Why did Jacob not need to be afraid to go down to Egypt?
Look at God’s own words about what would happen in Egypt and what God would do with Jacob there.
Genesis 46:3, Genesis 46:4
What details show that this was a whole-family move, not just a short trip by a few people?
Notice the repeated mentions of offspring, wives, little ones, livestock, goods, and the counted total.
Genesis 46:5, Genesis 46:6, Genesis 46:7, Genesis 46:26, Genesis 46:27
What happened when Jacob came before Pharaoh, and what does Jacob say about his life?
Read the short meeting carefully and list Pharaoh’s question, Jacob’s answer, and Jacob’s repeated action.
Genesis 47:7, Genesis 47:8, Genesis 47:9, Genesis 47:10
Make, think or respond
Journey Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- Plain paper or card
- Pencils or textas
- Scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Write or draw eight events from the passage on separate cards: Jacob offers sacrifices, God speaks, the family travels, Judah goes ahead, Joseph meets Jacob, Joseph speaks with Pharaoh, Jacob meets Pharaoh, Joseph settles and feeds the family.
- Mix the cards and let children work in pairs or small groups to place them in order.
- Ask children to retell the account using the ordered cards and one sentence for each event.
- Invite them to add a small symbol to each card, such as an altar, wagon, chariot, crown, or loaf of bread.
This activity helps children follow the order of Genesis 46:1–47:12, including Jacob’s meeting with Pharaoh, and notice the outcomes described in the passage.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, reduce the set to five cards and read the matching verses aloud before they choose the order.
- For older or stronger readers, ask them to add the exact verse reference to each card and explain which cards show God speaking, Joseph acting, and Pharaoh responding.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: ‘God, thank you that you spoke to Jacob and told him not to be afraid. Please help us listen carefully to your word and remember what you have said. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Genesis 46
1 Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.
2 God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.”
3 He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.
4 I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
5 Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his offspring with him,
7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his offspring with him into Egypt.
8 These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls.
19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23 The son of Dan: Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven.
26 All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct offspring, in addition to Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six.
27 The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.
28 Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.
29 Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
31 Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
32 These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’
33 It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’
34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Genesis 47
1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”
2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.”
4 They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12 Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.