He Is Buried in Hebron
| And hiſe ſunes.xxx. daiges, 2472 In clene lif and ali daiges; | |
| So woren forð.x. wukes gon, get adde Iacob birigeles non. And pharaon king cam bode bi-foren, | [Fol. 48b.] So ten weeks passed away and Jacob had no burial. |
| 2476 ðat Ioſep haueð his fader ſworen; And he it him gatte ðor he wel dede, | Pharaoh heard of Joseph’s oath to his father, |
| And bad him nimen him feres mide, Wel wopnede men and wiſ of here[n], 2480 dat noman hem bi weie deren; ðat bere iſ led, ðiſ folc iſ rad, he foren a-buten bi adad; ful ſeuene nigt he ðer abiden, 2484 And bi-mening for iacob deden; So longe he hauen ðeðen numen, | and gave him leave to bury his father, and to take with him “weaponed” men. |
| To flum iurdon ðat he ben cumen, And ouer pharan til ebron; 2488 ðor iſ ðat liche in biriele don, And Ioſep in-to egipte went, Wid al iſ folc ut wið him ſent. | They crossed the Jordan, and laid the body in a tomb, and Joseph returned to Egypt. |
| Hiſe breðere comen him ðanne to, 2492 And gunnen him bi-ſeken alle ſo; “Vre fader,” he ſeiden, “or he was dead, Vs he ðiſ bodewurd ſeigen bead, Hure ſinne ðu him for-giue, 2496 Wið-ðanne-ðat we vnder ðe liuen.” | His brethren came to him to seek forgiveness, |
| Alle he fellen him ðor to fot, To beðen meðe and bedden oc; | and fell down there before his feet, and he forgave and loved them kindly. |
| And he it for-gaf235 hem mildelike, 2500 And luuede hem alle kinde-like. | [Fol. 49.] |
| [I]Oſep an hundred ger waſ hold, And hiſ kin wexen manige-fold; | Joseph waxed old; |
| He bad ſibbe cumen him bi-foren, 2504 Or he waſ ut of werlde boren; | he bad his relations come before him ere he died, |
laiges?
ðat?
wið?
Notes
235 At the bottom of fol. 48b is the catchword—“And he it for-gaff.”