Genesis - Chapter 47

¹ So Joseph went and told Pharaoh, 'My father and brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and cattle and all their possessions. Here they are, in the region of Goshen.'

² He had taken five of his brothers, and he now presented them to Pharaoh.

³ Pharaoh asked his brothers, 'What is your occupation?' and they gave Pharaoh the answer, 'Your servants are shepherds, like our fathers before us.'

⁴ They went on to tell Pharaoh, 'We have come to stay in this country for the time being, since there is no pasturage for your servants' flocks, Canaan being stricken with famine. So now please allow your servants to settle in the region of Goshen.'

⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,'They may stay in the region of Goshen, and if you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.' Jacob and his sons went to Egypt where Joseph was. Pharaoh king of Egypt heard about this and said to Joseph, 'Your father and brothers have come to you. The country of Egypt is open to you: settle your father and brothers in the best region.'

⁶ The country of Egypt is open to you: settle your father and brothers in the best region.'

⁷ Joseph brought his father and presented him to Pharaoh. Jacob paid his respects to Pharaoh.

⁸ Pharaoh asked Jacob, 'How many years have you lived?'

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The years of my stay on earth add up to one hundred and thirty years. Few and unhappy my years have been, falling short of my ancestors' years in their stay on earth.'

¹⁰ Jacob then took leave of Pharaoh and withdrew from his presence.

¹¹ Joseph then settled his father and brothers, giving them land holdings in Egypt, in the best part of the country, the region of Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered.

¹² Joseph provided his father, brothers and all his father's family with food, down to the least of them.

¹³ And on all the earth around there was now no food anywhere, for the famine had grown very severe, and Egypt and Canaan were both weak with hunger.

¹⁴ Joseph accumulated all the money to be found in Egypt and Canaan, in exchange for the supplies being handed out, and put the money in Pharaoh's palace.

¹⁵ When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was exhausted, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, pleading, 'Give us food, unless you want us to die before your eyes! For our money has come to an end.'

¹⁶ Joseph replied, 'Hand over your livestock and I shall issue you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money has come to an end.'

¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses and livestock, whether sheep or cattle, and for donkeys. Thus he saw them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸ When that year was over, they came to him the next year, and said to him, 'We cannot hide it from my lord: the truth is, our money has run out and the livestock is in my lord's possession. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land.

¹⁹ If we and our land are not to perish, take us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will become Pharaoh's serfs; only give us seed, so that we can survive and not die and the land not revert to desert!'

²⁰ Thus Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, since one by one the Egyptians sold their fields, so hard pressed were they by the famine; and the whole country passed into Pharaoh's possession,

²¹ while the people he reduced to serfdom from one end of Egypt to the other.

²² The only land he did not acquire belonged to the priests, for the priests received an allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them. Hence they had no need to sell their land.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, 'This is how we stand: I have bought you out, with your land, on Pharaoh's behalf. Here is seed for you to sow the land.

²⁴ But of the harvest you must give a fifth to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you can have for sowing your fields, to provide food for yourselves and your households, and food for your children.'

²⁵ 'You have saved our lives!' they replied. 'If it please my lord, we will become serfs to Pharaoh.'

²⁶ So Joseph made a law, still in force today, as regards the soil of Egypt, that one-fifth should go to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not go to Pharaoh.

²⁷ Thus Israel settled in Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there; they were fruitful and grew very numerous.

²⁸ Jacob lived seventeen years in Egypt; thus Jacob's total age came to a hundred and forty-seven years.

²⁹ When Israel's time to die drew near he sent for his son Joseph and said to him, 'If you really love me, place your hand under my thigh as pledge that you will act with faithful love towards me: do not bury me in Egypt!

³⁰ When I lie down with my ancestors, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb.' 'I shall do as you say,' he replied.

³¹ 'Swear to me,' he insisted. So he swore to him, and Israel sank back on the pillow.

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