Genesis 47
47
Genesis 47
1¶ Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brethren and their sheep and their cows and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2And of the least of his brethren he took five men and presented them unto Pharaoh.
3And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy slaves are pastors of sheep, both we and also our fathers.
4They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come, for thy slaves have no pasture for their sheep, for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan; now therefore, we pray thee, let thy slaves dwell in the land of Goshen.
5And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee;
6the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of valour among them, then make them rulers over my livestock.
7And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
9And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.
11Thus Joseph placed his father and his brethren 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.
12And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren, and all his father’s household with bread, according to their families.
13¶ And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the food which they bought from him; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15And when money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in thy presence for the money fails?
16And Joseph said, Give your livestock, and I will give you for your livestock if the money has failed.
17And they brought their livestock unto Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses and for the sheep and for the bovine livestock and for the asses, and he fed them with bread for all their livestock that year.
18When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord how that the money is gone; my lord also has our herds of cattle; there is not nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands.
19Why shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be slaves unto Pharaoh, and give us seed that we may live, and not die, that the land not be desolate.
20Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for each one of the Egyptians sold his field because the famine prevailed over them; so the land became Pharaoh’s.
21And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
22Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
23Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh; behold, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
24And it shall come to pass in the increase that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.
25And they said, Thou hast saved our lives; let us find grace in the sight of my lord that we might be Pharaoh’s slaves.
26And Joseph made it a statute over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
27¶ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they had possessions therein and grew and multiplied exceedingly.
28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the whole age of Jacob was one hundred forty-seven years.
29And the time drew nigh that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh and deal with me in mercy and truth; do not bury me, I pray thee, in Egypt;
30but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
31And he said, Swear unto me. And he swore unto him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Genesis 47
47
1-2Joseph took five of his brothers to the king and told him, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan. They have brought their sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else they own to the region of Goshen.”
Then he introduced his brothers to the king, 3who asked them, “What do you do for a living?”
“Sir, we are shepherds,” was their answer. “Our families have always raised sheep. 4But in our country all the pastures are dried up, and our sheep have no grass to eat. So we, your servants, have come here. Please let us live in the region of Goshen.”
5The king said to Joseph, “It's good that your father and brothers have arrived. 6I will let them live anywhere they choose in the land of Egypt, but I suggest that they settle in Goshen, the best part of our land. I would also like your finest shepherds to look after my own sheep and goats.”
7Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and introduced him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, 8and the king asked him, “How old are you?”
9Jacob answered, “I have lived only a hundred and thirty years, and I have had to move from place to place. My parents and my grandparents also had to move from place to place. But they lived much longer, and their life was not as hard as mine.” 10Then Jacob gave the king his blessing once again and left. 11Joseph obeyed the king's orders and gave his father and brothers some of the best land in Egypt near the city of Rameses. 12Joseph also provided food for their families.
A famine in Egypt
13The famine was bad everywhere in Egypt and Canaan, and the people were suffering terribly. 14So Joseph sold them the grain that had been stored up, and he put the money#47.14 money: See the note at 42.25. in the king's treasury. 15But when everyone had run out of money, the Egyptians came to Joseph and demanded, “Give us more grain! If you don't, we'll soon be dead, because our money's all gone.”
16“If you don't have any money,” Joseph answered, “give me your animals, and I'll let you have some grain.” 17From then on, they brought him their horses and donkeys and their sheep and goats in exchange for grain.
Within a year Joseph had collected every animal in Egypt. 18Then the people came to him and said:
Sir, there's no way we can hide the truth from you. We are broke, and we don't have any more animals. We have nothing left except ourselves and our land. 19Don't let us starve and our land be ruined. If you'll give us grain to eat and seed to plant, we'll sell ourselves and our land to the king.#47.19 the king: See the note at 12.15. We'll become his slaves.
20The famine became so severe that Joseph finally bought every piece of land in Egypt for the king 21and made everyone the king's slaves,#47.21 made…slaves: One ancient translation and the Samaritan Hebrew Text; the Standard Hebrew Text “made everyone move to the cities”. 22except the priests. The king gave the priests a regular food allowance, so they did not have to sell their land. 23Then Joseph said to the people, “You and your land now belong to the king. I'm giving you seed to plant, 24but one-fifth of your crops must go to the king. You can keep the rest as seed or as food for your families.”
25“Sir, you have saved our lives!” they answered. “We are glad to be slaves of the king.” 26Then Joseph made a law that one-fifth of the harvest would always belong to the king. Only the priests did not lose their land.
Jacob becomes an old man
27The people of Israel made their home in the land of Goshen, where they became prosperous and had large families. 28Jacob himself lived there for seventeen years, before dying at the age of one hundred and forty-seven. 29When Jacob knew he did not have long to live, he called in Joseph and said, “If you really love me, you must make a solemn promise not to bury me in Egypt.#Gn 49.29-32; 50.6. 30Instead, bury me in the place where my ancestors are buried.”
“I will do what you have asked,” Joseph answered.
31“Will you give me your word?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, I will,” Joseph promised. After this, Jacob bowed down and prayed at the head of his bed.
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012