Genesis 47

CHAPTER 47

1Therefore Joseph entered, and told to Pharaoh, and said, My father and brethren, the sheep and the great beasts of them, and all things that they wield, have come from the land of Canaan; and lo! they stand in the land of Goshen.

2And Joseph ordained five, the least, or meekest, men of his brethren, to come before the king,

3whom he asked, What work have ye? They answered, We thy servants be keepers of sheep, both we and our fathers;

4we came into thy land to be pilgrims, that is, to dwell for a time, for no grass is to the flocks of thy servants; for hunger waxeth grievous in the land of Canaan, and we ask that thou command us thy servants to be in the land of Goshen.

5And so the king said to Joseph, Thy father and thy brethren have come to thee;

6the land of Egypt is in thy sight; make thou them to dwell in the best place, and give thou to them the land of Goshen; that if thou knowest that witting men be in them, ordain them masters of my beasts.

7After these things Joseph brought in his father to the king, and set him before the king, and he blessed the king;

8and he was asked of the king, How many be the days of the years of thy life?

9And he answered, The days of [the] pilgrimage of my life be few and evil, of an hundred and thirty years, and those [or they] have not come to the days of my fathers, in which they were pilgrims.

10And when Jacob had blessed the king again, he went out.

11Forsooth Joseph gave to his father and [his] brethren a possession in Egypt, in Rameses, the best soil of [the] earth, as Pharaoh commanded;

12and he fed them, and all the household of his father, and gave meats to them all.

13For bread failed in all the world, and hunger oppressed the land, mostly of Egypt and of Canaan;

14of which lands Joseph gathered all the money for the selling of wheat, and brought it into the king’s treasury.

15And when price failed to the buyers, all Egypt came to Joseph, and said, Give thou loaves to us; why shall we die before thee, while money faileth?

16To whom he answered, Bring ye your beasts, and I shall give you meats for those [or them], if ye have not price.

17And when they had brought those, he gave them meats for horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses; and he sustained them in that year for the exchange of beasts.

18And they came in the second year, and said to him, We cover not from our lord, that the while money faileth, also our beasts failed altogether, neither it is hid from thee, that without bodies and land, we have nothing;

19why therefore shall we die, while thou seest this? both we and our land shall be thine; buy thou us into the king’s servage, and give thou us seeds to sow, lest while the tiller perisheth, the land be turned into wilderness.

20Therefore Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, while all men sold him their possessions, for the greatness of hunger; and he made it and all the peoples thereof subject to Pharaoh,

21from the last terms of Egypt till to the last ends thereof,

22except the land of priests, that was given of the king to them, to which priests also meats were given of the common barns, and therefore they were not compelled to sell their possessions.

23Therefore Joseph said to the peoples, Lo! as ye see, Pharaoh wieldeth both you and your land; now take ye seeds, and sow ye fields,

24that ye may have fruits; ye shall give the fifth part to the king; I suffer to you the four residue parts into seed, and into meats, to you, and to your free children.

25Which answered, Our health is in thine hands; only our God behold us, and we shall joyfully serve the king.

26From that time till to this present day, in all the land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the kings, and it is made as into a law, without the land of priests, that was free from this condition.

27Therefore Israel dwelled in Egypt, that is, in the land of Goshen, and wielded it; and he was increased, and multiplied full much.

28And he lived therein sixteen [or seventeen] years; and all the days of his life were made an hundred and seven and forty years.

29And when he saw the day of his death [to] nigh, he called his son Joseph to his bed, and said to him, If I have found grace in thy sight, put thine hand under mine hip, and swear that thou shalt do mercy and truth to me, that thou bury not me in Egypt;

30but I shall sleep with my fathers, and take thou away me from this land, and bury me in the sepulchre of my greaters. To whom Joseph answered, I shall do that that thou commandest.

31And Israel said, Therefore swear thou to me; and when Joseph swore, Israel turned to the head of the bed, and worshipped God.

Learn More About Wycliffe's Bible with Modern Spelling

Genesis 47

1So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen.” 2And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my cattle.”

7Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11Then Joseph settled 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. 12And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

13Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished 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 grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us food; why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16And Joseph answered, “Give your cattle, and I will give you food in exchange for your cattle, if your money is gone.” 17So they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the asses: and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their cattle that year. 18And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be slaves to Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh's; 21and as for the people, he made slaves of them#47.21 Sam Gk Compare Vg: Heb he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other. 22Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. 23Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” 26So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.

27Thus Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years.

29And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh, and promise to deal loyally and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30but let me lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America

Learn More About Revised Standard Version