Genesis 47

1So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He said, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen.” 2He then presented his brothers to the king. 3The king asked them, “What is your occupation?”

“We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were,” they answered. 4“We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen.” 5The king said to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, 6the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, 8and the king asked him, “How old are you?”

9Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted 130 years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings.” 10Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left. 11Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded. 12Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.

The Famine

13The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger. 14As they bought corn, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace. 15When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Don't let us die. Do something! Our money is all gone.”

16Joseph answered, “Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18The following year they came to him and said, “We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands. 19Don't let us die. Do something! Don't let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king's slaves, and he will own our land. Give us corn to keep us alive and seed to sow in our fields.”

20Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king's property. 21Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other. 22The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on. 23Joseph said to the people, “You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields. 24At the time of harvest you must give a fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families.”

25They answered, “You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king's slaves.” 26So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that a fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.

Jacob's Last Request

27The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children. 28Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, until he was 147 years old. 29#Gen 49.29–32; 50.6When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Place your hand between my thighs#47.29 Place… thighs: See 24.2. and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt. 30I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”

Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”

31Jacob said, “Make a vow that you will.” Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.

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Genesis 47

Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

1So Joseph #ch. 46:31 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 #See ch. 45:10the land of Goshen.” 2And from among his brothers he took five men and #Acts 7:13presented them to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh said to his brothers, #ch. 46:33 “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, #ch. 46:32, 34“Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4They said to Pharaoh, #ch. 15:13; Deut. 26:5 “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, please let your servants dwell #ch. 46:34in 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 #ch. 45:18 in the best of the land. #ver. 4 Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any #Ex. 18:21, 25able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

7Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, #ver. 10and 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 #1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 119:19, 54; Heb. 11:9, 13 sojourning are 130 years. #Job 14:1; [Ps. 39:4, 5; James 4:14] Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and #ch. 11:32; 25:7; 35:28they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their #1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 119:19, 54; Heb. 11:9, 13 sojourning.” 10And Jacob #ver. 7blessed 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 #Ex. 1:11; 12:37; [ch. 45:10] Rameses, #ver. 6as Pharaoh had commanded. 12And Joseph #ch. 45:11; 50:21provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

Joseph and the Famine

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. 14#ch. 41:56And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that 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. #ver. 19Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock 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. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? #[Neh. 5:2, 3]Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants 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 on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21As for the people, he made servants of them#47:21 Samaritan, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other. 22#[Ezra 7:24]Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that 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 #ch. 41:34fifth 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; #See ch. 33:15may it please my lord, we will be servants 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; #ver. 22the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

27Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, #See ch. 45:10 in the land of Goshen. #ch. 46:3And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. #[ver. 9]So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

29And #Deut. 31:14; 1 Kgs. 2:1 when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now #See ch. 33:15 I have found favor in your sight, #ch. 24:2 put your hand under my thigh and #ch. 24:49 promise to deal kindly and truly with me. #[ch. 50:25]Do not bury me in Egypt, 30but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and #ch. 49:29; 50:5, 13bury 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 #ch. 48:2; 1 Kgs. 1:47; [Heb. 11:21]Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.#47:31 Hebrew; Septuagint staff

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