Genesis 47
47
1Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying: My father and brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are come out of the land of Chanaan; and behold they stay in the land of Gessen.
2Five men also the last of his brethren, he presented before the king.
3And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered: We thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.
4We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass for the flocks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the land of Chanaan: and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants may be in the land of Gessen.
5The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee.
6The land of Egypt is before thee: make them dwell in the best place, and give them the land of Gessen. And if thou knowest that there are industrious men among them, make them rulers over my cattle.
7After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and presented him before him. And he blessed him.
8And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of thy life?
9He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years, few, and evil. And they are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers.
10And blessing the king, he went out.
11But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had commanded.
12And he nourished them, and all his father's house, allowing food to every one.
13For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had oppressed the land: more especially of Egypt and Chanaan.
14Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it into the king's treasure.
15And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give us bread. Why should we die in thy presence, having now no money?
16And he answered them: Bring your cattle, and for them I will give you food, if you have no money.
17And when they had brought them, he gave them food in exchange for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses: And he maintained them that year for the exchange of their cattle.
18And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are gone. Neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but our bodies and our lands.
19Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes? We will be thine, both we and our lands. Buy us to be the king's servants, and give us seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness.
20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his possessions, because of the greatness of the famine. And he brought it into Pharao's hands:
21And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof,
22Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by the king: to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of the public stores. And therefore they were not forced to sell their possessions.
23Then Joseph said to the people: Behold, as you see, both you and your lands belong to Pharao: Take seed and sow the fields,
24That you may have corn. The fifth part you shall give to the king: the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your families and children.
25And they answered: Our life is in thy hand. Only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.
26From that time unto this day, in the whole land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the king: and it is become as a law, except the land of the priests, which was free from this covenant.
27So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it: and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.
28And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years.
29And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh, and thou shalt shew me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt.
30But I will sleep with my fathers; and thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying place of my ancestors. And Joseph answered him: I will do what thou hast commanded.
31And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to the bed's head.
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 47
47
1Joseph went to report to Pharaoh and told him, “My father and brothers, along with their flocks and herds and all their possessions, have arrived from the land of Canaan and now they're here in Goshen.” 2Joseph took five of his brothers to go with him and introduced them to Pharaoh.
3Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What work do you do?”
“Your servants are shepherds, just like our fathers before us,” they replied.
4“We have come to live in Egypt because there's no grass left in Canaan for our flocks to eat,” they explained. “The famine is really bad in Canaan. So we would like to please ask permission to live in Goshen.”
5Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have arrived to join you, 6you can choose wherever you like in Egypt, the best place, for them to live. Let them live in Goshen. If you know any of them who are good at what they do, put them in charge of my livestock as well.”
7Then Joseph went with his father Jacob and introduced him to Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8Pharaoh asked him, “So how long have you lived?”
9“I have been wandering for 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My life has been short and difficult—I have not lived as long as my forefathers who also wandered from place to place.” 10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again before leaving him.
11So Joseph arranged for his father and brothers to live in Egypt and gave them land in the best part near Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 12He also provided food for all of them—his father, his brothers, and his father's whole household—depending on family size.
13No food was left in the whole country because the famine had become so bad. Throughout Egypt and Canaan people were starving. 14By selling grain Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan, and placed it in Pharaoh's treasury. 15Once the money from Egypt and Canaan had run out, the Egyptians all came to Joseph and demanded, “Give us food! Do you want us to die right in front of you? All our money is gone!”
16“Bring me your livestock,” Joseph told them. “I'll give you grain in exchange for your livestock if you've run out of money.”
17So they brought Joseph their livestock, and he provided them with grain in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. He gave them grain in return for their livestock during that year.
18But when that year was over, they came to him the next year and said, “My lord, we can't hide from you the fact that our money is gone and that you now own our livestock. All we have left to give you are our bodies and our land. 19Do you want us to die right in front of you? So buy us and our land in return for food. Then our land will belong to Pharaoh, and we'll be his slaves. Just give us grain so we can live and won't die, and so the land won't be abandoned.”
20So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. Each and every Egyptian sold their fields, because the famine was hurting them so badly. The land ended up being owned by Pharaoh, 21and all the people became his slaves,#47:21. “The people became his slaves”: Septuagint and other ancient translations. The Hebrew has “he moved them to the cities.” from one end of Egypt to the other. 22The only land he didn't buy belonged to the priests because they had a food allowance provided to them by Pharaoh, so they didn't have to sell their land.
23Then Joseph told the people, “Listen to me! Now that I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh, I'm giving you some seed for you to sow the fields. 24However, when it's harvested, you have to give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you can keep as seed for the fields and as food for you, your households, and your children.”
25“You've saved our lives,” they declared. “May you continue to treat us well, my lord, and we'll be Pharaoh's slaves.”
26So Joseph made it a law for Egypt which is still is in effect today that one-fifth of all produce from the land belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests' land was exempt since it did not belong to Pharaoh.
27The Israelites settled in Goshen in Egypt where they became prosperous landowners and rapidly increased in number. 28Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, so he lived in total 147 years.
29When the time came for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If you think well of me, place your hand under my thigh and promise to treat me with trustworthy love and faithfulness. Don't bury me here in Egypt. 30When I die, bury me with my forefathers. You must take my body from Egypt to the family tomb and bury me with them.”
“I will do as you say,” Joseph promised.
31“Swear to me that you will,” he said. Joseph swore that he would. Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com