Genesis 47
47
1And Joseph cometh, and declareth to Pharaoh, and saith, ‘My father, and my brethren, and their flock, and their herd, and all they have, have come from the land of Canaan, and lo, they [are] in the land of Goshen.’
2And out of his brethren he hath taken five men, and setteth them before Pharaoh;
3and Pharaoh saith unto his brethren, ‘What [are] your works?’ and they say unto Pharaoh, ‘Thy servants [are] feeders of a flock, both we and our fathers;’
4and they say unto Pharaoh, ‘To sojourn in the land we have come, for there is no pasture for the flock which thy servants have, for grievous [is] the famine in the land of Canaan; and now, let thy servants, we pray thee, dwell in the land of Goshen.’
5And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph, saying, ‘Thy father and thy brethren have come unto thee:
6the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land cause thy father and thy brethren to dwell — they dwell in the land of Goshen, and if thou hast known, and there are among them men of ability, then thou hast set them heads over the cattle I have.’
7And Joseph bringeth in Jacob his father, and causeth him to stand before Pharaoh; and Jacob blesseth Pharaoh.
8And Pharaoh saith unto Jacob, ‘How many [are] the days of the years of thy life?’
9And Jacob saith unto Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my sojournings [are] an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojournings.’
10And Jacob blesseth Pharaoh, and goeth out from before Pharaoh.
11And Joseph settleth his father and his brethren, and giveth to them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded;
12and Joseph nourisheth his father, and his brethren, and all the house of his father [with] bread, according to the mouth of the infants.
13And there is no bread in all the land, for the famine [is] very grievous, and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan are feeble because of the famine;
14and Joseph gathereth all the silver that is found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn that they are buying, and Joseph bringeth the silver into the house of Pharaoh.
15And the silver is consumed out of the land of Egypt, and out of the land of Canaan, and all the Egyptians come in unto Joseph, saying, ‘Give to us bread — why do we die before thee, though the money hath ceased?’
16and Joseph saith, ‘Give your cattle; and I give to you for your cattle, if the money hath ceased.’
17And they bring in their cattle unto Joseph, and Joseph giveth to them bread, for the horses, and for the cattle of the flock, and for the cattle of the herd, and for the asses; and he tendeth them with bread, for all their cattle, during that year.
18And that year is finished, and they come in unto him on the second year, and say to him, ‘We do not hide from my lord, that since the money hath been finished, and possession of the cattle [is] unto my lord, there hath not been left before my lord save our bodies, and our ground;
19why do we die before thine eyes, both we and our ground? buy us and our ground for bread, and we and our ground are servants to Pharaoh; and give seed, and we live, and die not, and the ground is not desolate.’
20And Joseph buyeth all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians have sold each his field, for the famine hath been severe upon them, and the land becometh Pharaoh's;
21as to the people he hath removed them to cities from the [one] end of the border of Egypt even unto its [other] end.
22Only the ground of the priests he hath not bought, for the priests have a portion from Pharaoh, and they have eaten their portion which Pharaoh hath given to them, therefore they have not sold their ground.
23And Joseph saith unto the people, ‘Lo, I have bought you to-day and your ground for Pharaoh; lo, seed for you, and ye have sown the ground,
24and it hath come to pass in the increases, that ye have given a fifth to Pharaoh, and four of the parts are for yourselves, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for those who [are] in your houses, and for food for your infants.’
25And they say, ‘Thou hast revived us; we find grace in the eyes of my lord, and have been servants to Pharaoh;’
26and Joseph setteth it for a statute unto this day, concerning the ground of Egypt, [that] Pharaoh hath a fifth; only the ground of the priests alone hath not become Pharaoh's.
27And Israel dwelleth in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they have possession in it, and are fruitful, and multiply exceedingly;
28and Jacob liveth in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, are an hundred and forty and seven years.
29And the days of Israel are near to die, and he calleth for his son, for Joseph, and saith to him, ‘If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and thou hast done with me kindness and truth; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt,
30and I have lain with my fathers, and thou hast borne me out of Egypt, and buried me in their burying-place.’ And he saith, ‘I — I do according to thy word;’
31and he saith, ‘Swear to me;’ and he sweareth to him, and Israel boweth himself on the head of the bed.
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Genesis 47
47
1So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He told him, “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 a hundred and thirty 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 grain, 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 grain to keep us alive and seed so that we can plant 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 one-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 one-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 seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old. 29#Gn 49.29-32; 50.6 When 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.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)
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