< 創世記 47 >
1 約瑟進去告訴法老說:「我的父親和我的弟兄帶着羊群牛群,並一切所有的,從迦南地來了,如今在歌珊地。」
And Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brethren, and their sheep and their cattle, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
And he took from the whole number of his brethren, five men, and set them before Pharaoh.
3 法老問約瑟的弟兄說:「你們以何事為業?」他們對法老說:「你僕人是牧羊的,連我們的祖宗也是牧羊的。」
And Pharaoh said to his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.
4 他們又對法老說:「迦南地的饑荒甚大,僕人的羊群沒有草吃,所以我們來到這地寄居。現在求你容僕人住在歌珊地。」
And they said to Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for the sheep that thy servants have, for the famine is grievous in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee.
6 埃及地都在你面前,只管叫你父親和你弟兄住在國中最好的地;他們可以住在歌珊地。你若知道他們中間有甚麼能人,就派他們看管我的牲畜。」
The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land settle thy father and thy brethren: let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if thou knowest men of activity among them, then set them as overseers of cattle over what I have.
7 約瑟領他父親雅各進到法老面前,雅各就給法老祝福。
And Joseph brought Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life?
9 雅各對法老說:「我寄居在世的年日是一百三十歲,我平生的年日又少又苦,不及我列祖在世寄居的年日。」
And 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 do not attain to the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojourning.
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from Pharaoh.
11 約瑟遵着法老的命,把埃及國最好的地,就是蘭塞境內的地,給他父親和弟兄居住,作為產業。
And Joseph settled 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.
12 約瑟用糧食奉養他父親和他弟兄,並他父親全家的眷屬,都是照各家的人口奉養他們。
And Joseph maintained his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to the number of the little ones.
13 饑荒甚大,全地都絕了糧,甚至埃及地和迦南地的人因那饑荒的緣故都餓昏了。
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very grievous; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted through the famine.
14 約瑟收聚了埃及地和迦南地所有的銀子,就是眾人糴糧的銀子,約瑟就把那銀子帶到法老的宮裏。
And 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.
15 埃及地和迦南地的銀子都花盡了,埃及眾人都來見約瑟,說:「我們的銀子都用盡了,求你給我們糧食,我們為甚麼死在你面前呢?」
And when money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread! for why should we die before thee? for [our] money is all gone.
16 約瑟說:「若是銀子用盡了,可以把你們的牲畜給我,我就為你們的牲畜給你們糧食。」
And Joseph said, Give your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle, if [your] money be all gone.
17 於是他們把牲畜趕到約瑟那裏,約瑟就拿糧食換了他們的牛、羊、驢、馬;那一年因換他們一切的牲畜,就用糧食養活他們。
And they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread for horses, and for flocks of sheep, and for herds of cattle, and for asses; and he fed them with bread for all their cattle that year.
18 那一年過去,第二年他們又來見約瑟,說:「我們不瞞我主,我們的銀子都花盡了,牲畜也都歸了我主。我們在我主眼前,除了我們的身體和田地之外,一無所剩。
And that year ended; and they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide [it] from my lord that since [our] money is come to an end, and the herds of cattle are in the possession of my lord, nothing is left before my lord but our bodies and our land.
19 你何忍見我們人死地荒呢?求你用糧食買我們和我們的地,我們和我們的地就要給法老效力。又求你給我們種子,使我們得以存活,不致死亡,地土也不致荒涼。」
Why should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be bondmen to Pharaoh; and give seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate.
20 於是,約瑟為法老買了埃及所有的地,埃及人因被饑荒所迫,各都賣了自己的田地;那地就都歸了法老。
And Joseph bought all the soil of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them; and the land became Pharaoh's.
21 至於百姓,約瑟叫他們,從埃及這邊直到埃及那邊,都各歸各城。
And as for the people, he removed them into the cities, from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end of it.
22 惟有祭司的地,約瑟沒有買,因為祭司有從法老所得的常俸。他們吃法老所給的常俸,所以他們不賣自己的地。
Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had an assigned portion from Pharaoh, and ate their assigned portion which Pharaoh had given them; so they did not sell their land.
23 約瑟對百姓說:「我今日為法老買了你們和你們的地,看哪,這裏有種子給你們,你們可以種地。
And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and sow the land.
24 後來打糧食的時候,你們要把五分之一納給法老,四分可以歸你們做地裏的種子,也做你們和你們家口孩童的食物。」
And it shall come to pass in the increase that ye shall give the fifth to Pharaoh, and the four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
25 他們說:「你救了我們的性命。但願我們在我主眼前蒙恩,我們就作法老的僕人。」
And they said, Thou hast saved us alive. Let us find favour in the eyes of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's bondmen.
26 於是約瑟為埃及地定下常例,直到今日:法老必得五分之一,惟獨祭司的地不歸法老。
And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, [that] the fifth should be for Pharaoh, except the land of the priests: theirs alone did not become Pharaoh's.
27 以色列人住在埃及的歌珊地。他們在那裏置了產業,並且生育甚多。
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they had possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.
28 雅各住在埃及地十七年,雅各平生的年日是一百四十七歲。
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years.
29 以色列的死期臨近了,他就叫了他兒子約瑟來,說:「我若在你眼前蒙恩,請你把手放在我大腿底下,用慈愛和誠實待我,請你不要將我葬在埃及。
And the days of Israel approached that he should die. And he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt;
30 我與我祖我父同睡的時候,你要將我帶出埃及,葬在他們所葬的地方。」約瑟說:「我必遵着你的命而行。」
but when I shall lie with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their sepulchre. And he said, I will do according to thy word.
31 雅各說:「你要向我起誓。」約瑟就向他起了誓,於是以色列在床頭上敬拜上帝。
And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him. And Israel worshipped on the bed's head.