Genesis 47

1 And Joseph came and told Pharao, [saying], My father, and my brethren, and their cattle, and their oxen, and all their possessions, are come out of the land of Chanaan, and behold, they are in the land of Gesem.

Joseph 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.”

2 And he took of his brethren five men, and set them before Pharao.

Joseph took five of his brothers to go with him and introduced them to Pharaoh.

3 And Pharao said to the brethren of Joseph, What is your occupation? and they said to Pharao, Your servants are shepherds, both we and our father.

Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” “Your servants are shepherds, just like our fathers before us,” they replied.

4 And they said to Pharao, We are come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, for the famine has prevailed in the land of Chanaan; now then, we will dwell in the land of Gesem. And Pharao said to Joseph, Let them dwell in the land of Gesem; and if you know that there are amongst them able men, make them overseers of my cattle. So Jacob and his sons came into Egypt, to Joseph; and Pharao, king of Egypt, heard [of it].

“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.”

5 And Pharao spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father, and your brethren, are come to you.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have arrived to join you,

6 Behold, the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brethren in the best land.

you 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.”

7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharao; and Jacob blessed Pharao.

Then Joseph went with his father Jacob and introduced him Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh,

8 And Pharao said to Jacob, How many are the years of the days of your life?

Pharaoh asked him, “So how long have you lived?”

9 And Jacob said to Pharao, The days of the years of my life, wherein I sojourn, are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, they have not attained to the days of the life of my fathers, in which days they sojourned.

“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.”

10 And Jacob blessed Pharao, and departed from him.

Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again before leaving him.

11 And Joseph settled his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best land, in the land of Ramesses, as Pharao commanded.

So 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.

12 And Joseph gave provision to his father, and his brethren, and to all the house of his father, corn for each person.

He also provided food for all of them—his father, his brothers, and his father's whole household—depending on family size.

13 And there was no corn in all the land, for the famine prevailed greatly; and the land of Egypt, and the land of Chanaan, fainted for the famine.

No food was left in the whole country because the famine had become so bad. Throughout Egypt and Canaan people were starving.

14 And Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and the land of Chanaan, [in return for] the corn which they bought, and he distributed corn to them; and Joseph brought all the money into the house of Pharao.

By selling grain Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan, and placed it in Pharaoh's treasury.

15 And all the money failed out of the land of Egypt, and out of the land of Chanaan; and all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread, and why do we die in your presence? for our money is spent.

Once 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 And Joseph said to them, Bring your cattle, and I will give you bread for your cattle, if your money is spent.

“Bring me your livestock,” Joseph told them. “I'll give you grain in exchange for your livestock if you've run out of money.”

17 And they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in return for their horses, and for their sheep, and for their oxen, and for their asses; and Joseph maintained them with bread for all their cattle in that year.

So 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.

18 And that year passed, and they came to him in the second year, and said to him, Must we then be consumed from before our lord? for if our money has failed, and our possessions, and our cattle, [brought] to you our lord, and there has not been left to us before our lord more than our own bodies and our land, [we are indeed destitute].

But 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.

19 In order, then, that we die not before you, and the land be made desolate, buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharao: give seed that we may sow, and live and not die, so our land shall not be made desolate.

Do 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.”

20 And Joseph bought all the land of the Egyptians, for Pharao; for the Egyptians sold their land to Pharao; for the famine prevailed against them, and the land became Pharao's.

So 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,

21 And he brought the people into bondage to him, for servants, from one extremity of Egypt to the other,

and all the people became his slaves, from one end of Egypt to the other.

22 except only the land of the priests; Joseph bought not this, for Pharao gave a portion in the way of gift to the priests; and they ate their portion which Pharao gave them; therefore they sold not their land.

The 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.

23 And Joseph said to all the Egyptians, Behold, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharao; take seed for you, and sow the land.

Then 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.

24 And there shall be the fruits of it; and you shall give the fifth part to Pharao, and the four [remaining] parts shall be for yourselves, for seed for the earth, and for food for you, and all that are in your houses.

However, 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 And they said, You have saved us; we have found favour before our lord, and we will be servants to Pharao.

“You've saved our lives,” they declared. “May you continue to treat us well, my lord, and we'll be Pharaoh's slaves.”

26 And Joseph appointed it to them for an ordinance until this day; to reserve a fifth part for Pharao, on the land of Egypt, except only the land of the priests, that was not Pharao's.

So 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.

27 And Israel lived in Egypt, in the land of Gesem, and they gained an inheritance upon it; and they increased and multiplied very greatly.

The Israelites settled in Goshen in Egypt where they became prosperous landowners and rapidly increased in number.

28 And Jacob survived seventeen years in the land of Egypt; and Jacob's days of the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven years.

Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, so he lived in total 137 years.

29 and the days of Israel drew near for him to die: and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If I have found favour before you, put your hand under my thigh, and you shall execute mercy and truth towards me, so as not to bury me in Egypt.

When 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.

30 But I will sleep with my fathers, and you shall carry me up out of Egypt, and bury me in their sepulchre. And he said, I will do according to your word.

When 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 And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him. And Israel did reverence, leaning on the top of his staff.

“Swear to me that you will,” he said. Joseph swore that he would. Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.