Genesis 47

1 And Joseph comes and declares [it] to Pharaoh, and says, “My father, and my brothers, and their flock, and their herd, and all they have, have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they [are] in the land of Goshen.”

So Joseph went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”

2 And out of his brothers he has taken five men, and sets them before Pharaoh;

And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

3 and Pharaoh says to his brothers, “What [are] your works?” And they say to Pharaoh, “Your servants [are] feeders of a flock, both we and our fathers”;

“What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”

4 and they say to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for the flock which your servants have, for the famine in the land of Canaan [is] grievous; and now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”

5 And Pharaoh speaks to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you:

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

6 the land of Egypt is before you; cause your father and your brothers to dwell in the best of the land—they dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you have known, and there are among them men of ability, then you have set them [as] heads over the livestock I have.”

the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7 And Joseph brings in his father Jacob, and causes him to stand before Pharaoh; and Jacob blesses Pharaoh.

Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 And Pharaoh says to Jacob, “How many [are] the days of the years of your life?”

“How many years have you lived?” Pharaoh asked.

9 And Jacob says to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojournings [are] one 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.”

“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

10 And Jacob blesses Pharaoh, and goes out from before Pharaoh.

Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from his presence.

11 And Joseph settles his father and his brothers, and gives a possession to them in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded;

So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

12 and Joseph nourishes his father, and his brothers, and all the house of his father [with] bread, according to the mouth of the infants.

Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.

13 And 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;

There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

14 and Joseph gathers all the silver that is found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain that they are buying, and Joseph brings the silver into the house of Pharaoh.

Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s palace.

15 And the silver is consumed out of the land of Egypt and out of the land of Canaan, and all the Egyptians come to Joseph, saying, “Give bread to us—why do we die before you, though the money has ceased?”

When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”

16 And Joseph says, “Give your livestock; and I give to you for your livestock, if the money has ceased.”

“Then bring me your livestock,” said Joseph. “Since the money is gone, I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock.”

17 And they bring in their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gives to them bread, for the horses, and for the livestock of the flock, and for the livestock of the herd, and for the donkeys; and he tends them with bread, for all their livestock, during that year.

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 And that year is finished, and they come to him on the second year, and say to him, “We do not hide from my lord, that since the money has been finished, and possession of the livestock [is] to my lord, there has not been left before my lord except our bodies, and our ground;

When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

19 why do we die before your 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 do not die, and the ground is not desolate.”

Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

20 And Joseph buys all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians have each sold his field, for the famine has been severe on them, and the land becomes Pharaoh’s;

So Joseph acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Egypt; the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

21 as for the people, he has removed them to cities from the [one] end of the border of Egypt even to its [other] end.

and Joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other.

22 Only the ground of the priests he has not bought, for the priests have a portion from Pharaoh, and they have eaten their portion which Pharaoh has given to them, therefore they have not sold their ground.

However, he did not acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh. They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.

23 And Joseph says to the people, “Behold, I have bought you today and your ground for Pharaoh; behold, seed for you, and you have sown the ground,

Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh this day, here is seed for you to sow in the land.

24 and it has come to pass in the increases, that you 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.”

At harvest time, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and food for yourselves and your households and children.”

25 And they say, “You have revived us; we find grace in the eyes of my lord, and have been servants to Pharaoh”;

“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor in our lord’s eyes, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

26 and Joseph sets it for a statute to this day, concerning the ground of Egypt, [that] Pharaoh has a fifth; only the ground of the priests alone has not become Pharaoh’s.

So Joseph established a law that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh, and it is in effect in the land of Egypt to this day. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.

27 And Israel dwells in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they have possession in it, and are fruitful, and multiply exceedingly;

Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.

28 and Jacob lives in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, are one hundred and forty-seven years.

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the length of his life was 147 years.

29 And the days of Israel are near to die, and he calls for his son, for Joseph, and says to him, “Now if I have found grace in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, and you have done kindness and truth with me; please do not bury me in Egypt,

When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,

30 and I have lain with my fathers, and you have carried me out of Egypt, and buried me in their burying-place.” And he says, “I do according to your word”;

but when I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me with them.” Joseph answered, “I will do as you have requested.”

31 and he says, “Swear to me”; and he swears to him, and Israel bows himself on the head of the bed.

“Swear to me,” Jacob said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.