Genesis 47

1 So then Joseph went in, and told Pharaoh, and said—My father and my brethren, and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, are come in from the land of Canaan, —and, here they are, in the land of Goshen.

Then 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.

2 Moreover out of the whole number of his brethren, he took with him five men, —and set them before Pharaoh.

Five men also the last of his brethren, he presented before the king:

3 And Pharaoh said unto the brethren of Joseph—What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh—Feeders of flocks, are thy servants, both we and our fathers.

And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered: We thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.

4 And they said unto Pharaoh—To sojourn in the land, are we come in, for there is no pasture for the flocks which pertain to thy servants, for, severe, is the famine in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, let thy servants dwell we pray thee in the land of Goshen.

We 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.

5 Then spake Pharaoh unto Joseph saying, —Thy father and thy brethren, are come in unto thee.

The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee.

6 The land of Egypt, is, before thee, in the best of the land, cause thou thy father and thy brethren to dwell, —let them dwell in the land of Goshen, And if thou knowest that there are among them men of ability, then shalt thou set them as chieftains of cattle over mine.

The 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.

7 So Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and caused him to stand before Pharaoh, —and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and presented him before him: and he blessed him.

8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob: About how many, have been the days of the years of thy life?

And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of thy life?

9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojournings, have been a hundred and thirty years, —Few and evil, have been the days of the years of my life, neither have they attained unto the days of the years of the lives of my fathers, in the days of their sojournings.

He 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.

10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, —and came forth from the presence of Pharaoh.

And blessing the king, he went out.

11 So then Joseph fixed the dwelling of 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.

But 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.

12 And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren, and all his father’s house, —with bread, according to the need of their little ones.

And he nourished them, and all his father’s house, allowing food to every one.

13 But, bread, was there none in all the land, —for the famine was, very severe, —so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine,

For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had oppressed the land: more especially of Egypt and Chanaan.

14 So Joseph gathered up all the silver that was found in the land of Egypt. and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which, they, were buying, —and Joseph brought the silver into the house of Pharaoh.

Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it into the king’s treasure.

15 And the silver was spent out of the land of Egypt and out of the land of Canaan, so all the Egyptians came in unto Joseph, saying—Do give us bread, for why should we die before thee, although, silver, hath failed?

And 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.

16 Then said Joseph: Give your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle, —if silver hath failed.

And he answered them: Bring me your cattle, and for them I will give you food, if you have no money.

17 So they brought in their cattle unto Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses and for the cattle of the flock and for the cattle of the herd, and for the asses, —and he provided them with bread for all their cattle, throughout that year.

And 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.

18 When that year was ended, then came they unto him in the second year and said to him—We will not hide from my lord, how that the silver and the herds of beasts for my lord are come to an end, —there is nothing left before my lord, save only our bodies and our ground:

And 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.

19 Wherefore should we die before thine eyes both we, and our ground? Buy thou us and our ground, for bread, —and we and our ground will become servants to Pharaoh, and give seed, that we may live, and not die, and the ground, not lie waste.

Why 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.

20 So Joseph bought all the ground of the Egyptians for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine had laid fast hold upon them, —so the land became Pharaoh’s.

So 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:

21 And as for the people, he brought them into bondage as servants, —from one end of the boundary of Egypt unto the other end thereof.

And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof,

22 Only, the ground of the priests, bought he not, —for the priests had a statutory-portion, from Pharaoh and they had been eating their statutory-portion, which Pharaoh had given them, for which cause, they had not sold their ground.

Except 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.

23 And Joseph said unto the people, Lo! I have bought you this day, and your ground for Pharaoh, —see, here is seed for you, so shall ye sow the ground;

Then Joseph said to the people: Behold as you see, both you and your lands belong to Pharao: take seed and sow the fields,

24 and it shall come to pass that, of the yield, ye shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, —but the four parts, shall be your own—for seed for the field, and for your food and for them who are in your households and for food for your little ones.

That 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.

25 And they said—Thou hast saved our lives! let us find favour in the eyes of my lord, so will we become Pharaoh’s servants.

And they answered: Our life is in thy hand: only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.

26 And Joseph appointed it for a statute—until this day, regarding the ground of Egypt, that Pharaoh, should take a fifth, —only, the ground of the priests, was, theirs alone, it had not become Pharaoh’s.

From 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.

27 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, —and gained possessions therein, and became fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.

So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it: and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.

28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, —so it came to pass that the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years.

And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years.

29 And the days of Israel drew near that he must die, so he called for his son for Joseph and said to him—If, I pray thee I have found favour in thine eyes, place, I pray thee thy hand under my thigh, —so shalt thou deal with me in lovingkindness and faithfulness—Do not I pray thee, bury me in Egypt.

And 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:

30 When I shall lie down with my fathers, then shalt thou carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said: I, will do according to thy word.

But 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.

31 Then he said: Come, swear to me! And he sware to him. Then did Israel bow himself down on the head of the couch.

And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to the bed’s head.