Genesis 47
1 Joseph chose five of his [older] brothers to go with him to talk to the king. He introduced his [older] brothers to the king, and then he said, “My father and my [older] brothers [and younger brother] have come from the Canaan region. They have brought all their sheep and goats and cattle and everything else that they own, and they are living now in Goshen region.”
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.
And he took of his brethren five men, and set them before Pharao.
3 The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”
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.
4 They also said to him, “We have come here to live for a while in this land, because the famine is very severe in Canaan, and our animals have no (pasture/grass to eat) there. So now, please let us live in the Goshen region.”
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 among 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].
5 The king said to Joseph, “I am happy that your father and your [older] brothers [and younger brother] have come to you.
And Pharao spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father, and your brethren, are come to you.
6 They can live wherever you want in the whole country of Egypt. Give your father and your brothers the best part of the land. They can live in Goshen. And if you know that any of them have any special ability to work with livestock, have them be in charge of my own livestock, too.”
Behold, the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brethren in the best land.
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob [into the palace] and introduced him to the king. Jacob asked God to bless the king.
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharao; and Jacob blessed Pharao.
8 Then the king asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
And Pharao said to Jacob, How many are the years of the days of your life?
9 Jacob replied, “I have been traveling around for 130 years. I have not lived as long as my ancestors, but my life has been full of troubles.”
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.
10 Then Jacob again [asked God to] bless the king, and left him.
And Jacob blessed Pharao, and departed from him.
11 [That is how Joseph enabled his father and older] brothers [and younger brother] to start living in Egypt. As the king had commanded, he gave them property in the best part of the land, in [Goshen, which is now called] Rameses.
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.
12 Joseph also provided food for all his father’s family. The amounts that he gave them were according to how many children each of them had.
And Joseph gave provision to his father, and his brethren, and to all the house of his father, corn for each person.
13 There were no crops growing in the whole region, because the famine was very severe. The people of Egypt and Canaan [MTY] became weak because they did not have enough food to eat.
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.
14 Joseph collected all the money that the people in Egypt and Canaan paid for the grain they were buying from him, and he brought the money to the king’s palace.
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.
15 When the people of Egypt and Canaan had spent all their money for grain, they all kept coming to Joseph and saying, “Please give us some food! If you do not give us grain, we will die [RHQ]! We have used all our money to buy food, and we have no money left!”
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.
16 Joseph replied, “Since your money is all gone, bring me your livestock. If you do that, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.”
And Joseph said to them, Bring your cattle, and I will give you bread for your cattle, if your money is spent.
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph. He gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle, and their donkeys.
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.
18 The next year they came to him again and said, “We cannot hide this from you: We have no more money, and now our livestock belongs to you. We have only our bodies and our land to give to you. We have nothing else left.
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].
19 (If you do not give us some food, we will die!/Do you want to watch us die?) [RHQ] If you do not give us seeds, our fields will become useless [IDM]. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we will be the king’s slaves, and he will own the land. Give us seeds that we can plant and grow food, in order that we will not die, and in order that our land will not become like a desert.”
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.
20 So Joseph bought all the farms in Egypt for the king. The people of Egypt each sold their land to him because the famine was very severe, [and they had no other way to get money to buy food]. So all the farms became the king’s farms.
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.
21 As a result, Joseph caused all the people from one border of the country to the other to become the king’s slaves.
And he brought the people into bondage to him, for servants, from one extremity of Egypt to the other,
22 But he did not buy the priests’ land, because they received food from the king regularly, so the food that the king gave them was enough for them. That is the reason they did not sell their land to him.
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.
23 Joseph said to the people [who sold themselves and their land to him], “Listen to me! Today I have bought you and your land for the king. So here are seeds for you so that you can plant them in the ground.
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.
24 But when you harvest the crop, you must give one-fifth of the crop to the king. The rest of the crop you can keep, to be seed to plant in the fields, and to be food for you and your children and for everyone else in your household to eat.”
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.
25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! We want you to be pleased with us. And we will be the king’s slaves.”
And they said, You have saved us; we have found favor before our lord, and we will be servants to Pharao.
26 So Joseph made a law about all the land in Egypt, stating that one-fifth of the crops that are harvested belongs to the king. That law still exists. Only the land that belonged to the priests did not become the king’s land.
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.
27 Jacob and his family started to live in Egypt, in the Goshen region. They acquired property there. Many children were born to them there. As a result, their population increased greatly.
And Israel lived in Egypt, in the land of Gesem, and they gained an inheritance upon it; and they increased and multiplied very greatly.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years. Altogether he lived 147 years.
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.
29 When it was almost time for him to die, he summoned his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have pleased you, make a solemn promise that you will be kind to me and faithfully do what I am now asking you: When I die, do not bury me here in Egypt.
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 favor before you, put your hand under my thigh, and you shall execute mercy and truth toward me, so as not to bury me in Egypt.
30 Instead, take my body out of Egypt, and bury it in Canaan where my ancestors are buried.” Joseph replied, “I will do that.”
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.
31 Jacob said, “(Swear/Solemnly promise) to me that you will do it!” So Joseph swore to do it. Then Jacob turned over in bed, bowed his head, and worshiped God.
And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him. And Israel did reverence, leaning on the top of his staff.
