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.”
Then came Joseph and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, and their flocks, and their herds, 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 some of his brothers, five men, and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”
And Pharaoh said unto his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, as also our fathers.
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.”
They said moreover unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; because there is no pasture for the flocks of thy servants, for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan; and now let thy servants dwell, we pray thee, in the land of Goshen.
5 The king said to Joseph, “I am happy that your father and your [older] brothers [and younger brother] have come to you.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, thus, Thy father and thy brothers are come unto thee:
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.”
The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land let thy father and brothers dwell; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if thou knowest that there are among them men of activity, then appoint them rulers over my cattle.
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 placed him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Then the king asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
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 unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10 Then Jacob again [asked God to] bless the king, and left him.
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
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 assigned places of residence for his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ra'meses, as Pharaoh had 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 supplied his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household, with bread, in proportion to their families.
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 bread in all the land: for the famine was very sore; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of 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 up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
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 when the money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in thy presence, since the money is all gone?
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, Give up your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if the money be all gone.
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 unto Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks of sheep, and for the herds of cattle, and for the asses; and he supplied them with bread for all their cattle for 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 when that year was ended, they came unto him in the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money with our herds of cattle hath entirely passed into the possession of my lord; there is naught left in sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our land.
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.”
Wherefore shall we die before thy eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread; and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not rendered 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 Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh'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 as for the people, he removed them to the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end thereof.
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.
Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them by Pharaoh, and they ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them: therefore they did not sell 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.
Then said Joseph unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and sow ye 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 it shall come to pass in the harvest times, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh; and four parts shall be your own, for the seed of the field, and for your food, and for those belonging to your households, and for food for your little ones.
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, Thou hast saved our lives: let us but find grace in the eyes of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
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 made it a statute unto this day over the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests alone became not Pharaoh'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 dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years. Altogether he lived 147 years.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty and 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 when the time of Israel drew near that he was to die, he sent to call his son Joseph, and said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy eyes, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh; and deal with me in kindness and truth; bury me not, I pray thee, 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 when I shall lie with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
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 unto me; and he swore unto him; and Israel bowed himself upon the head of the bed.
