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.”
Therfor Joseph entride, and telde to Farao, and seide, My fadir and brethren, the scheep and grete beestis of hem, and alle thingis whiche thei welden, camen fro the lond of Canaan; and lo! thei stonden in the lond of Gessen.
And he ordeynede fyue, the laste men of hise britheren, bifore the kyng,
3 The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”
whiche he axide, What werk han ye? Thei answeriden, We thi seruauntis ben kepers of scheep, bothe we and oure faderis;
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.”
we camen in to thi lond to be pilgrymys, for noo gras is to the flockis of thi seruauntis; hungur wexith greuouse in the lond of Canaan, and we axen that thou comaunde vs thi seruauntis to be in the lond of Gessen.
5 The king said to Joseph, “I am happy that your father and your [older] brothers [and younger brother] have come to you.
And so the kyng seide to Joseph, Thi fadir and thi britheren camen to 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 lond of Egipt is in thi siyt, make thou hem to dwelle in the beste place, and yyue thou to hem the lond of Gessen; that if thou woost that witti men ben in hem, ordeyne thou hem maystris of my beestis.
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob [into the palace] and introduced him to the king. Jacob asked God to bless the king.
After these thingis Joseph brouyte in his fader to the king, and settide him bifor the king, which blesside the king;
8 Then the king asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
and he was axid of the king, Hou many ben the daies of the yeeris of thi lijf?
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 he answeride, The daies of pilgrymage of my lijf, ben feewe and yuele, of an hundrid and thretti yeer, and tho `camen not til to the daies of my fadris, in whiche thei weren pilgryms.
10 Then Jacob again [asked God to] bless the king, and left him.
And whanne he hadde blessid the kyng, he yede out.
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.
Forsothe Joseph yaf to hise fadir and britheren possessioun in Egipt, in Ramasses, the beste soile of erthe, as Farao comaundide;
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 he fedde hem, and al the hows of his fadir, and yaf metis to alle.
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.
For breed failide in al the world, and hungur oppresside the lond, moost of Egipt and of Canaan;
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.
of whiche londis he gaderide al the money for the sillyng of wheete, and brouyte it in to the `tresorie of the kyng.
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 whanne prijs failide to the bieris, al Egipt cam to Joseph, and seide, Yyue thou `looues to vs; whi shulen we die bifore thee, while monei failith?
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.”
To whiche he answeride, Brynge ye youre beestis, and Y schal yyue to you metis for tho, if ye han not prijs.
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 whanne thei hadden brouyt tho, he yaf to hem metis for horsis, and scheep, and oxun, and assis; and he susteynede hem in that yeer for the chaungyng of beestis.
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 thei camen in the secunde yeer, and seiden to hym, We helen not fro oure lord, that the while monei failith, also beestis failiden togidere, nether it is hid fro thee, that with out bodies and lond we han no thing;
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.”
whi therfor schulen we die, while thou seest? bothe we and oure lond schulen be thine, bie thou vs in to the kyngis seruage, and yyue thou seedis, lest the while the tiliere perischith, the lond be turned in to wildirnesse.
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.
Therfor Joseph bouyte al the lond of Egipt, while all men seelden her possessiouns, for the greetnesse of hungur;
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 made it and alle puplis therof suget to Farao, fro the laste termes of Egipt til to the laste endis therof,
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.
outakun the lond of preestis, that was youun of the kyng to hem, to whiche preestis also metis weren youun of the comun bernys, and therfor thei weren not compellid to sille her possessiouns.
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.
Therfor Joseph seide to the puplis, Lo! as ye seen, Farao weldith bothe you and youre lond; take ye seedis, and `sowe ye feeldis,
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.”
that ye moun haue fruytis; ye schulen yyue the fifthe part to the kyng; Y suffre to you the foure residue partis in to seed and in to meetis, to you, and to youre fre children.
25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! We want you to be pleased with us. And we will be the king’s slaves.”
Whiche answeriden, Oure helthe is in thin hond; oneli oure God biholde vs, and we schulen ioifuli serue the kyng.
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.
For that tyme til in to present dai, in al the lond of Egipt, the fyuethe part is paied to the kyngis, and it is maad as in to a lawe, with out the lond of preestis, that was fre fro this condicioun.
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.
Therfor Israel dwellide in Egipt, that is, in the lond of Jessen, and weldide it; and he was encreessid and multiplied ful mych.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years. Altogether he lived 147 years.
And he lyuede therynne sixtene yeer; and alle the daies of his lijf weren maad of an hundrid and seuene and fourti yeer.
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 whanne he seiy the dai of deeth nyye, he clepide his sone Joseph, and seide to hym, If Y haue founde grace in thi siyt; putte thin hond vndur myn hipe, and thou schal do merci and treuthe to me, that thou birie not me in Egipt;
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 `Y schal slepe with my fadris, and take thou awey me fro this lond, and birie in the sepulcre of my grettere. To whom Joseph answeride, Y schal do that that thou comaundist.
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 Israel seide, Therfor swere thou to me; and whanne Joseph swoor, Israel turnede to the heed of the bed, and worschipide God.
