Genesis 47
1 Ingressus ergo Ioseph nunciavit Pharaoni, dicens: Pater meus et fratres, oves eorum et armenta, et cuncta quæ possident, venerunt de Terra Chanaan: et ecce consistunt in Terra Gessen.
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.”
2 Extremos quoque fratrum suorum quinque viros constituit coram rege:
3 quos ille interrogavit: Quid habetis operis? Responderunt: Pastores ovium sumus servi tui, et nos, et patres nostri.
The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”
4 Ad peregrinandum in terra tua venimus: quoniam non est herba gregibus servorum tuorum, ingravescente fame in terra Chanaan: petimusque ut esse nos iubeas servos tuos in Terra Gessen.
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.”
5 Dixit itaque rex ad Ioseph: Pater tuus et fratres tui venerunt ad te.
The king said to Joseph, “I am happy that your father and your [older] brothers [and younger brother] have come to you.
6 Terra Ægypti in conspectu tuo est: in optimo loco fac eos habitare, et trade eis Terram Gessen. Quod si nosti in eis esse viros industrios, constitue illos magistros pecorum meorum.
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.”
7 Post hæc introduxit Ioseph patrem suum ad Regem, et statuit eum coram eo: qui benedicens illi,
Then Joseph brought his father Jacob [into the palace] and introduced him to the king. Jacob asked God to bless the king.
8 et interrogatus ab eo: Quot sunt dies annorum vitæ tuæ?
Then the king asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 Respondit: Dies peregrinationis meæ centum triginta annorum sunt, parvi et mali, et non pervenerunt usque ad dies patrum meorum quibus peregrinati sunt.
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.”
10 Et benedicto rege, egressus est foras.
Then Jacob again [asked God to] bless the king, and left him.
11 Ioseph vero patri et fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Ægypto in optimo terræ loco, Ramesses, ut præceperat Pharao.
[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.
12 Et alebat eos, omnemque domum patris sui, præbens cibaria singulis.
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.
13 In toto enim orbe panis deerat, et oppresserat fames terram, maxime Ægypti et Chanaan.
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.
14 E quibus omnem pecuniam congregavit pro venditione frumenti, et intulit eam in ærarium regis.
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.
15 Cumque defecisset emptoribus pretium, venit cuncta Ægyptus ad Ioseph, dicens: Da nobis panes: quare morimur coram te, deficiente pecunia?
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!”
16 Quibus ille respondit: Adducite pecora vestra, et dabo vobis pro eis cibos, si pretium non habetis.
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.”
17 Quæ cum adduxissent, dedit eis alimenta pro equis, et ovibus, et bobus, et asinis: sustentavitque eos illo anno pro commutatione pecorum.
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.
18 Venerunt quoque anno secundo, et dixerunt ei: Non celabimus dominum nostrum quod deficiente pecunia, pecora simul defecerunt: nec clam te est, quod absque corporibus et terra nihil habeamus.
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.
19 Cur ergo moriemur te vidente? et nos et terra nostra tui erimus: eme nos in servitutem regiam, et præbe semina, ne pereunte cultore redigatur terra in solitudinem.
(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.”
20 Emit igitur Ioseph omnem Terram Ægypti, vendentibus singulis possessiones suas præ magnitudine famis. Subiecitque eam Pharaoni,
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.
21 et cunctos populos eius a novissimis terminis Ægypti usque ad extremos fines eius,
As a result, Joseph caused all the people from one border of the country to the other to become the king’s slaves.
22 præter terram sacerdotum, quæ a rege tradita fuerat eis: quibus et statuta cibaria ex horreis publicis præbebantur, et idcirco non sunt compulsi vendere possessiones suas.
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.
23 Dixit ergo Ioseph ad populos: En ut cernitis, et vos et terram vestram Pharao possidet: accipite semina, et serite agros,
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.
24 ut fruges habere possitis. Quintam partem regi dabitis: quatuor reliquas permitto vobis in sementem, et in cibum familiis et liberis vestris.
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.”
25 Qui responderunt: Salus nostra in manu tua est: respiciat nos tantum dominus noster, et læti serviemus regi.
They replied, “You have saved our lives! We want you to be pleased with us. And we will be the king’s slaves.”
26 Ex eo tempore usque in præsentem diem in universa terra Ægypti regibus quinta pars solvitur, et factum est quasi in legem, absque terra sacerdotali, quæ libera ab hac conditione fuit.
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.
27 Habitavit ergo Israel in Ægypto, idest, in Terra Gessen, et possedit eam: auctusque est, et multiplicatus nimis.
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.
28 Et vixit in ea decem et septem annis: factique sunt omnes dies vitæ illius centum quadraginta septem annorum.
Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years. Altogether he lived 147 years.
29 Cumque appropinquare cerneret diem mortis suæ, vocavit filium suum Ioseph, et dixit ad eum: Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, pone manum tuam sub femore meo: et facies mihi misericordiam et veritatem, ut non sepelias me in Ægypto:
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.
30 sed dormiam cum patribus meis, et auferas me de terra hac, condasque in sepulchro maiorum meorum. Cui respondit Ioseph: Ego faciam quod iussisti.
Instead, take my body out of Egypt, and bury it in Canaan where my ancestors are buried.” Joseph replied, “I will do that.”
31 Et ille: Iura ergo, inquit, mihi. Quo iurante, adoravit Israel Deum, conversus ad lectuli caput.
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.
