Genesis 47
1 ingressus ergo Ioseph nuntiavit Pharaoni dicens pater meus et fratres oves eorum et armenta et cuncta quae 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 statuit 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 regione 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 Aegypti in conspectu tuo est in optimo loco fac habitare eos et trade eis terram Gessen quod si nosti esse in eis 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 haec 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 vitae tuae
Then the king asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 respondit dies peregrinationis vitae meae 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 Aegypto in optimo loco terrae solo Ramesses ut praeceperat 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 praebens 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 Aegypti 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 aerarium 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 emptoris pretium venit cuncta Aegyptus 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 quae cum adduxissent dedit eis alimenta pro equis et ovibus et bubus 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 veneruntque anno secundo et dixerunt ei non celamus dominum nostrum quod deficiente pecunia pecora simul defecerint 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 morimur te vidente et nos et terra nostra tui erimus eme nos in servitutem regiam et praebe 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 Aegypti vendentibus singulis possessiones suas prae 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 Aegypti 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 praeter terram sacerdotum quae a rege tradita fuerat eis quibus et statuta cibaria ex horreis publicis praebebantur et idcirco non sunt conpulsi 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 quattuor reliquas permitto vobis in sementem et in cibos famulis 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 laeti 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 praesentem diem in universa terra Aegypti regibus quinta pars solvitur et factum est quasi in legem absque terra sacerdotali quae libera ab hac condicione 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 Israhel in Aegypto id est 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 vitae illius centum quadraginta septem annorum
Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years. Altogether he lived 147 years.
29 cumque adpropinquare cerneret mortis diem vocavit filium suum Ioseph et dixit ad eum si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo pone manum sub femore meo et facies mihi misericordiam et veritatem ut non sepelias me in Aegypto
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 hac terra condasque in sepulchro maiorum 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 Israhel 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.
