UGenesisi 47
1 UJosefa wasesiza wambikela uFaro wathi: Ubaba labafowethu lezimvu zabo lenkomo zabo lakho konke abalakho bavele elizweni leKhanani, khangela-ke, baselizweni leGosheni.
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 Wasethatha ingxenye yabafowabo, amadoda amahlanu, wawamisa phambi kukaFaro.
3 UFaro wasesithi kubafowabo: Iyini imisebenzi yenu? Basebesithi kuFaro: Izinceku zakho zingabelusi bezimvu, thina sonke labobaba.
The king asked the brothers, “What work do you do?” They replied, “We are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”
4 Bathi futhi kuFaro: Sizehlala njengabezizwe elizweni; ngoba kakuladlelo lemihlambi inceku zakho ezilayo, ngoba indlala inzima elizweni leKhanani. Khathesi-ke, inceku zakho ake zihlale elizweni leGosheni.
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 UFaro wasekhuluma kuJosefa esithi: Uyihlo labafowenu sebeze kuwe.
The king said to Joseph, “I am happy that your father and your [older] brothers [and younger brother] have come to you.
6 Ilizwe leGibhithe liphambi kwakho; hlalisa uyihlo labafowenu ebuhleni belizwe, kabahlale elizweni leGosheni; futhi uba usazi ukuthi kukhona phakathi kwabo amadoda azingcitshi, uwabeke abe zinduna zezifuyo phezu kwengilakho.
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 UJosefa waseletha uJakobe uyise, wammisa phambi kukaFaro; uJakobe wasembusisa uFaro.
Then Joseph brought his father Jacob [into the palace] and introduced him to the king. Jacob asked God to bless the king.
8 UFaro wasesithi kuJakobe: Mangaki amalanga eminyaka yempilo yakho?
Then the king asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 UJakobe wasesithi kuFaro: Amalanga eminyaka yobuhambuma bami ayiminyaka elikhulu lamatshumi amathathu; abemalutshwana emabi amalanga eminyaka yempilo yami, futhi kawafinyelelanga emalangeni eminyaka yempilo yabobaba ensukwini zobuhambuma babo.
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 UJakobe wasebusisa uFaro, waphuma esuka ebusweni bukaFaro.
Then Jacob again [asked God to] bless the king, and left him.
11 UJosefa wabahlalisa oyise labafowabo, wabapha isabelo elizweni leGibhithe, ebuhleni belizwe kulalo lonke, emkhonweni iRamesesi njengoba uFaro elayile.
[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 UJosefa wasebondla oyise labafowabo lendlu yonke kayise ngesinkwa, ngokomlomo wabantwanyana.
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 Njalo kwakungelakudla elizweni lonke, ngoba indlala yayinzima kakhulu; lelizwe leGibhithe lelizwe leKhanani aphela amandla ngendlala.
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 UJosefa wasebutha yonke imali eyatholakala elizweni leGibhithe lelizweni leKhanani, yamabele ababewathenga; uJosefa waseletha imali endlini kaFaro.
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 Kwathi imali isiphelile elizweni leGibhithe lelizweni leKhanani, wonke amaGibhithe eza kuJosefa esithi: Siphe ukudla; ngoba sizafelani phambi kwakho? Ngoba isiphelile imali.
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 UJosefa wasesithi: Lethani izifuyo zenu; njalo ngizalinika ngezifuyo zenu, uba imali isiphelile.
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 Basebeletha izifuyo zabo kuJosefa; uJosefa wasebanika ukudla ngamabhiza langemfuyo yezimvu langemfuyo yenkomo langabobabhemi. Wasebondla ngokudla ngezifuyo zabo zonke ngalowomnyaka.
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 Kwathi usuphelile lowomnyaka, beza kuye ngomnyaka wesibili, bathi kuye: Kasiyikuyifihlela inkosi yethu ukuthi, njengoba imali isiphelile, lemfuyo yezifuyo isingeyenkosi yethu, kakukho okuseleyo phambi kwenkosi yethu, ngaphandle kwemizimba yethu lamasimu ethu.
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 Sizafelani phambi kwamehlo akho, thina sonke lamasimu ethu? Sithenge lamasimu ethu ngokudla, thina-ke lamasimu ethu sibe zinceku zikaFaro; njalo siphe inhlanyelo ukuze siphile singafi, lokuthi umhlabathi ungalobi.
(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 UJosefa wasemthengela uFaro ilizwe lonke leGibhithe, ngoba amaGibhithe athengisa ngulowo lalowo insimu yakhe, ngoba indlala yayilamandla phezu kwabo; lelizwe laba ngelikaFaro.
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 Njalo mayelana labantu, wabasusa baya emizini, kusukela ekupheleni komunye umngcele weGibhithe kusiya ekupheleni komunye wayo.
As a result, Joseph caused all the people from one border of the country to the other to become the king’s slaves.
22 Kuphela ilizwe labapristi kalithenganga, ngoba abapristi balesabelo kuFaro, badla isabelo sabo uFaro ayebanika sona; ngakho kabathengisanga ilizwe labo.
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 UJosefa wasesithi ebantwini: Khangelani, lamuhla ngilithengele uFaro lelizwe lenu; khangelani kulenhlanyelo yenu njalo lizahlanyela ensimini.
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 Kuzakuthi-ke esivunweni limnike uFaro ingxenye yesihlanu, lengxenye ezine zibe ngezenu, kube yinhlanyelo yensimu lokudla kwenu lokwabasemizini yenu, lokudla kwabantwanyana benu.
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 Basebesithi: Usindise impilo yethu; asithole umusa emehlweni enkosi yami, njalo sizakuba yizigqili zikaFaro.
They replied, “You have saved our lives! We want you to be pleased with us. And we will be the king’s slaves.”
26 UJosefa wasekumisa kwaba ngumthetho kuze kube lamuhla, phezu kwelizwe leGibhithe, ukuthi ingxenye yesihlanu izakuba ngekaFaro; ngaphandle kwelizwe labapristi lodwa elingeyisilo likaFaro.
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 UIsrayeli wasehlala elizweni leGibhithe, elizweni leGosheni; bazizuzela imfuyo kulo, bazala, banda kakhulu.
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 UJakobe wasephila elizweni leGibhithe iminyaka elitshumi lesikhombisa; ngakho insuku zikaJakobe, iminyaka yempilo yakhe, yayiyiminyaka elikhulu lamatshumi amane lesikhombisa.
Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years. Altogether he lived 147 years.
29 Kwathi sekusondele insuku zikaIsrayeli ukuthi afe, wabiza indodana yakhe uJosefa, wathi kuye: Uba-ke ngithole umusa emehlweni akho, ake ubeke isandla sakho ngaphansi kwethangazi lami, ungenzele umusa leqiniso; ngicela ungangingcwabi eGibhithe;
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 kodwa akuthi ngilale labobaba, ngakho uzangithwala ungisuse eGibhithe, ungingcwabe engcwabeni labo. Wasesithi: Mina ngizakwenza njengokwelizwi lakho.
Instead, take my body out of Egypt, and bury it in Canaan where my ancestors are buried.” Joseph replied, “I will do that.”
31 Wasesithi: Funga kimi. Wasefunga kuye. UIsrayeli wasekhothamela phezu kwesihloko sombheda.
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.
