Genesis 47
47
1Then Joseph #Gen. 46:31went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in #Gen. 45:10; 46:28; 50:8the land of Goshen.” 2And he took five men from among his brothers and #Acts 7:13presented them to Pharaoh. 3Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, #Gen. 46:33; Jon. 1:8“What is your occupation?”
And they said to Pharaoh, #Gen. 46:32, 34; Ex. 2:17, 19“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” 4And they said to Pharaoh, #Gen. 15:13; Deut. 26:5; Ps. 105:23“We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, #Gen. 43:1; Acts 7:11for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants #Gen. 46:34dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6#Gen. 20:15; 45:10, 18; 47:11The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell #Gen. 47:4in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
7Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob #Gen. 47:10; 48:15, 20; 2 Sam. 14:22; 1 Kin. 8:66; Heb. 7:7blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, #Ps. 39:12; (Heb. 11:9, 13)“The days of the years of my pilgrimage are #Gen. 47:28one hundred and thirty years; #(Job 14:1)few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and #Gen. 5:5; 11:10, 11; 25:7, 8; 35:28they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10So Jacob #Gen. 47:7blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11And Joseph situated 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 #Ex. 1:11; 12:37Rameses, #Gen. 47:6, 27as Pharaoh had commanded. 12Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all #Gen. 45:11; 50:21his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.
Joseph Deals with the Famine
13Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, #Gen. 41:30; Acts 7:11so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14#Gen. 41:56; 42:6And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for #Gen. 47:19why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”
16Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may #Gen. 43:8live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”
20Then Joseph #Jer. 32:43bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22#Lev. 25:34; Ezra 7:24Only the land of the #Gen. 41:45priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
23Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
25So they said, “You have saved #Gen. 33:15our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, #Gen. 47:22except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
Joseph’s Vow to Jacob
27So Israel #Gen. 47:11dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and #Gen. 17:6; 26:4; 35:11; 46:3; Ex. 1:7; Deut. 26:5; Acts 7:17grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29When the time #Deut. 31:14; 1 Kin. 2:1drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please #Gen. 24:2–4put your hand under my thigh, and #Gen. 24:49; Josh. 2:14deal kindly and truly with me. #Gen. 50:25Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30but #2 Sam. 19:37let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and #Gen. 49:29; 50:5–13; Heb. 11:21bury me in their burial place.”
And he said, “I will do as you have said.”
31Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So #Gen. 48:2; 1 Kin. 1:47; Heb. 11:21Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.
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Genesis 47: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 47
47
Israel Settles in Goshen
1Joseph went in to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and all their families are here. They have all their animals and everything they own from the land of Canaan with them. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2Joseph chose five of his brothers to be with him before the Pharaoh.
3Pharaoh said to the brothers, “What work do you do?”
The brothers said to Pharaoh, “Sir, we are shepherds, just as our ancestors were shepherds before us.” 4They said to Pharaoh, “The famine is very bad in Canaan. There are no fields left with grass for our animals, so we have come to live in this land. We ask you to please let us live in Goshen.”
5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6You can choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if they are skilled shepherds, they can also care for my cattle.”
7Then Joseph called his father Jacob to come in to meet Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8Then Pharaoh said to him, “How old are you?”
9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “I have had a short life with many troubles. I am only 130 years old. My father and his ancestors lived to be much older than I am.”
10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left from his meeting with him.
11Joseph did what Pharaoh said and gave his father and brothers land in Egypt. It was the best land in Egypt, in the eastern part of the country, around Rameses. 12Joseph also gave his father, his brothers, and all their people the food they needed.
Joseph Buys Land for Pharaoh
13The famine got worse; there was no food anywhere in the land. Egypt and Canaan became very poor because of this bad time. 14People in the land bought more and more grain. Joseph saved the money and brought it to Pharaoh’s house. 15After some time, the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left. They had spent all their money to buy grain. So the people of Egypt went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone. If we don’t eat, we will die while you are watching.”
16But Joseph answered, “Give me your cattle, and I will give you food.” 17So the people used their cattle and horses and all their other animals to buy food. And that year, Joseph gave them food and took their animals.
18But the next year the people had no animals and nothing to buy food with. So they went to Joseph and said, “You know that we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. So we have nothing left—only what you see—our bodies and our land. 19Surely we will die while you are watching. But if you give us food, we will give Pharaoh our land, and we will be his slaves. Give us seed so that we can plant. Then we will live and not die, and the land will grow food for us again.”
20So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. All the people in Egypt sold Joseph their fields. They did this because they were very hungry. 21And everywhere in Egypt all the people became Pharaoh’s slaves. 22The only land Joseph didn’t buy was the land that the priests owned. The priests didn’t need to sell their land because Pharaoh paid them for their work. So they used this money to buy food to eat.
23Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. So I will give you seed, and you can plant your fields. 24At harvest time, you must give one-fifth of your crops to Pharaoh. You can keep four-fifths for yourselves. You can use the seed you keep for food and planting the next year. Now you can feed your families and your children.”
25The people said, “You have saved our lives. We are happy to be slaves to Pharaoh.”
26So Joseph made a law at that time in the land, and that law continues today. The law says that one-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the Pharaoh who owns all the land. The only land he does not own is the land of the priests.
Don’t Bury Me in Egypt
27Israel stayed in Egypt. He lived in the land of Goshen. His family grew and became very large. They became landowners there and did very well.
28Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years, so he was 147 years old. 29The time came when Israel knew he would soon die, so he called his son Joseph to him. He said, “If you love me, put your hand under my leg and make a promise.#47:29 put your hand … make a promise This was a sign of a very important promise that Jacob trusted Joseph to keep. Promise that you will do what I say and that you will be truthful with me. When I die, don’t bury me in Egypt. 30Bury me in the place where my ancestors are buried. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in our family grave.”
Joseph answered, “I promise that I will do what you say.”
31Then Jacob said, “Make a vow to me.” And Joseph vowed to him that he would do this. Then Israel laid his head back down on the bed.#47:31 Then Israel … on the bed Or “Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed” or “Then Israel worshiped on the head of the staff.”
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