Genesis 47
47
Pharaoh Welcomes Jacob
1So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”#Gn 45:10; 46:28
2He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.#Ac 7:13 3And Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”
They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our ancestors, are shepherds.”#Gn 46:32–34 4And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to stay in the land for a while because there is no grazing land for your servants’ sheep, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe.#Gn 15:13; Dt 26:5 So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”
5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you, 6the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land.#Gn 45:10,18; 47:11 They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”#Ex 18:21,25; 1Kg 11:28; Pr 22:29
7Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?”
9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “My pilgrimage#1Ch 29:15; Ps 39:12; 119:19,54; Heb 11:9,13 has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard,#Jb 14:1; Ps 39:4–5; Jms 4:14 and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages.”#Gn 11:32; 25:7; 35:28 10So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh’s presence.
11Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses,#Gn 45:10; Ex 1:11; 12:37 as Pharaoh had commanded. 12And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food for their dependents.#Gn 45:11; 50:21
The Land Becomes Pharaoh’s
13But there was no food in the entire region, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted by the famine. 14Joseph collected all the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were purchasing, and he brought the silver to Pharaoh’s palace.#Gn 41:56 15When the silver from the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die here in front of you? The silver is gone!”
16But Joseph said, “Give me your livestock. Since the silver is gone, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks of sheep, the herds of cattle, and the donkeys. That year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the silver is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die here in front of you — both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we with our land will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed so that we can live and not die, and so that the land won’t become desolate.”
20In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21and Joseph made the people servants#47:21 Sam, LXX; MT reads and he moved the people to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other. 22The only land he did not acquire belonged to the priests, for they had an allowance from Pharaoh. They ate from their allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
23Joseph said to the people, “Understand today that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you. Sow it in the land. 24At harvest, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh,#Gn 41:34 and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your households, and your dependents.”
25“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor with our lord and will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 26So Joseph made it a law, still in effect today in the land of Egypt, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.
Israel Settles in Goshen
27Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property in it and became fruitful and very numerous.#Gn 17:6; 26:4; 35:11; Ex 1:7; Dt 26:5; Ac 7:17 28Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and his life span was 147 years. 29When the time approached for him to die,#Dt 31:14; 1Kg 2:1 he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh#Gn 24:2 and promise me that you will deal with me in kindness and faithfulness.#Gn 24:49 Do not bury me in Egypt. 30When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”#Gn 23:17–20; 25:9–10; 35:29; 49:29–32; 50:5,13; Ac 7:15–16
Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.”
31And Jacob said, “Swear to me.” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.#47:31 Or Israel worshiped while leaning on the top of his staff#Gn 48:2; 1Kg 1:47; Heb 11:21
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Genesis 47: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 47
47
1And Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brethren, and their sheep and their cattle, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 2And he took from the whole number of his brethren, five men, and set them before Pharaoh. 3And Pharaoh said to his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers. 4And they said to Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for the sheep that thy servants have, for the famine is grievous in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. 5And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee. 6The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land settle thy father and thy brethren: let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if thou knowest men of activity among them, then set them as overseers of cattle over what I have. 7And Joseph brought Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life? 9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they do not attain to the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojourning. 10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from Pharaoh. 11And Joseph settled his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12And Joseph maintained his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to the number of the little ones.
13And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very grievous; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted through the famine. 14And 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. 15And when money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread! for why should we die before thee? for our money is all gone. 16And Joseph said, Give your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle, if your money be all gone. 17And they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread for horses, and for flocks of sheep, and for herds of cattle, and for asses; and he fed them with bread for all their cattle that year. 18And that year ended; and they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide it from my lord that since our money is come to an end, and the herds of cattle are in the possession of my lord, nothing is left before my lord but our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be bondmen to Pharaoh; and give seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate. 20And Joseph bought all the soil of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them; and the land became Pharaoh's. 21And as for the people, he removed them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end of it. 22Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had an assigned portion from Pharaoh, and ate their assigned portion which Pharaoh had given them; so they did not sell their land. 23And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and sow the land. 24And it shall come to pass in the increase that ye shall give the fifth to Pharaoh, and the four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. 25And they said, Thou hast saved us alive. Let us find favour in the eyes of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's bondmen. 26And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that the fifth should be for Pharaoh, except the land of the priests: theirs alone did not become Pharaoh's.
27And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they had possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years. 29And the days of Israel approached that he should die. And he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; 30but when I shall lie with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their sepulchre. And he said, I will do according to thy word. 31And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him. And Israel worshipped on the bed's head.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.