Genesis 47
47
CHAPTER 47
1Therefore Joseph entered, and told to Pharaoh, and said, My father and brethren, the sheep and the great beasts of them, and all things that they wield, have come from the land of Canaan; and lo! they stand in the land of Goshen.
2And Joseph ordained five, the least, or meekest, men of his brethren, to come before the king,
3whom he asked, What work have ye? They answered, We thy servants be keepers of sheep, both we and our fathers;
4we came into thy land to be pilgrims, that is, to dwell for a time, for no grass is to the flocks of thy servants; for hunger waxeth grievous in the land of Canaan, and we ask that thou command us thy servants to be in the land of Goshen.
5And so the king said to Joseph, Thy father and thy brethren have come to thee;
6the land of Egypt is in thy sight; make thou them to dwell in the best place, and give thou to them the land of Goshen; that if thou knowest that witting men be in them, ordain them masters of my beasts.
7After these things Joseph brought in his father to the king, and set him before the king, and he blessed the king;
8and he was asked of the king, How many be the days of the years of thy life?
9And he answered, The days of [the] pilgrimage of my life be few and evil, of an hundred and thirty years, and those [or they] have not come to the days of my fathers, in which they were pilgrims.
10And when Jacob had blessed the king again, he went out.
11Forsooth Joseph gave to his father and [his] brethren a possession in Egypt, in Rameses, the best soil of [the] earth, as Pharaoh commanded;
12and he fed them, and all the household of his father, and gave meats to them all.
13For bread failed in all the world, and hunger oppressed the land, mostly of Egypt and of Canaan;
14of which lands Joseph gathered all the money for the selling of wheat, and brought it into the king’s treasury.
15And when price failed to the buyers, all Egypt came to Joseph, and said, Give thou loaves to us; why shall we die before thee, while money faileth?
16To whom he answered, Bring ye your beasts, and I shall give you meats for those [or them], if ye have not price.
17And when they had brought those, he gave them meats for horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses; and he sustained them in that year for the exchange of beasts.
18And they came in the second year, and said to him, We cover not from our lord, that the while money faileth, also our beasts failed altogether, neither it is hid from thee, that without bodies and land, we have nothing;
19why therefore shall we die, while thou seest this? both we and our land shall be thine; buy thou us into the king’s servage, and give thou us seeds to sow, lest while the tiller perisheth, the land be turned into wilderness.
20Therefore Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, while all men sold him their possessions, for the greatness of hunger; and he made it and all the peoples thereof subject to Pharaoh,
21from the last terms of Egypt till to the last ends thereof,
22except the land of priests, that was given of the king to them, to which priests also meats were given of the common barns, and therefore they were not compelled to sell their possessions.
23Therefore Joseph said to the peoples, Lo! as ye see, Pharaoh wieldeth both you and your land; now take ye seeds, and sow ye fields,
24that ye may have fruits; ye shall give the fifth part to the king; I suffer to you the four residue parts into seed, and into meats, to you, and to your free children.
25Which answered, Our health is in thine hands; only our God behold us, and we shall joyfully serve the king.
26From that time till to this present day, in all the land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the kings, and it is made as into a law, without the land of priests, that was free from this condition.
27Therefore Israel dwelled in Egypt, that is, in the land of Goshen, and wielded it; and he was increased, and multiplied full much.
28And he lived therein sixteen [or seventeen] years; and all the days of his life were made an hundred and seven and forty years.
29And when he saw the day of his death [to] nigh, he called his son Joseph to his bed, and said to him, If I have found grace in thy sight, put thine hand under mine hip, and swear that thou shalt do mercy and truth to me, that thou bury not me in Egypt;
30but I shall sleep with my fathers, and take thou away me from this land, and bury me in the sepulchre of my greaters. To whom Joseph answered, I shall do that that thou commandest.
31And Israel said, Therefore swear thou to me; and when Joseph swore, Israel turned to the head of the bed, and worshipped God.
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Genesis 47: WBMS
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Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
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Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
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B'resheet (Gen) 47
47
1Then Yosef went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers have come from the land of Kena‘an with their flocks, livestock and all their possessions; right now they are in the land of Goshen.” 2He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They answered Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors,” 4and added, “We have come to live in the land, because in the land of Kena‘an there is no place to pasture your servant’s flocks, the famine is so severe there. Therefore, please, let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” 5Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Your father and brothers have come to you, 6and the land of Egypt lies before you. Have your father and brothers live on the best property in the country — let them live in the land of Goshen. Moreover, if you know that some of them are particularly competent, put them in charge of my livestock.”
7Yosef then brought in Ya‘akov his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Ya‘akov blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh asked Ya‘akov, “How old are you?” 9and Ya‘akov replied, “The time of my stay on earth has been 130 years; they have been few and difficult, fewer than the years my ancestors lived.” 10Then Ya‘akov blessed Pharaoh and left his presence.
(vii) 11Yosef found a place for his father and brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the country, in the land of Ra‘amses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 12Yosef provided food for his father, his brothers and all his father’s household, taking full care of even the youngest.
13There was no food anywhere, for the famine was very severe, so that both Egypt and Kena‘an grew weak from hunger. 14Yosef collected all the money there was in Egypt and Kena‘an in exchange for the grain they bought, and put the money in Pharaoh’s treasury. 15When all the money in Egypt had been spent, and likewise in Kena‘an, all the Egyptians approached Yosef and said, “Give us something to eat, even though we have no money; why should we die before your eyes?” 16Yosef replied, “Give me your livestock. If you don’t have money, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 17So they brought Yosef their livestock; and Yosef gave them food in exchange for the horses, flocks, cattle and donkeys — all that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18When that year was over, they approached Yosef again and said to him, “We won’t hide from my lord that all our money is spent, and the herds of livestock belong to my lord. We have nothing left, as my lord can see, but our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be enslaved to Pharaoh. But also give us seed to plant, so that we can stay alive and not die, and so that the land won’t become barren.” 20So Yosef acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, as one by one the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine weighed on them so severely. Thus the land became the property of Pharaoh. 21As for the people, he reduced them to serfdom city by city, from one end of Egypt’s territory to the other. 22Only the priests’ land did he not acquire, because the priests were entitled to provisions from Pharaoh, and they ate from what Pharaoh provided them; therefore they did not sell their land.
23Then Yosef said to the people, “As of today I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you to sow the land. 24When harvest time comes, you are to give twenty percent to Pharaoh; eighty percent will be yours to keep for seed to plant in the fields, as well as for your food and for that of your households and your little ones.”
(Maftir) 25They replied, “You have saved our lives! So if it pleases my lord, we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 26Yosef made it a law for the country of Egypt, valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have twenty percent. Only the property belonging to the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
27Isra’el lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. They acquired possessions in it and were productive, and their numbers multiplied greatly.
Haftarah Vayigash: Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 37:15–28
B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Vayigash: Acts 7:9–16 (specifically vv. 13–15)
Parashah 12: Vayechi (He lived) 47:28–50:26
28Ya‘akov lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; thus Ya‘akov lived to be 147 years old. 29The time came when Isra’el was approaching death; so he called for his son Yosef and said to him, “If you truly love me, please put your hand under my thigh and pledge that, out of consideration for me, you will not bury me in Egypt. 30Rather, when I sleep with my fathers, you are to carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” He replied, “I will do as you have said.” 31He said, “Swear it to me,” and he swore to him. Then Isra’el bowed down at the head of his bed.
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