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

Jacob Settles in Goshen

1So Joseph went and reported to Pharaoh. And he said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds, and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan. Now they are here in the land of Goshen.” 2And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh. 3And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are keepers of sheep, both we and also our ancestors.”#Or “fathers” 4And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servant’s flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen, and if you know there is among them men of ability, then appoint them overseers of my own livestock.” 7Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8Then Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”#Literally “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty years. Few and hard have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the lives of my ancestors#Or “fathers” in the days of their sojourning.” 10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and he went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and he gave them property in the land of Egypt in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed. 12And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all the household of his father with food, according to the number of their children.

The Famine in Egypt Continues

13Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. And the land of Egypt languished, with the land of Canaan, on account of the famine. 14And Joseph collected all the money found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain that they were buying. And Joseph brought the money into the house of Pharaoh. 15And when the money was spent in the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, all of Egypt came to Joseph, saying, “Give us food! Why should we die before you? For the money is used up.” 16And Joseph said, “Give your livestock and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock if your money is used up.” 17So they brought their herds to Joseph, and Joseph gave food to them in exchange for horses, their flocks, and their cattle and donkeys. And he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18When that year ended, they came to him in the following year and said to him, “We cannot hide from my lord that our money and livestock belong to my lord. Nothing remains before my lord except our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die in front of you, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, then we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Then give us seed and we shall live and not die, and the land will not become desolate.” 20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for each Egyptian sold his field, for the famine was severe upon them. And the land became Pharaoh’s. 21As for the people, he transferred them to the cities, from one end of the territory of Egypt to the other. 22Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for there was an allotment for the priests from Pharaoh, and they lived on#Literally “ate” the allotment that Pharaoh gave to them. Therefore they did not sell their land. 23And Joseph said to the people, “Look, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you so you can sow the land. 24And it shall happen that at the harvest, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh and four-fifths shall be yours, as seed for the field and for your food and for those who are in your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25And they said, “You have saved our lives. If we have found favor in the eyes of my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26So Joseph made it a statute unto this day concerning the land of Egypt: one fifth to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests alone did not belong to Pharaoh. 27So Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they acquired possessions in it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. And the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred and forty-seven years. 29When the time of Israel’s death drew near,#Literally “the days of Israel drew near to die” he called to his son, to Joseph. And he said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, that you might vow to deal kindly#Or “loyal love” and faithfully with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30but let me lie with my ancestors.#Or “fathers” Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial site.” And he said, “I will do according to your word.” 31Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

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Genesis 47

Genesis 47