Genesis 47
47
1And Joseph cometh, and declareth to Pharaoh, and saith, ‘My father, and my brethren, and their flock, and their herd, and all they have, have come from the land of Canaan, and lo, they [are] in the land of Goshen.’
2And out of his brethren he hath taken five men, and setteth them before Pharaoh;
3and Pharaoh saith unto his brethren, ‘What [are] your works?’ and they say unto Pharaoh, ‘Thy servants [are] feeders of a flock, both we and our fathers;’
4and they say unto Pharaoh, ‘To sojourn in the land we have come, for there is no pasture for the flock which thy servants have, for grievous [is] the famine in the land of Canaan; and now, let thy servants, we pray thee, dwell in the land of Goshen.’
5And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph, saying, ‘Thy father and thy brethren have come unto thee:
6the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land cause thy father and thy brethren to dwell — they dwell in the land of Goshen, and if thou hast known, and there are among them men of ability, then thou hast set them heads over the cattle I have.’
7And Joseph bringeth in Jacob his father, and causeth him to stand before Pharaoh; and Jacob blesseth Pharaoh.
8And Pharaoh saith unto Jacob, ‘How many [are] the days of the years of thy life?’
9And Jacob saith unto Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my sojournings [are] an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojournings.’
10And Jacob blesseth Pharaoh, and goeth out from before Pharaoh.
11And Joseph settleth his father and his brethren, and giveth to them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded;
12and Joseph nourisheth his father, and his brethren, and all the house of his father [with] bread, according to the mouth of the infants.
13And there is no bread in all the land, for the famine [is] very grievous, and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan are feeble because of the famine;
14and Joseph gathereth all the silver that is found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn that they are buying, and Joseph bringeth the silver into the house of Pharaoh.
15And the silver is consumed out of the land of Egypt, and out of the land of Canaan, and all the Egyptians come in unto Joseph, saying, ‘Give to us bread — why do we die before thee, though the money hath ceased?’
16and Joseph saith, ‘Give your cattle; and I give to you for your cattle, if the money hath ceased.’
17And they bring in their cattle unto Joseph, and Joseph giveth to them bread, for the horses, and for the cattle of the flock, and for the cattle of the herd, and for the asses; and he tendeth them with bread, for all their cattle, during that year.
18And that year is finished, and they come in unto him on the second year, and say to him, ‘We do not hide from my lord, that since the money hath been finished, and possession of the cattle [is] unto my lord, there hath not been left before my lord save our bodies, and our ground;
19why do we die before thine eyes, both we and our ground? buy us and our ground for bread, and we and our ground are servants to Pharaoh; and give seed, and we live, and die not, and the ground is not desolate.’
20And Joseph buyeth all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians have sold each his field, for the famine hath been severe upon them, and the land becometh Pharaoh's;
21as to the people he hath removed them to cities from the [one] end of the border of Egypt even unto its [other] end.
22Only the ground of the priests he hath not bought, for the priests have a portion from Pharaoh, and they have eaten their portion which Pharaoh hath given to them, therefore they have not sold their ground.
23And Joseph saith unto the people, ‘Lo, I have bought you to-day and your ground for Pharaoh; lo, seed for you, and ye have sown the ground,
24and it hath come to pass in the increases, that ye have given a fifth to Pharaoh, and four of the parts are for yourselves, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for those who [are] in your houses, and for food for your infants.’
25And they say, ‘Thou hast revived us; we find grace in the eyes of my lord, and have been servants to Pharaoh;’
26and Joseph setteth it for a statute unto this day, concerning the ground of Egypt, [that] Pharaoh hath a fifth; only the ground of the priests alone hath not become Pharaoh's.
27And Israel dwelleth in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they have possession in it, and are fruitful, and multiply exceedingly;
28and Jacob liveth in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, are an hundred and forty and seven years.
29And the days of Israel are near to die, and he calleth for his son, for Joseph, and saith to him, ‘If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and thou hast done with me kindness and truth; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt,
30and I have lain with my fathers, and thou hast borne me out of Egypt, and buried me in their burying-place.’ And he saith, ‘I — I do according to thy word;’
31and he saith, ‘Swear to me;’ and he sweareth to him, and Israel boweth himself on the head of the bed.
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Genesis 47: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 47
47
Jacob Blesses Pharaoh
1-2Joseph took five of his brothers with him to Pharaoh and presented them to the king. Joseph said to Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They have made their camp in the region of Goshen.”
3Pharaoh asked the men, “What is your occupation?”
“We, your servants, are shepherds, just as our fathers were,” they answered. 4“We have come to stay as temporary residents in this country, because in the land of Canaan, the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. Please give us permission to settle in the land of Goshen.”
5Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, 6the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the best part of the land, in the region of Goshen. And if there are any competent men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.” # 47:6 Or “place them as princes over my livestock,” thus making them officers of the crown and granting them legal protection. Ancient Egyptian inscriptions tell of Pharaoh owning huge herds of royal livestock with superintendents watching over them.
7Later, Joseph brought Jacob into the house and presented him before Pharaoh. And Jacob gave Pharaoh a blessing. # 47:7 Or “Jacob greeted Pharaoh with great respect.” Jacob blessed Pharaoh, not the other way around! Although he was the most powerful person on earth, Pharaoh came under the blessing of Jacob. A refugee from Canaan became the “blesser” of Pharaoh! With the authority of a prophet, Jacob blessed Egypt’s ruler. The fact that Jacob blessed Pharaoh proves that he was greater than Pharaoh (see Heb. 7:7).
8Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
9Jacob answered, “My earthly journey has been one hundred and thirty years. My years have been few and hard, but it doesn’t compare to the length of the earthly journeys of my fathers.” 10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again and departed.
11So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the choicest part of the land of Egypt, in the district of Rameses, # 47:11 Rameses was another name for Goshen. as Pharaoh had commanded. 12Joseph also provided his father and brothers and their families, down to their little ones, with all the food they needed.
13Now there was no food anywhere, for the famine was very severe. Both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14And the people of Egypt and Canaan spent all their money to buy grain. Joseph gathered all the money from the sale of grain and deposited the wealth into Pharaoh’s treasury. 15When the money ran out in Egypt and Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and pleaded with him, “All our money is gone; give us food! Why would you let us die in front of your eyes?”
16Joseph answered, “If your money is gone, then give me your livestock. I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 17So in that year, they brought their livestock to Joseph—their horses, sheep, cattle, and donkeys—and he supplied them with food in exchange for their livestock. 18The next year, they came to him and said, “Master, it’s no secret to you that we are broke. All our silver and livestock are now yours. We have nothing left but ourselves and our lands. 19Why would you let us die in front of your eyes, leaving all our lands uninhabited? Buy us and our lands in exchange for food. We’ll become Pharaoh’s slaves and give up our land. Only give us seed so that we may live and not die and so that the land will not become a desert.”
20So Joseph gained possession of all the farmland in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his land in exchange for food, for the famine was that severe. Eventually, the Egyptians had transferred all the land to Pharaoh. # 47:20 This was perhaps one of the greatest transfers of wealth in human history! This was important, for when the Israelites left Egypt, this was the wealth they would take with them (see Ex. 12:36). God used Joseph to make Egypt rich; in time, Egypt gave its riches back to God’s people—with interest. 21Everyone became a slave to Pharaoh, # 47:21 As translated from the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint. The Hebrew reads “He removed the people to the cities.” from one end of Egypt to the other. 22However, he did not take over the land of the priests, for they received royal subsidies from Pharaoh. They lived on the food he provided for them, and that is why they did not have to sell their land.
23Joseph said to the people, “Today I have acquired for Pharaoh you and all your land. Here is seed for you to sow in the land. 24But when harvest comes, you must pay one-fifth to Pharaoh, and you may keep the rest for planting your fields and for food for yourselves and your families to nourish your household and your little ones.”
25“You have saved our lives!” they said. “May we find your favor, our lord, and we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” 26Thus, Joseph established the law of the land in Egypt, which is still in effect, “A fifth will go to Pharaoh.” Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
Jacob’s Last Request
27Israel and his descendants settled in Egypt in the land of Goshen. They had many children and multiplied, and they acquired property.
28Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years and lived a total of one hundred and forty-seven years. 29When the time of Israel’s death was near, he summoned his beloved son Joseph and said to him, “Son, do me this favor before I die: Place your hand under my thigh as a pledge that you will show me kindness and loyal love. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30but when I go to rest with my fathers, I want you to carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried. # 47:30 This refers to the cave of Machpelah purchased by Abraham from the Hittites in ch. 23. Why did Jacob’s burial place matter so much to him? He was looking forward to the time of resurrection! Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all buried near the ancient site of Jerusalem, where many centuries later Jesus would be crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. On the day Jesus was nailed to the cross, tombs nearby opened, and many holy people arose in resurrection life and were seen walking about the city (Matt. 27:52–53)! In faith, Jacob asked to be buried near the spot where the Messiah would be crucified. God honored that faith and raised many holy people to life to glimpse the city they had only dreamed of! Jacob knew the fulfillment of the promise would be in Canaan, not Egypt. 31Swear that you will do this.”
So Joseph took the oath and said, “I will do as you say.”
Then Israel worshiped and leaned on the top of his staff. # 47:31 Or “by the head of his bed.” See Heb. 11:21.
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