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
1Joseph went to Pharaoh. He told him, “My father and brothers have come from the land of Canaan. They’ve brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in Goshen.” 2Joseph had chosen five of his brothers to meet with Pharaoh.
3Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What do you do for a living?”
“We’re shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh. “And that’s what our fathers were.” 4They also said to him, “We’ve come to live in Egypt for a while. There isn’t enough food anywhere in Canaan. There isn’t any grass for our flocks. So please let us live in Goshen.”
5Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6The land of Egypt is open to you. Let your father and brothers live in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. Do any of them have special skills? If they do, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in to meet Pharaoh. Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing. 8Then Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”
9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my journey through life are 130. My years have been few and hard. They aren’t as many as the years of my father and grandfather before me.” 10Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing. Then he left him.
11So Joseph helped his father and his brothers make their homes in Egypt. He gave them property in the best part of the land, just as Pharaoh had directed him to do. That part was known as the territory of Rameses. 12Joseph also provided food for his father and brothers. He provided for them and the rest of his father’s family. He gave them enough for all their children.
Joseph Saves Many Lives
13But there wasn’t any food in the whole area. In fact, there wasn’t enough food anywhere. The people of Egypt and Canaan lost their strength because there wasn’t enough food to go around. 14Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan. People paid it to him for the grain they were buying. And Joseph brought it to Pharaoh’s palace. 15When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. They said, “Give us food. What good would it do you to watch us all die? Our money is all gone.”
16“Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “You say your money is gone. So I’ll trade you food for your livestock.” 17They brought their livestock to Joseph. He traded them food for their animals. They gave him their horses, sheep, goats, cattle and donkeys. He helped the people live through that year by trading them food for all their livestock.
18When that year was over, they came to him the next year. They said, “We can’t hide the truth from you. Our money is gone. Our livestock belongs to you. We don’t have anything left to give you except our bodies and our land. 19What good would it do you to watch us die? Why should our land be destroyed? Trade us food for ourselves and our land. Then we and our land will belong to Pharaoh. Give us some seeds so we can live and not die. We don’t want the land to become a desert.”
20So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. All the people of Egypt sold their fields. They did that because there wasn’t enough food anywhere. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21Joseph made the people slaves from one end of Egypt to the other. 22But Joseph didn’t buy the land that belonged to the priests. They received a regular share of food from Pharaoh. They had enough food from what Pharaoh gave them. That’s why they didn’t have to sell their land.
23Joseph said to the people, “I’ve bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. So here are some seeds for you to plant in the ground. 24But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. Keep the other four-fifths for yourselves. They will be seeds for the fields. And they will be food for yourselves, your children, and the other people who live with you.”
25“You have saved our lives,” they said. “If you are pleased with us, we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”
26So Joseph made a law about land in Egypt. It’s still the law today. A fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land belonging to the priests didn’t become Pharaoh’s.
27The people of Israel lived in Egypt in the area of Goshen. They received property there. They had children and so became many.
28Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt. He lived a total of 147 years. 29The time came near for Israel to die. So he sent for his son Joseph. He said to him, “If you are pleased with me, put your hand under my thigh. Promise me that you will be kind and faithful to me. Don’t bury me in Egypt. 30When I join the members of my family who have already died, carry me out of Egypt. Bury me where they are buried.”
“I’ll do exactly as you say,” Joseph said.
31“Give me your word that you will do it,” Jacob said. So Joseph gave him his word. And Israel worshiped God as he leaned on the top of his walking stick.
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