Genesis 47

Evangelical Heritage Version

47 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, and now they are in the land of Goshen.” ² He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.

³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

They answered Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to reside as aliens in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh responded to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is open to you. Arrange for your father and your brothers to dwell in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen. If you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Joseph brought Jacob his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days and the years of your life?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days and the years of my wandering are one hundred thirty years. The days and the years of my life have been few and full of trouble, and they have not been as many as the days and the years of the lives of my fathers during the days of their wandering.” ¹⁰ Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹ Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹² Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with food, based on the number in their families.

The Famine

¹³ There was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan grew weak because of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment for the grain that they purchased, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ¹⁵ When all the money in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan had been spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die right in front of your eyes? Look, our money is running out.”

¹⁶ So Joseph said, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock if your money is gone.”

¹⁷ They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys. He supplied them with food for that year in exchange for all their livestock. ¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him during the second year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord the fact that our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock belong to my lord. My lord can see that we have nothing left but our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die right in front of your eyes, both we and our land? Purchase us and our land in exchange for bread, and we along with our land will serve Pharaoh. Give us seed, so that we may live and not die, so that the land will not be desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph purchased all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every man among the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine had them in its grip, and the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he made them all servants from one end of the territory of Egypt all the way to the other end of it.^{[a] 22} The land that belonged to the priests was the only land that he did not purchase, because the priests had a regular allotment from Pharaoh and ate from the allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Since I have purchased you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you to sow the land. ²⁴ This is what you shall do at the harvests: Give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths will be your own share, which you can use as seed to sow the field and as food for yourselves, for everyone in your household, and for your little ones.”

²⁵ They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

²⁶ Joseph made it a regulation concerning the farmland in Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should receive a fifth of the produce. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they acquired possessions for themselves there. They were fruitful and multiplied greatly. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. ²⁹ The time drew near that Israel must die, so he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truthfully with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I rest with my fathers, you are to carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

He said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ He said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the head post of the bed.^[b]