Genesis 47Book 1 of 66 · 31 verses · MBT primary, NKJV fallback where MBT pending
Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and they are now in the land of Goshen."
And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, just as our fathers were."
And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen."
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best of the land, let them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know any capable men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the years of your life?"
And 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 attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning."
So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
And Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.
Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted because of the famine.
And Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
So when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed."
Then Joseph said, "Since your money is gone, give me your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock."
So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and the donkeys, and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.
When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We cannot hide from my lord that our money is all gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
Why should we die here before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be slaves to Pharaoh; give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was so severe upon them, and the land became Pharaoh's.
And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other.
Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a regular allowance from Pharaoh, and they lived on the allowance which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
Then Joseph said to the people, "Understand that I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
And it shall come to pass at the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households and for your little ones.
So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's slaves."
So Joseph made it a statute over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.
So Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen, and they acquired possessions there and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.
Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years in all.
When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and faithfully with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,
But let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place, and Joseph answered, I will do as you have said.
Then he said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him, so Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.