Genesis 47–48

PHARAOH WELCOMES JACOB

47So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”^q

²He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.^{r 3}And Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our ancestors, are shepherds.”^{s 4}And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to stay in the land for a while because there is no grazing land for your servants’ sheep, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe.^a So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”

⁵Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you, ⁶the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land.^b They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”^c

⁷Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?”

⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, “My pilgrimage^d has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard,^e and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages.”^{f 10}So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹¹Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses,^g as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹²And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food for their dependents.^h

THE LAND BECOMES PHARAOH’S

¹³But there was no food in the entire region, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted by the famine. ¹⁴Joseph collected all the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were purchasing, and he brought the silver to Pharaoh’s palace.^{i 15}When the silver from the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die here in front of you? The silver is gone!”

¹⁶But Joseph said, “Give me your livestock. Since the silver is gone, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” ¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks of sheep, the herds of cattle, and the donkeys. That year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the silver is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹Why should we die here in front of you—both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we with our land will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed so that we can live and not die, and so that the land won’t become desolate.”

²⁰In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹and Joseph made the people servants^A from one end of Egypt to the other. ²²The only land he did not acquire belonged to the priests, for they had an allowance from Pharaoh. They ate from their allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

²³Joseph said to the people, “Understand today that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you. Sow it in the land. ²⁴At harvest, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh,^j and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your households, and your dependents.”

²⁵“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor with our lord and will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁶So Joseph made it a law, still in effect today in the land of Egypt, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.

ISRAEL SETTLES IN GOSHEN

²⁷Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property in it and became fruitful and very numerous.^{k 28}Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and his life span was 147 years. ²⁹When the time approached for him to die,^l he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh^m and promise me that you will deal with me in kindness and faithfulness.ⁿ Do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”^o

Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.”

³¹And Jacob said, “Swear to me.” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.^Ap

JACOB BLESSES EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH

48Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^a appeared to me at Luz^b in the land of Canaan and blessed me. ⁴He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession^c to your future descendants.’^{d 5}Your two sons^e born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine.^f Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. ⁶Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. ⁷When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way,^g some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”

⁹And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.”

So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.”^{h 10}Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly^B see.ⁱ Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them.^{j 11}Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” ¹²Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.^k

EPHRAIM’S GREATER BLESSING

¹³Then Joseph took them both—with his right hand Ephraim toward Israel’s left, and with his left hand Manasseh toward Israel’s right—and brought them to Israel. ¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.^{l 15}Then he blessed Joseph and said:

The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,^m

the God who has been my shepherdⁿ all my life to this day,

¹⁶the angel who has redeemed me from all harm^o—

may he bless these boys.

And may they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,^p

and may they grow to be numerous within the land.

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake^A and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. ¹⁸Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe,^B and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”^{C 20}So he blessed them that day, putting Ephraim before Manasseh when he said, “The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”

²¹Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.^{q 22}Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope^D that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”^r