Genesis 47–48

47So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He said, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen.” ²He then presented his brothers to the king. ³The king asked them, “What is your occupation?”

“We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were,” they answered. ⁴“We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen.” ⁵The king said to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, ⁶the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

⁷Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, ⁸and the king asked him, “How old are you?”

⁹Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings.” ¹⁰Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left. ¹¹Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded. ¹²Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father’s family, including the very youngest.

The Famine

¹³The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger. ¹⁴As they bought corn, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace. ¹⁵When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Don’t let us die. Do something! Our money is all gone.”

¹⁶Joseph answered, “Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone.” ¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸The following year they came to him and said, “We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹Don’t let us die. Do something! Don’t let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king’s slaves, and he will own our land. Give us corn to keep us alive and seed to sow in our fields.”

²⁰Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king’s property. ²¹Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other. ²²The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on. ²³Joseph said to the people, “You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields. ²⁴At the time of harvest you must give a fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families.”

²⁵They answered, “You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king’s slaves.” ²⁶So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that a fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king’s property.

Jacob’s Last Request

²⁷The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children. ²⁸Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, until he was 147 years old. ^29*When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Place your hand between my thighs^b and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt. ^30*I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”

Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”

³¹Jacob said, “Make a vow that you will.” Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

48Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob. ²When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed. ^3*Jacob said to Joseph, “Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. ^4*He said to me, ‘I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession for ever.’ ”

⁵Jacob continued, “Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon. ⁶If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh. ^7*I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath, as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.” (Ephrath is now known as Bethlehem.)

⁸When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”

⁹Joseph answered, “These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt.”

Jacob said, “Bring them to me so that I may bless them.” ¹⁰Jacob’s eyesight was failing because of his age, and he could not see very well. Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged them and kissed them. ¹¹Jacob said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your children.” ¹²Then Joseph took them from Jacob’s lap and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.

¹³Joseph put Ephraim at Jacob’s left and Manasseh at his right. ¹⁴But Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the elder. ¹⁵Then he blessed Joseph:^c

“May the God whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac served bless these boys!

May God, who has led me to this very day, bless them!

¹⁶May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them!

May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys!

May they have many children, many descendants!”

¹⁷Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim’s head; so he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to the head of Manasseh. ¹⁸He said to his father, “Not that way, father. This is the elder boy; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹His father refused, saying, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh’s descendants will also become a great people. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become great nations.”

^20*So he blessed them that day, saying, “The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹Then Jacob said to Joseph, “As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your ancestors. ²²It is to you and not to your brothers that I am giving Shechem, that fertile region which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”