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.

Read in Logos