Genesis 46–47

46TH CHAPTER

Jacob’s ^[Israel’s^[ Seventh Encounter with God

¹Israel moved with all he had. When he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 

²God spoke to Israel in a vision that night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” 

“Here I am,” he answered. 

³“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, because I will make you a great nation there. ⁴I will go with you to Egypt, and I will make sure you come back again. Joseph will close your eyes ⸤when you die⸥.” 

⁵So Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob, their children, and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to bring him back. ⁶They also took their livestock and the possessions they had accumulated in Canaan. 

Jacob and all his family arrived in Egypt. ⁷He had brought his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters—his entire family. 

Jacob’s ^[Israel’s^[ Descendants—Exodus 6:14–16; 1 Chronicles 2:3–5

⁸These are the names of Israel’s descendants (Jacob and his descendants) who arrived in Egypt. 

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. 

⁹The sons of Reuben were 

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 

¹⁰The sons of Simeon were 

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 

¹¹The sons of Levi were 

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 

¹²The sons of Judah were 

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Er and Onan had died in Canaan.) 

The sons of Perez were 

Hezron and Hamul. 

¹³The sons of Issachar were 

Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. 

¹⁴The sons of Zebulun were 

Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 

¹⁵These were the descendants of the sons Leah gave to Jacob in Paddan Aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah. The total number of these sons and daughters was 33. 

¹⁶The sons of Gad were 

Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 

¹⁷The sons of Asher were 

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. 

The sons of Beriah were 

Heber and Malchiel. 

¹⁸These were the descendants of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. She gave birth to these children for Jacob. The total was 16. 

¹⁹The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were 

Joseph and Benjamin. 

²⁰In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest from the city of On. 

²¹The sons of Benjamin were 

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 

²²These were the descendants of Rachel who were born to Jacob. The total was 14. 

²³The son of Dan was 

Hushim. 

²⁴The sons of Naphtali were 

Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 

²⁵These were the descendants of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She gave birth to these sons for Jacob. The total was 7. 

²⁶The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went with him to Egypt was 66. This didn’t include the wives of Jacob’s sons. ²⁷Joseph had two sons who were born in Egypt. The grand total of people in Jacob’s household who went to Egypt was 70. 

Joseph and Jacob ^[Israel^[ Reunited

²⁸Israel sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When Israel’s family arrived in the region of Goshen, ²⁹Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet his father Israel. As soon as he saw his father, he threw his arms around him and cried on his shoulder a long time. 

³⁰Israel said to Joseph, “Now that I’ve seen for myself that you’re still alive, I’m ready to die.” 

³¹Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s family, “I’m going to Pharaoh to tell him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in Canaan, have come to me. ³²The men are shepherds. They take care of livestock. They’ve brought their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ ³³Now, when Pharaoh calls for you and asks, ‘What kind of work do you do?’ ³⁴you must answer, ‘We have taken care of herds all our lives, as our ancestors have done.’ ⸤You must say this⸥ so that you may live in the region of Goshen, because all shepherds are disgusting to Egyptians.” 

47TH CHAPTER

Jacob ^[Israel^[ Meets Pharaoh

¹Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks, herds, and everything they have. Now they are in Goshen.” ²Since he had taken five of his brothers with him, he presented them to Pharaoh. 

³Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What kind of work do you do?” 

They answered Pharaoh, “We are shepherds, as were our ancestors. ⁴We have come to live in this land for a while. The famine is so severe in Canaan that there’s no pasture for our flocks. So please let us live in Goshen.” 

⁵Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶All of Egypt is available to you. Have your father and your brothers live in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. If they are qualified, put them in charge of my livestock.” 

⁷Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and had him stand in front of Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” 

⁹Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The length of my stay on earth has been 130 years. The years of my life have been few and difficult, fewer than my ancestors’ years.” ¹⁰Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left. 

¹¹As Pharaoh had ordered, Joseph had his father and his brothers live in the best part of Egypt, the region of Rameses. He gave them property there. ¹²Joseph also provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food based on the number of children they had. 

Joseph Acquires All the Land in Egypt for Pharaoh

¹³The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere. Neither Egypt nor Canaan were producing crops because of the famine. ¹⁴Joseph collected all the money that could be found in Egypt and in Canaan as payment for the grain people bought. Then he took it to Pharaoh’s palace. ¹⁵When the money in Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Give us food,” they said. “Do you want us to die right in front of you? We don’t have any more money!” 

¹⁶Joseph replied, “If you don’t have any more money, give me your livestock, and I’ll give you food^ain exchange.” ¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. During that year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock. 

¹⁸When that year was over, they came to him the next year. “Sir,” they said to him, “you know that our money is gone, and you have all our livestock. There’s nothing left to bring you except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹Do you want us to die right in front of you? Do you want the land to be ruined? Take us and our land in exchange for food. Then we will be Pharaoh’s slaves and our land will be his property. But give us seed so that we won’t starve to death and the ground won’t become a desert.” 

²⁰Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his fields because the famine was so severe. The land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹All over Egypt Joseph moved the people to the cities. ²²But he didn’t buy the priests’ land because the priests received an income from Pharaoh, and they lived on that income. That’s why they didn’t sell their land. 

²³Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Plant crops in the land. ²⁴Every time you harvest, give one-fifth of the produce to Pharaoh. Four-fifths will be yours to use as seed for your fields and as food for your households.” 

²⁵“You have saved our lives,” they said. “Please, sir, we are willing to be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 

²⁶Joseph made a law concerning the land in Egypt which is still in force today: One-fifth ⸤of the produce⸥ belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests didn’t belong to Pharaoh. 

Jacob’s ^[Israel’s^[ Last Days in Egypt

²⁷So the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and had many children. 

²⁸Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years, so he lived a total of 147 years. ²⁹Israel was about to die. He called for his son Joseph and said to him, “I want you to swear that you love me and are faithful to me. Please don’t bury me here. ³⁰I want to rest with my ancestors. Take me out of Egypt, and bury me in their tomb.” 

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

³¹“Swear to me,” he said. So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed down in prayer with his face at the head of his bed.