Genesis 47:13–26

The Famine in Egypt Continues

¹³Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. And the land of Egypt languished, with the land of Canaan, on account of the famine. ¹⁴And Joseph collected all the money found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain that they were buying. And Joseph brought the money into the house of Pharaoh. ¹⁵And when the money was spent in the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, all of Egypt came to Joseph, saying, “Give us food! Why should we die before you? For the money is used up.” ¹⁶And Joseph said, “Give your livestock and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock if your money is used up.” ¹⁷So they brought their herds to Joseph, and Joseph gave food to them in exchange for horses, their flocks, and their cattle and donkeys. And he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. ¹⁸When that year ended, they came to him in the following year and said to him, “We cannot hide from my lord that our money and livestock belong to my lord. Nothing remains before my lord except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹Why should we die in front of you, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, then we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Then give us seed and we shall live and not die, and the land will not become desolate.” ²⁰So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for each Egyptian sold his field, for the famine was severe upon them. And the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹As for the people, he transferred them to the cities, from one end of the territory of Egypt to the other. ²²Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for there was an allotment for the priests from Pharaoh, and they lived on^e the allotment that Pharaoh gave to them. Therefore they did not sell their land. ²³And Joseph said to the people, “Look, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you so you can sow the land. ²⁴And it shall happen that at the harvest, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh and four-fifths shall be yours, as seed for the field and for your food and for those who are in your households, and as food for your little ones.” ²⁵And they said, “You have saved our lives. If we have found favor in the eyes of my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” ²⁶So Joseph made it a statute unto this day concerning the land of Egypt: one fifth to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests alone did not belong to Pharaoh.