Chapter 47

Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

1 Then aJoseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of bGoshen.”

2 He took five men from among his brothers and apresented them to Pharaoh.

3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “aWhat is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are bshepherds, both we and our fathers.”

4 They said to Pharaoh, “aWe have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for bthe famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants 1clive in the land of Goshen.”

5 Then Pharaoh said to 1Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6 “The land of Egypt is 1at your disposal; 2settle your father and your brothers in athe best of the land, let them 3live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any bcapable men among them, then 4put them in charge of my livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and 1presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob ablessed Pharaoh.

8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many 1years have you lived?”

9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The 1ayears of my sojourning are one hundred and 2thirty; few and 3unpleasant have been the 1years of my life, nor have they 4attained bthe 1years 5that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.”

10 And Jacob ablessed Pharaoh, and went out from 1his presence.

11 So Joseph 1settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in athe best of the land, in the land of bRameses, as Pharaoh had ordered.

12 Joseph aprovided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with 1food, according to their little ones.

13 Now there was no 1food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that athe land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.

14 aJoseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph 1and said, “Give us 2food, for awhy should we die in your presence? For our money 3is gone.”

16 Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money 1is gone.”

17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them 1food in exchange for the horses and the 2flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he 3fed them with 1food in exchange for all their livestock 4that year.

18 When that year was ended, they came to him the 1next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the 2cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left 3for my lord except our bodies and our lands.

19 “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for 1food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

Result of the Famine

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for 1every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s.

21 As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.

22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they 1lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land.

24 “1At the harvest you shall give a afifth to Pharaoh, and 2four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

25 So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; aonly the land of the priests 1did not become Pharaoh’s.

27 Now Israel 1lived in the land of Egypt, in 2Goshen, and they aacquired property in it and bwere fruitful and became very numerous.

28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt aseventeen years; so the 1length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.

29 When 1athe time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, bplace now your hand under my thigh and cdeal with me in kindness and 2faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt,

30 but when I alie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in btheir burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

31 He said, “aSwear to me.” So he swore to him. Then bIsrael bowed in worship at the head of the bed.