Genesis 47–48

Jacob Settles in Goshen

47Joseph went in to the king and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen.” ²Joseph chose five of his brothers to introduce to the king.

³The king said to the brothers, “What work do you do?”

And they said to him, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.” ⁴They said to the king, “We have come to live in this land, because there is no grass in the land of Canaan for our animals to eat, and the hunger is terrible there. So please allow us to live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵Then the king said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, ⁶and you may choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if any of them are skilled shepherds, put them in charge of my sheep and cattle.”

⁷Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and introduced him to the king, and Jacob blessed the king.

⁸Then the king said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent wandering from place to place. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ancestors lived much longer than I.” ¹⁰Then Jacob blessed the king and left.

¹¹Joseph obeyed the king and gave his father and brothers the best land in Egypt, near the city of Rameses. ¹²And Joseph gave his father, his brothers, and everyone who lived with them the food they needed.

Joseph Buys Land for the King

¹³The hunger became worse, and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan became very poor. ¹⁴Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and he brought that money to the king’s palace. ¹⁵After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left, they went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone, and if we don’t eat, we will die here in front of you.”

¹⁶Joseph answered, “Since you have no money, give me your farm animals, and I will give you food in return.” ¹⁷So people brought their farm animals to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he kept them alive by trading food for their farm animals that year.

¹⁸The next year the people came to Joseph and said, “You know we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. We have nothing left except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹Surely both we and our land will die here in front of you. Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we will be slaves to the king, together with our land. Give us seed to plant so that we will live and not die, and the land will not become a desert.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian sold Joseph his field, because the hunger was very great. So the land became the king’s, ²¹and Joseph made the people slaves from one end of Egypt to the other. ²²The only land he did not buy was the land the priests owned. They did not need to sell their land because the king paid them for their work. So they had money to buy food.

²³Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for the king, so I will give you seed and you can plant your fields. ²⁴At harvest time you must give one-fifth to the king. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your children.”

²⁵The people said, “You have saved our lives. If you like, we will become slaves of the king.”

²⁶So Joseph made a law in Egypt, which continues today: One-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the king. The only land the king did not get was the priests’ land.

“Don’t Bury Me in Egypt”

²⁷The Israelites continued to live in the land of Goshen in Egypt. There they got possessions and had many children and grew in number.

²⁸Jacob ⁿ lived in Egypt seventeen years, so he lived to be one hundred forty-seven years old. ²⁹When Israel knew he soon would die, he called his son Joseph to him and said to him, “If you love me, put your hand under my leg. ⁿ Promise me you will not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰When I die, carry me out of Egypt, and bury me where my ancestors are buried.”

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

³¹Then Jacob said, “Promise me.” And Joseph promised him that he would do this. Then Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his walking stick.

Blessings for Manasseh and Ephraim

48Some time later Joseph learned that his father was very sick, so he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim and went to his father. ²When Joseph arrived, someone told Jacob, ⁿ “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” Jacob was weak, so he used all his strength and sat up on his bed.

³Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me there. ⁴He said to me, ‘I will give you many children. I will make you the father of many peoples, and I will give your descendants this land forever.’ ⁵Your two sons, who were born here in Egypt before I came, will be counted as my own sons. Ephraim and Manasseh will be my sons just as Reuben and Simeon are my sons. ⁶But if you have other children, they will be your own, and their land will be part of the land given to Ephraim and Manasseh. ⁷When I came from Northwest Mesopotamia, Rachel died in the land of Canaan, as we were traveling toward Ephrath. This made me very sad, and I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.” (Today Ephrath is Bethlehem.)

⁸Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these boys?”

⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons that God has given me here in Egypt.”

Israel said, “Bring your sons to me so I may bless them.”

¹⁰At this time Israel’s eyesight was bad because he was old. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Israel kissed the boys and put his arms around them. ¹¹He said to Joseph, “I thought I would never see you alive again, and now God has let me see you and also your children.” ¹²Then Joseph moved his sons off Israel’s lap and bowed facedown to the ground. ¹³He put Ephraim on his right side and Manasseh on his left. (So Ephraim was near Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh was near Israel’s right hand.) Joseph brought the boys close to Israel. ¹⁴But Israel crossed his arms and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, who was younger. He put his left hand on the head of Manasseh, the firstborn son. ¹⁵And Israel blessed Joseph and said,

“My ancestors Abraham and Isaac served our God,

and like a shepherd God has led me all my life.

¹⁶He was the Angel who saved me from all my troubles.

Now I pray that he will bless these boys.

May my name be known through these boys,

and may the names of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac be known through them.

May they have many descendants

on the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he didn’t like it. So he took hold of his father’s hand, wanting to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸Joseph said to his father, “You are doing it wrong, Father. Manasseh is the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will be great and have many descendants. But his younger brother will be greater, and his descendants will be enough to make a nation.”

²⁰So Israel blessed them that day and said,

“When a blessing is given in Israel, they will say:

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”

In this way he made Ephraim greater than Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look at me; I am about to die. But God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your fathers. ²²I have given you something that I did not give your brothers—the land of Shechem that I took from the Amorite people with my sword and my bow.”