Genesis 47–48

47Joseph went to Pharaoh. He told him, “My father and brothers have come from the land of Canaan. They’ve brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in Goshen.”

²Joseph had chosen five of his brothers to meet with Pharaoh.

³Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What do you do for a living?”

“We’re shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh. “And that’s what our fathers were.” ⁴They also said to him, “We’ve come to live in Egypt for a while. There isn’t enough food anywhere in Canaan. There isn’t any grass for our flocks. So please let us settle in Goshen.”

⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶The land of Egypt is open to you. Settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. Do any of them have special skills? If they do, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

⁷Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in. He brought him in to meet Pharaoh. Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing. ⁸Then Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my journey through life are 130. My years have been few and hard. They aren’t as many as the years of my fathers before me.”

¹⁰Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing. Then he left him.

¹¹So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt. He gave them property in the best part of the land, just as Pharaoh had directed him to do. That part was known as the territory of Rameses.

¹²Joseph also provided food for his father and brothers. He provided for them and the rest of his father’s family. He gave them enough for all of their children.

Joseph Saves Many Lives

¹³But there wasn’t any food in the whole area. In fact, there wasn’t enough food anywhere. Both Egypt and Canaan lost their strength because there wasn’t enough food to go around.

¹⁴Joseph collected all of the money that was in Egypt and Canaan. People paid it to him for the grain they were buying. And Joseph brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.

¹⁵When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all of the Egyptians came to Joseph. They said, “Give us food. Why should we die right in front of your eyes? Our money is all gone.”

¹⁶“Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “You say your money is gone. So I’ll trade you food for your livestock.”

¹⁷They brought their livestock to Joseph. He traded them food for their animals. They gave him their horses, sheep, goats, cattle and donkeys. He brought the people through that year by trading them food for all of their livestock.

¹⁸When that year was over, they came to him the next year. They said, “We can’t hide the truth from you. Our money is gone. Our livestock belongs to you. We don’t have anything left to give you except our bodies and our land.

¹⁹“Why should we die right in front of your eyes? Why should our land be destroyed as well? Trade us food for ourselves and our land. Then we and our land will belong to Pharaoh. Give us some seeds so we can live and not die. We don’t want the land to become a desert.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all of the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. All of the people of Egypt sold their fields. They did that because there wasn’t enough food anywhere. In that way, the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹Joseph made the people slaves from one end of Egypt to the other.

²²But he didn’t buy the land that belonged to the priests. They received a regular share of food from Pharaoh. They had enough food from what Pharaoh gave them. That’s why they didn’t have to sell their land.

²³Joseph said to the people, “I’ve bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. So here are some seeds for you to plant in the ground. ²⁴But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. Keep the other four-fifths for yourselves. They will be seeds for the fields. And they will be food for yourselves, your children, and the other people who live with you.”

²⁵“You have saved our lives,” they said. “If you are pleased with us, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.”

²⁶So Joseph made a law about land in Egypt. It’s still the law today. A fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land belonging to the priests didn’t become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷The people of Israel settled in Egypt in the area of Goshen. They received property there. They had children and greatly increased their numbers.

²⁸Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt. He lived a total of 147 years.

²⁹The time came near for Israel to die. So he sent for his son Joseph. He said to him, “If you are pleased with me, put your hand under my thigh. Promise me that you will be kind and faithful to me. Don’t bury me in Egypt. ³⁰When I join the members of my family who have already died, carry me out of Egypt. Bury me where they are buried.”

“I’ll do exactly as you say,” Joseph said.

³¹“Promise me with an oath that you will do it,” Jacob said. So Joseph promised him. And Israel worshiped God as he leaned on the top of his wooden staff.

Ephraim and Manasseh

48Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. ²Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” So Israel became stronger and sat up in bed.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “The Mighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan. He blessed me there. ⁴He said to me, ‘I am going to give you children. I will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of nations. And I will give this land to your children after you. It will belong to them forever.’

⁵“Now then, two sons were born to you in Egypt. It happened before I came to you here. They will be counted as my own sons. Ephraim and Manasseh will belong to me, in the same way that Reuben and Simeon belong to me.

⁶“Any children who are born to you after them will belong to you. Any territory they receive will come from the land that is given to Ephraim and Manasseh.

⁷“As I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died. It made me very sad. She died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way. We weren’t very far away from Ephrath. So I buried her body there beside the road to Ephrath.” Ephrath was also called Bethlehem.

⁸Israel saw Joseph’s sons. He asked, “Who are they?”

⁹“They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me. I want to give them my blessing.”

¹⁰Israel’s eyes were weak because he was old. He couldn’t see very well. So Joseph brought his sons close to him. His father kissed them and hugged them.

¹¹Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I’d see your face again. But now God has let me see your children too.”

¹²Then Joseph took his sons away from Israel’s knees. He bowed down with his face to the ground.

¹³Joseph placed Ephraim on his right, toward Israel’s left hand. He placed Manasseh on his left, toward Israel’s right hand. Then he brought them close to Jacob.

¹⁴But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head. He did it even though Ephraim was the younger son. He crossed his arms and put his left hand on Manasseh’s head. He did it even though Manasseh was the older son.

¹⁵Then Israel gave Joseph his blessing. He said,

“May God bless these boys.

He is the God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac.

They walked with him.

He is the God who has been my shepherd

all of my life to this very day.

¹⁶He is the Angel who has saved me from all harm.

May he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name.

May they also be called by the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac.

And may they greatly increase their numbers

on the earth.”

¹⁷Joseph saw his father putting his right hand on Ephraim’s head. And Joseph didn’t like it. So he took hold of his father’s hand to move it over to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸Joseph said to him, “No, my father. Here’s my older son. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father wouldn’t do it. He said, “I know, my son. I know. He too will become a nation. He too will become great. But his younger brother will be greater than he is. His children after him will become a group of nations.”

²⁰On that day, Jacob gave them his blessing. He said,

“In the land of Israel, people will bless others in your names.

They will say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “I’m about to die. But God will be with all of you. He’ll take you back to the land of your fathers. ²²But you, Joseph, are over your brothers. So I’m giving you the range of hills I took from the Amorites. I took it with my sword and bow.”