Genesis 47–48

47Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan^a and are now in Goshen.”^{b 2}He chose five of his brothers and presented them^c before Pharaoh.

³Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”^d

“Your servants^e are shepherds,^f” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” ⁴They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while,^g because the famine is severe in Canaan^h and your servants’ flocks have no pasture.ⁱ So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”^j

⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, ⁶and the land of Egypt is before you; settle^k your father and your brothers in the best part of the land.^l Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability,^m put them in charge of my own livestock.ⁿ”

⁷Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him^o before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed^a Pharaoh,^{p 8}Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

⁹And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty.^q My years have been few and difficult,^r and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.^s” ¹⁰Then Jacob blessed^b Pharaoh^t and went out from his presence.

¹¹So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land,^u the district of Rameses,^v as Pharaoh directed. ¹²Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.^w

Joseph and the Famine

¹³There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.^{x 14}Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying,^y and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.^{z 15}When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone,^a all Egypt came to Joseph^b and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes?^c Our money is all gone.”

¹⁶“Then bring your livestock,^d” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.^e” ¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses,^f their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys.^g And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone^h and our livestock belongs to you,ⁱ there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹Why should we perish before your eyes^j—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food,^k and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh.^l Give us seed so that we may live and not die,^m and that the land may not become desolate.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severeⁿ for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,^co from one end of Egypt to the other. ²²However, he did not buy the land of the priests,^p because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment^q Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

²³Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed^r for you so you can plant the ground.^{s 24}But when the crop comes in, give a fifth^t of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”

²⁵“You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord;^u we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”^v

²⁶So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth^w of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.^x

²⁷Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen.^y They acquired property there^z and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.^a

²⁸Jacob lived in Egypt^b seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.^{c 29}When the time drew near for Israel^d to die,^e he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,^f put your hand under my thigh^g and promise that you will show me kindness^h and faithfulness.ⁱ Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰but when I rest with my fathers,^j carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”^k

“I will do as you say,” he said.

³¹“Swear to me,”^l he said. Then Joseph swore to him,^m and Israelⁿ worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.^do

Manasseh and Ephraim

48Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim^p along with him. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel^q rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^ar appeared to me at Luz^s in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me^{t 4}and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.^u I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land^v as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’^w

⁵“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt^x before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,^y just as Reuben^z and Simeon^a are mine. ⁶Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. ⁷As I was returning from Paddan,^bb to my sorrow^c Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).^d

⁸When Israel^e saw the sons of Joseph,^f he asked, “Who are these?”

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

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless^h them.”

¹⁰Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see.ⁱ So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them^j and embraced them.^k

¹¹Israel^l said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again,^m and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”ⁿ

¹²Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees^o and bowed down with his face to the ground.^{p 13}And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand,^q and brought them close to him. ¹⁴But Israel^r reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head,^s though he was the younger,^t and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.^u

¹⁵Then he blessed^v Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,^w

the God who has been my shepherd^x

all my life to this day,

¹⁶the Angel^y who has delivered me from all harm^z

—may he bless^a these boys.^b

May they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,^c

and may they increase greatly

on the earth.”^d

¹⁷When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand^e on Ephraim’s head^f he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”^g

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great.^h Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he,ⁱ and his descendants will become a group of nations.^j” ²⁰He blessed^k them that day^l and said,

“In your^c name will Israel^m pronounce this blessing:ⁿ

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

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you^dq and take you^e back to the land of your^f fathers.^{r 22}And to you I give one more ridge of land^gs than to your brothers,^t the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword^u and my bow.”