Genesis 47 (New American Standard)

Jacob's Family Settles in Goshen

1 Then ¹Joseph 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 ²Goshen." 2 He took five men from among his brothers and ³presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "⁴What is your occupation ?" So they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are ⁵shepherds, both we and our fathers." 4 They said to Pharaoh, "⁶We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for ⁷the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants ^a8live in the land of Goshen." 5 Then Pharaoh said to ^bJoseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 "The land of Egypt is ^cat your disposal ; ^dsettle your father and your brothers in ⁹the best of the land, let them ^elive in the land of Goshen ; and if you know any ¹⁰capable men among them, then ^fput them in charge of my livestock." 7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and ^gpresented him to Pharaoh ; and Jacob ¹¹blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many ^hyears have you lived ?" 9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The ⁱ¹²years of my sojourning are one hundred and ^jthirty ; few and ^kunpleasant have been the ^lyears of my life, nor have they ^mattained ¹³the ⁿyears ^othat my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning." 10 And Jacob ¹⁴blessed Pharaoh, and went out from ^phis presence. 11 So Joseph ^qsettled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in ¹⁵the best of the land, in the land of ¹⁶Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 12 Joseph ¹⁷provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with ^rfood, according to their little ones. 13 Now there was no ^sfood in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that ¹⁸the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 ¹⁹Joseph 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 ^tand said, "Give us ^ufood, for ²⁰why should we die in your presence ? For our money ^vis gone." 16 Then Joseph said, "Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money ^wis gone." 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them ^xfood in exchange for the horses and the ^yflocks and the herds and the donkeys ; and he ^zfed them with ^aafood in exchange for all their livestock ^bbthat year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the ^ccnext year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the ^ddcattle are my lord's. There is nothing left ^eefor 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 ^fffood, 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 ^ggevery 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 ^hhlived 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 "ⁱⁱAt the harvest you shall give a ²¹fifth to Pharaoh, and ^jjfour-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 ; ²²only the land of the priests ^kkdid not become Pharaoh's. 27 Now Israel ^lllived in the land of Egypt, in ^mmGoshen, and they ²³acquired property in it and ²⁴were fruitful and became very numerous. 28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt ²⁵seventeen years ; so the ⁿⁿlength of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When ^oo26the 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, ²⁷place now your hand under my thigh and ²⁸deal with me in kindness and ^ppfaithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I ²⁹lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in ³⁰their burial place." And he said, "I will do as you have said." 31 He said, "³¹Swear to me." So he swore to him. Then ³²Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.