1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my
brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come
out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”
2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”
They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our
fathers.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land,
for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe
in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the
land of Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have
come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your
brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen.
If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my
cattle.”
7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of
8the years of your life?”
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one
hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my
life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my
fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and
went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession
in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as
Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and
all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
13 There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so
that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the
famine. 14 Joseph gathered up 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, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For
our money fails.”
16 Joseph said, “Give your cattle; and I will give you food for your cattle, if
money fails.”
17 They brought their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in
exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the
donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that
year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and
said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and
the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my
lord, but our bodies, and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your
eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our
land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not
die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians
sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land
became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he moved them to the cities from
one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. 22 Only he
didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from
Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they
didn’t sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have
bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and
you shall sow the land. 24 It will happen at the harvests, that
you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for
seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food
for your little ones.”
25 They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of
my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that
Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t
become Pharaoh’s.
27 Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got
themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied
exceedingly. 28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the
days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.
29 The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph,
and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your
hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me
in Egypt, 30 but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of
Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.”
He said, “I will do as you have said.”
31 He said, “Swear to me,”
and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.
World English Bible - Public Domain |
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