Genesis 47
New American Standard Bible
Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen
47 Then (A)Joseph 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 (B)Goshen.” 2 And he took five men from among his brothers and (C)presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “(D)What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are (E)shepherds, both we and our fathers.” 4 They also said to Pharaoh, “(F)We have come to reside in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for (G)the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants (H)live in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to [a]Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is [b]at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in (I)the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any (J)capable men among them, then [c]put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and [d]presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob (K)blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many [e]years have you lived?” 9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The [f](L)years of my living abroad are [g]130; few and [h]unpleasant have been the [i]years of my life, nor have they [j]attained (M)the [k]years [l]that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.” 10 So Jacob (N)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from [m]his presence. 11 Now Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in (O)the best of the land, in the land of (P)Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 12 Joseph also (Q)provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with [n]food, according to the [o]number of their little ones.
13 Now there was no [p]food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that (R)the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 And (S)Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in payment 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 saying, “Give us [q]food, for (T)why should we die in your presence? For our money is [r]gone.” 16 Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is [s]gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them [t]food in exchange for the horses and the [u]flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he [v]fed them with [w]food in exchange for all their livestock [x]that year. 18 But when that year ended, they came to him the [y]next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord the fact that our money is all spent, and the [z]livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left [aa]for 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 [ab]food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, so 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 [ac]every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he relocated 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, because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they [ad]lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, today I have purchased you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. 24 [ae]At the harvest you shall give a (U)fifth to Pharaoh, and [af]four-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 was to have the fifth; (V)only the land of the priests [ag]did not become Pharaoh’s.
27 Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in [ah]Goshen, and they (W)acquired property in it and (X)were fruitful and became very numerous. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for (Y)seventeen years; so the [ai]length of Jacob’s life was 147 years.
29 When [aj](Z)the 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, (AA)place your hand under my thigh now and (AB)deal with me in kindness and [ak]faithfulness: please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I (AC)[al]lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in (AD)their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “(AE)Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then (AF)Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.
Footnotes
- Genesis 47:5 Lit Joseph, saying
- Genesis 47:6 Lit before you
- Genesis 47:6 Lit appoint them rulers
- Genesis 47:7 Lit set him before
- Genesis 47:8 Lit are the days of the years of your life
- Genesis 47:9 Lit days of the years
- Genesis 47:9 Lit 130 years
- Genesis 47:9 Lit evil
- Genesis 47:9 Lit days of the years
- Genesis 47:9 Lit reached
- Genesis 47:9 Lit days of the years
- Genesis 47:9 Lit of the life of my fathers
- Genesis 47:10 Lit Pharaoh’s
- Genesis 47:12 Or bread
- Genesis 47:12 Lit mouth
- Genesis 47:13 Or bread
- Genesis 47:15 Or bread
- Genesis 47:15 Lit at an end
- Genesis 47:16 Lit at an end
- Genesis 47:17 Or bread
- Genesis 47:17 Lit livestock of the flocks and livestock of the herds
- Genesis 47:17 Lit led them as a shepherd
- Genesis 47:17 Or bread
- Genesis 47:17 Lit in that year
- Genesis 47:18 Lit second
- Genesis 47:18 Lit livestock of the cattle
- Genesis 47:18 Lit in the presence of
- Genesis 47:19 Or bread
- Genesis 47:20 Lit Egypt, every man
- Genesis 47:22 Lit ate their allotment
- Genesis 47:24 Lit It shall come about...that you shall
- Genesis 47:24 Lit four parts
- Genesis 47:26 Lit alone did
- Genesis 47:27 Lit the land of Goshen
- Genesis 47:28 Lit days of Jacob, the years of his life
- Genesis 47:29 Lit the days of Israel
- Genesis 47:29 Lit truth
- Genesis 47:30 I.e., die
Genesis 47
New Living Translation
Jacob Blesses Pharaoh
47 Then Joseph went to see Pharaoh and told him, “My father and my brothers have arrived from the land of Canaan. They have come with all their flocks and herds and possessions, and they are now in the region of Goshen.”
2 Joseph took five of his brothers with him and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”
They replied, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just like our ancestors. 4 We have come to live here in Egypt for a while, for there is no pasture for our flocks in Canaan. The famine is very severe there. So please, we request permission to live in the region of Goshen.”
5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have joined you here, 6 choose any place in the entire land of Egypt for them to live. Give them the best land of Egypt. Let them live in the region of Goshen. And if any of them have special skills, put them in charge of my livestock, too.”
7 Then Joseph brought in his father, Jacob, and presented him to Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 “How old are you?” Pharaoh asked him.
9 Jacob replied, “I have traveled this earth for 130 hard years. But my life has been short compared to the lives of my ancestors.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again before leaving his court.
11 So Joseph assigned the best land of Egypt—the region of Rameses—to his father and his brothers, and he settled them there, just as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers in amounts appropriate to the number of their dependents, including the smallest children.
Joseph’s Leadership in the Famine
13 Meanwhile, the famine became so severe that all the food was used up, and people were starving throughout the lands of Egypt and Canaan. 14 By selling grain to the people, Joseph eventually collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan, and he put the money in Pharaoh’s treasury. 15 When the people of Egypt and Canaan ran out of money, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Our money is gone!” they cried. “But please give us food, or we will die before your very eyes!”
16 Joseph replied, “Since your money is gone, bring me your livestock. I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph in exchange for food. In exchange for their horses, flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and donkeys, Joseph provided them with food for another year.
18 But that year ended, and the next year they came again and said, “We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your very eyes? Buy us and our land in exchange for food; we offer our land and ourselves as slaves for Pharaoh. Just give us grain so we may live and not die, and so the land does not become empty and desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh. 21 As for the people, he made them all slaves,[a] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 The only land he did not buy was the land belonging to the priests. They received an allotment of food directly from Pharaoh, so they didn’t need to sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Look, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. I will provide you with seed so you can plant the fields. 24 Then when you harvest it, one-fifth of your crop will belong to Pharaoh. You may keep the remaining four-fifths as seed for your fields and as food for you, your households, and your little ones.”
25 “You have saved our lives!” they exclaimed. “May it please you, my lord, to let us be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26 Joseph then issued a decree still in effect in the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should receive one-fifth of all the crops grown on his land. Only the land belonging to the priests was not given to Pharaoh.
27 Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly. 28 Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.
29 As the time of his death drew near, Jacob[b] called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”
So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”
31 “Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed.[c]
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
