47 7 Jacob cometh before Pharaoh, and telleth him his age. 11 The land of Goshen is given him. 22 The idolatrous priests have living of the King. 28 Jacob’s age when he dieth.

Then came Joseph and told Pharaoh, and said, My father, and my brethren, and their sheep, and their cattle, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

And Joseph took part of his brethren, even [a]five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

When Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your trade? And they answered Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.

They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come: for thy servants have no pasture for their sheep, so sore is the famine in the land of Canaan, Now therefore, we pray thee: let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

Then spake Pharaoh to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee.

The [b]land of Egypt is before thee: in the best place of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell: let them dwell in the land of Goshen: and if thou knowest that there be men of activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle.

Joseph also brought Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob [c]saluted Pharaoh.

Then Pharaoh said unto Jacob, [d]How old art thou?

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The whole time of my (A)pilgrimage is an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of my life been, and I have not attained unto the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrimages.

10 And Jacob [e]took leave of Pharaoh, and departed from the presence of Pharaoh.

11 ¶ And Joseph placed his father, and his brethren, and gave them possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, even in the land of [f]Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

12 ¶ And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household with bread [g]even to the young children.

13 ¶ Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was exceeding sore: so that the land of Egypt, and the land of Canaan were [h]famished by reason of the famine.

14 And Joseph gathered all the money, that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought, and [i]Joseph laid up the money in Pharaoh’s house.

15 So when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, then all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, Give us bread: for why should we die before thee? for our money is spent.

16 Then said Joseph, Bring your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle, if your money be spent.

17 So they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for the horses, and for the flocks of sheep, and for the herds of cattle, and for the asses: so he fed them with bread for all their cattle that year.

18 But when the year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, that since our money is spent, and my lord hath the herds of the cattle, there is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our ground.

19 Why shall we perish in thy sight, both we and our [j]land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be bound to Pharaoh: therefore give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land go not to waste.

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh: for the Egyptians sold every man his ground, because the famine was sore upon them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.

21 And he [k]removed the people unto the cities, [l]from one side of Egypt even to the other.

22 Only the land of the Priests bought he not: for the Priests had an ordinary of Pharaoh, and they did eat their ordinary, which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their ground.

23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day, and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you: sow therefore the ground.

24 And of the increase ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be yours for seed of the field, and for your meat, and for them of your households, and for your children to eat.

25 Then they answered, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.

26 Then Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, [m]except the land of the Priests only, which was not Pharaoh’s.

27 ¶ And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen: and they had their possessions therein, and grew and multiplied exceedingly.

28 Moreover, Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

29 Now when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If I have now found grace in thy sight, (B)put thine hand now under my thigh, and deal mercifully and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.

30 But when I shall [n]sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burial. And he answered, I will do as thou hast said.

31 Then he said, swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel [o]worshipped towards the bed’s head.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 47:2 That the king might be assured they were come, and see what manner of people they were.
  2. Genesis 47:6 Joseph’s great modesty appeareth in that he would enterprise nothing without the king’s commandment.
  3. Genesis 47:7 Hebrew, blessed.
  4. Genesis 47:8 Hebrew, how many days are the years of thy life?
  5. Genesis 47:10 Hebrew, blessed.
  6. Genesis 47:11 Which was a city in the country of Goshen, Exod. 1:11.
  7. Genesis 47:12 Some read, that he fed them as little babes, because they could not provide for themselves against that famine.
  8. Genesis 47:13 Hebrew, brought to an extremity, or at their wit’s end.
  9. Genesis 47:14 Wherein he both declareth his fidelity toward the King, and his mind free from covetousness.
  10. Genesis 47:19 For except the ground be tilled and sown, it perisheth, and is as it were dead.
  11. Genesis 47:21 By this changing they signified that they had nothing of their own, but received all of the king’s liberality.
  12. Genesis 47:21 Hebrew, end of the border.
  13. Genesis 47:26 Pharaoh in providing for Idolatrous priests, shall be a condemnation to all them which neglect the true ministers of God’s word.
  14. Genesis 47:30 Hereby he protested that he died in the faith of his fathers, teaching his children to hope for the promised land.
  15. Genesis 47:31 He rejoiced that Joseph had promised him, and setting himself up upon his pillow, praised God. Read 1 Chron. 29:10.

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