Joseph and the Famine

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

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

¹⁸ When 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^(K) and our livestock belongs to you,^(L) there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Why should we perish before your eyes^(M)—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food,^(N) and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh.^(O) Give us seed so that we may live and not die,^(P) and that the land may not become desolate.”

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

²³ Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed^(U) for you so you can plant the ground.^{(V) 24} But when the crop comes in, give a fifth^(W) 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;^(X) we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”^(Y)

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

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen.^(AB) They acquired property there^(AC) and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.^(AD)

²⁸ Jacob lived in Egypt^(AE) seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.^{(AF) 29} When the time drew near for Israel^(AG) to die,^(AH) he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,^(AI) put your hand under my thigh^(AJ) and promise that you will show me kindness^(AK) and faithfulness.^(AL) Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I rest with my fathers,^(AM) carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”^(AN)

“I will do as you say,” he said.

³¹ “Swear to me,”^(AO) he said. Then Joseph swore to him,^(AP) and Israel^(AQ) worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.^[b](AR)

¹⁷ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah^(A) near Mamre^(B)—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property^(C) in the presence of all the Hittites^(D) who had come to the gate^(E) of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah^(F) near Mamre (which is at Hebron^(G)) in the land of Canaan.^{(H) 20} So the field and the cave in it were deeded^(I) to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.^(J)

²⁰ But our citizenship^(A) is in heaven.^(B) And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,^(C)

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;^(A) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^(B) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^{(C) 14} People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^{(D) 16} Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^(E) Therefore God is not ashamed^(F) to be called their God,^(G) for he has prepared a city^(H) for them.

² Dear friends,^(A) now we are children of God,^(B) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](C) we shall be like him,^(D) for we shall see him as he is.^{(E) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(F) just as he is pure.^(G)

¹³ their work will be shown for what it is,^(A) because the Day^(B) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.^{(C) 14} If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.^{(D) 15} If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.^(E)