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Genesis 47:13-26
New American Standard Bible
Genesis 47:13-26
New American Standard Bible
13 Now there was no [a]food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that (A)the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 And (B)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 [b]food, for (C)why should we die in your presence? For our money is [c]gone.” 16 Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is [d]gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them [e]food in exchange for the horses and the [f]flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he [g]fed them with [h]food in exchange for all their livestock [i]that year. 18 But when that year ended, they came to him the [j]next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord the fact that our money is all spent, and the [k]livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left [l]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 [m]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 [n]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 [o]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 [p]At the harvest you shall give a (D)fifth to Pharaoh, and [q]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; (E)only the land of the priests [r]did not become Pharaoh’s.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 47:13-26
New King James Version
Genesis 47:13-26
New King James Version
Joseph Deals with the Famine
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, (A)so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 (B)And 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 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for (C)why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”
16 Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he [a]fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. 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 of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may (D)live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”
20 Then Joseph (E)bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 And as for the people, he [b]moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 (F)Only the land of the (G)priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
25 So they said, “You have saved (H)our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, (I)except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 47:17 supplied
- Genesis 47:21 So with MT, Tg.; Sam., LXX, Vg. made the people virtual slaves
Genesis 47:13-26
New International Version
Genesis 47:13-26
New International Version
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)
Footnotes
- Genesis 47:21 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Vulgate); Masoretic Text and he moved the people into the cities
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.