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
Common English Bible
47 Joseph went to inform Pharaoh and said, “My father and brothers with their flocks, herds, and everything they own have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 From all of his brothers, he selected five men and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What do you do?”
They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors.” 4 They continued, “We’ve come to the land as immigrants because the famine is so severe in the land of Canaan that there are no more pastures for your servants’ flocks. Please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since your father and brothers have arrived, 6 the land of Egypt is available to you. Settle your father and brothers in the land’s best location. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7 Joseph brought his father Jacob and gave him an audience with Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 and Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “I’ve been a traveler for 130 years. My years have been few and difficult. They don’t come close to the years my ancestors lived during their travels.” 10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left Pharaoh’s presence. 11 Joseph settled his father and brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best location in the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had ordered. 12 Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father’s entire household, in proportion to the number of children.
Joseph centralizes power in Egypt
13 There was no food in the land because the famine was so severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan dried up from the famine. 14 Joseph collected all of the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain, which people came to buy, and he deposited it in Pharaoh’s treasury. 15 The silver from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan had been spent, and all of the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes, just because the silver is gone?”
16 Joseph said, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock if the silver is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food for the horses, flocks, cattle, and donkeys. He got them through that year with food in exchange for all of their livestock.
18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We can’t hide from my master that the silver is spent and that we’ve given the livestock to my master. All that’s left for my master is our corpses and our farmland. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, we and our farmland too? Buy us and our farms for food, and we and our farms will be under Pharaoh’s control. Give us seed so that we can stay alive and not die, and so that our farmland won’t become unproductive.” 20 So Joseph bought all of Egypt’s farmland for Pharaoh because every Egyptian sold his field when the famine worsened. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 He moved the people to the cities[a] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he didn’t buy the farmland of the priests because Pharaoh allowed the priests a subsidy, and they were able to eat from the subsidy Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they didn’t have to sell their farmland.
23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I’ve now purchased you and your farmland for Pharaoh, here’s seed for you. Plant the seed on the land. 24 When the crop comes in, you must give one-fifth to Pharaoh. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves, for planting fields, and for feeding yourselves, those in your households, and your children.”
25 The people said, “You’ve saved our lives. If you wish, we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 26 So Joseph made a law that still exists today: Pharaoh receives one-fifth from Egypt’s farmland. Only the priests’ farmland didn’t become Pharaoh’s.
Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
27 Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. They settled in it, had many children, and became numerous. 28 After Jacob had lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years, and after he had lived a total of 147 years, 29 Israel’s death approached. He summoned his son Joseph and said to him, “If you would be so kind, lay your hand under my thigh, and be loyal and true to me. Don’t bury me in Egypt. 30 When I lie down with my fathers, carry me from Egypt and bury me in their grave.”
Joseph said, “I will do just as you say.”
31 Israel said, “Give me your word!” and Joseph gave his word. Then Israel slumped down at the head of the bed.
Footnotes
- Genesis 47:21 Sam, LXX he made the people slaves
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