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
International Standard Version
Joseph’s Family Settles in Goshen
47 After this, Joseph went to inform Pharaoh. “My father and brothers have come here from Canaan,”[a] he said, “and they’ve come with their flocks, herds, and everything else they have. I settled them in the Goshen territory!” 2 He brought along five of his brothers to present before Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What are your occupations?”
“Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our ancestors. 4 We’ve come to live for a while[b] in this region, since there is no pasture back in Canaan[c] for your servants’ flocks. May your servants please live in the Goshen territory?”
5 Then Pharaoh replied to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 Egypt[d] is at your disposal,[e] so settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land! Let them live in the Goshen territory. If you learn that any of them are especially skilled, put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Later, Joseph brought his father Jacob to Pharaoh and introduced him. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 “How old are you?”[f] Pharaoh asked Jacob.
9 “I’m 130 years old,” Jacob replied. “My years have turned out to be few and unpleasant, but I haven’t yet reached the age my ancestors did during their travels on earth.”[g] 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and then left the throne room.[h]
11 Joseph settled his father and brothers, assigning them their own land in the best part of Egypt (in the territory of Rameses), just as Pharaoh had ordered. 12 Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, proportionate to the number of young children.
The Famine Continues
13 Meanwhile, there continued to be no food throughout the land, because the famine remained very severe. As a result, both Egypt and Canaan languished under the effects of the famine. 14 So Joseph kept on accumulating all the money that was to be found throughout Egypt and Canaan in exchange for the grain that was being purchased. He stored the money in Pharaoh’s palace.
15 After all the money had been spent throughout Egypt and Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and demanded, “Give us food! Why should we die right in front of you? Our money is spent!”
16 “You can surrender your livestock,” Joseph replied. “I’ll feed them in exchange, since your money is gone.”
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph traded food in exchange for horses, various flocks and herds, and donkeys. He fed them with food in exchange for their livestock during that year.
18 The following year, they came to him and reminded him, “We won’t hide from you, your Excellency, that we’ve spent all of our money, and that our livestock all belong to you. There’s nothing left to trade with you, your Excellency, except our bodies and our territories. 19 So why should we and our land die right in front of you? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed, so we can survive and not die, and so the land won’t stay desolate.”
Pharaoh Gains Control of All of Egypt
20 So Joseph purchased all of the Egyptian territory for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine’s effect was so severe. That’s how Pharaoh came to own the land. 21 Then Joseph transported the people to cities from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not purchase land belonging to the priests, because the priests held an allotment, previously provided to them by Pharaoh, from which they lived. That’s why they did not sell their land.
23 After this, Joseph addressed the people. “Pay attention,” he said. “I’ve bought you and your land for Pharaoh today, in exchange for seed for you. Now go sow the land. 24 When harvest season arrives, you are to provide a fifth of the harvest to Pharaoh. The remaining four fifths are to be for your use, for seed, and to feed you, your households, and your little ones.”
25 “You’ve saved our lives,” they replied. “If it pleases you, your Excellency, we’ll be Pharaoh’s slaves.”
26 So Joseph crafted a statute concerning Egypt that remains valid to this day that Pharaoh should own a fifth of the produce, excluding the land belonging to the priests, which remained outside of Pharaoh’s control.
27 Israel remained in Egypt’s Goshen territory, acquired land there, became prosperous, and his descendants[i] grew very numerous. 28 He lived for seventeen more years in Egypt, until he was 147 years old. 29 As the time approached for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and addressed him. “Please,” he asked, “if you’re happy with me, make a solemn promise[j] that you’ll treat me fairly and kindly by not burying me in Egypt. 30 Instead, when I’ve died, as my ancestors have, you are to carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb.”[k]
“I’ll do what you’ve asked,” Joseph[l] replied.
31 “Promise me,” Israel[m] insisted. So Joseph promised. Then Israel collapsed[n] on his bed.
Footnotes
- Genesis 47:1 Lit. from the land of Canaan, and so throughout the chapter
- Genesis 47:4 The Heb. lacks for a while
- Genesis 47:4 The Heb. lacks back in Canaan
- Genesis 47:6 Lit. from the land of Egypt, and so throughout the chapter
- Genesis 47:6 Lit. is before you
- Genesis 47:8 Lit. How many years have you lived?
- Genesis 47:9 The Heb. lacks on earth
- Genesis 47:10 Lit. left his presence
- Genesis 47:27 The Heb. lacks his descendants
- Genesis 47:29 Lit. me, place your hand under my thigh; i.e., make a solemn promise based on the sanctity of the family and commitment to the family line
- Genesis 47:30 Lit. place
- Genesis 47:30 Lit. he
- Genesis 47:31 Lit. he
- Genesis 47:31 Lit. Israel bent low
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