Genesis 46-47

Modern English Version

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

46 So Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

² God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”

And he said, “Here I am.”

³ Then He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”

⁵ Jacob arose from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him. ⁷ He brought with him to Egypt his sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants.

⁸ These were the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who came to Egypt:

¹⁵ These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁸ These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob, sixteen in all.

²² These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.

²⁵ These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

²⁶ All those who came with Jacob to Egypt, who were direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six in all. ²⁷ And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All those of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.

Jacob Settles in Goshen

²⁸ Now he sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. And they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Joseph readied his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet Israel his father. As soon as he appeared to him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² The men are shepherds; their work has been to feed livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

47 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.” ² He took five men from among his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

³ Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please allow your servants to dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Have them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge over my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. My days of the years of my life have been few and evil, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the lives of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” ¹⁰ And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

¹¹ So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹² Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father’s entire household, according to the number of their children.

Joseph and the Famine

¹³ There was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that 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 and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.” ¹⁷ They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide it from our lord, that our money is all spent. Our 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 food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Also give us seed, so that we may live and not die, so that the land will not be desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian man sold his field because the famine was severe on them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. ²² Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their lands.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh; here is seed for you so you may sow the land. ²⁴ At the harvest, you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh and four parts will be your own, as seed for the field and for your food and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵ They said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

²⁶ So Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except from the land of the priests, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

Jacob’s Request of Joseph

²⁷ Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and became very numerous.

²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the years of Jacob’s life were one hundred and forty-seven years. ²⁹ When the time drew near when Israel would die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found grace in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ And he said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself at the head of his bed.