Beginning

Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt

46 So Israel traveled with all he had to Beersheba. There he gave gifts to the God of his father Isaac. ² God spoke to Israel in special dreams in the night, saying, “Jacob, Jacob.” And Jacob answered, “Here I am.” ³ He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt. For I will make you a great nation there. ⁴ I will go with you to Egypt. I will bring you out again. And Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their animals and all the things they owned from the land of Canaan. And they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his children with him, ⁷ his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He brought all his children with him to Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, ⁹ and Reuben’s sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. ¹² The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvvah, Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons who were born to Leah and Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah. He had thirty-three sons and daughters.

¹⁶ The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Jacob and Zilpah, the woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. She gave birth to sixteen of Jacob’s children.

¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ The sons of Joseph in the land of Egypt were Manasseh and Ephraim. Their mother was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the religious leader of On. ²¹ The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Jacob and Rachel, fourteen sons in all. ²³ Dan’s son was Hushim. ²⁴ The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Jacob and Bilhah, the woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. There were seven sons in all.

²⁶ All the people who came to Egypt with Jacob, the children of his own body, were sixty-six people in all. Added to this were the wives of Jacob’s sons. ²⁷ Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt. So all the people of Jacob’s family when he came to Egypt were seventy.

Jacob Lives in Goshen

²⁸ Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to learn the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Then Joseph made his wagon ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. When he came to him, they put their arms around each other and cried for a long time. ³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family have come to me from the land of Canaan. ³² And the men are shepherds, for they have taken care of animals. They have brought their flocks and cattle and all they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your work?’ ³⁴ you answer, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle since we were young, both we and our fathers.’ Then he will let you live in the land of Goshen. For the Egyptians look down upon every shepherd.”

47 Then Joseph went to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and cattle and all they own have come from the land of Canaan. See, they are in the land of Goshen.” ² He took five men from among his brothers, and brought them to Pharaoh. ³ Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your work?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land, for there is no field with food for our flocks. The time without food is hard in the land of Canaan. So now we ask of you, let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is in front of you. Have your father and your brothers live in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know any able men among them, put my cattle in their care.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob to Pharaoh. Jacob prayed that good would come to Pharaoh. ⁸ And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” ⁹ Jacob answered Pharaoh, “I have traveled on this earth for 130 years. The years of my life have been few and full of sorrow, and less than the years that my fathers lived.” ¹⁰ Then Jacob prayed that good would come to Pharaoh, and went away from him.

¹¹ So Joseph made a place for his father and his brothers. He gave them a part of the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had told him. ¹² Joseph gave food to his father and his brothers and all his father’s family, for the needs of their children.

No Food Anywhere but in Egypt

¹³ Now there was no food in the land for the time without food was very hard. So the people in the land of both Egypt and Canaan became weak because of hunger. ¹⁴ So Joseph gathered all the money that was found in Egypt and Canaan for the grain they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ When the money was gone from the lands of Egypt and Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die in front of you? For we have no more money.”

¹⁶ Then Joseph said, “Give your cattle. I will give you food in trade for your cattle, because your money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their animals to Joseph. And Joseph gave them food in trade for the horses and flocks and cattle and donkeys. He fed them that year in trade for their animals.

¹⁸ When that year ended, they came to him the next year. They said, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all gone. And the cattle belong to my lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die in front of you and our lands be wasted? Buy us and our land in trade for food. We and our land will work for Pharaoh. Give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and so the land will not be wasted.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For every Egyptian sold his field, because the time without food was hard for them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ He had the people move to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other, to work for Pharaoh. ²² Only the land of the religious leaders he did not buy. For the religious leaders received money from Pharaoh. They lived on the money Pharaoh gave them. So they did not sell their land.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “See, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you to plant in the fields. ²⁴ At gathering time, you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh. Keep the rest to have seeds for the field, and to feed yourselves and your children and those of your houses.”

²⁵ So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the eyes of my lord. We will be Pharaoh’s servants.” ²⁶ Joseph made it a law in the land of Egypt that Pharaoh should have the fifth part. It is a law to this day. Only the land of the religious leaders did not become Pharaoh’s.

Jacob’s Last Wish

²⁷ Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen. They became richer there, and had children, and grew to a very large number. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So Jacob had lived 147 years in all. ²⁹ When the time came for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph. He said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, give me your promise to be kind and faithful to me. I ask of you, do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ But let me lie down with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” And Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ Jacob said, “Promise me.” So Joseph gave him his promise. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.