Beginning
Jacob Goes to Egypt
46 So ·Israel [C Jacob’s other name; 32:28] took all he had and ·started his trip [departed]. He went to Beersheba [21:14], where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 During the night God spoke to Israel in a vision and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”
And Jacob answered, “Here I am.”
3 Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, because I will make ·your descendants [L you] a great nation there [12:1–3]. 4 I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you ·out of Egypt [L up] again. Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes when you die.”
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba. The sons of Israel loaded their father, their ·children [little ones], and their wives in the wagons ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh] had sent. 6 They also took their farm animals and everything they had gotten in Canaan. So Jacob went to Egypt with all his ·descendants [L seed]— 7 his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He took all his ·family [L seed] to Egypt with him.
Jacob’s Family
8 Now these are the names of the ·children [sons] of Israel who went into Egypt (Jacob and his descendants).
Reuben was Jacob’s ·first son [L firstborn]. 9 Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul (Simeon’s son by a Canaanite woman).
11 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 Judah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan [38:1–11]). Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul.
13 Issachar’s sons were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
14 Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons of Leah and Jacob born in ·northwestern Mesopotamia [L Paddan-aram], in addition to his daughter Dinah [34:1]. There were thirty-three persons in this part of Jacob’s family.
16 Gad’s sons were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and their sister was Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malkiel.
18 These are Jacob’s sons by Zilpah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah [29:24]. There were sixteen persons in this part of Jacob’s family.
19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 In Egypt, Joseph became the father of Manasseh and Ephraim by his wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On [41:45].
21 Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the sons of Jacob by his wife Rachel. There were fourteen persons in this part of Jacob’s family.
23 Dan’s son was Hushim.
24 Naphtali’s sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are Jacob’s sons by Bilhah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel [29:29]. There were seven persons in this part of Jacob’s family.
26 So the total number of ·Jacob’s direct descendants [L those who came from the thigh/loins of Jacob] who went to Egypt was sixty-six, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons. 27 Joseph had two sons born in Egypt, so the total number in the family of Jacob in Egypt was seventy.
Jacob Arrives in Egypt
28 Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to ·see [or lead the way to] Joseph in Goshen [45:10]. When Jacob and his people came into the land of Goshen, 29 Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as Joseph saw his father, he ·hugged him [L fell on his neck], and cried there for a long time.
30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, because I have seen your face and I know you are still alive.”
31 Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s ·family [household], “I will go and tell ·the king [L Pharaoh] you are here. I will say, ‘My brothers and my father’s ·family [household] have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me. 32 They are shepherds and take care of ·farm animals [livestock], and they have brought their flocks and their herds and everything they own with them.’ 33 When ·the king [L Pharaoh] calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’ 34 This is what you should tell him: ‘We, your servants, have taken care of ·farm animals [livestock] all our lives. Our ·ancestors [fathers] did the same thing.’ Then ·the king [L he] will allow you to settle in the land of Goshen, ·away from the Egyptians, because they don’t like to be near shepherds [L for all shepherds of flocks are an abomination to the Egyptians].”
Jacob Settles in Goshen
47 Joseph went in and spoke to ·the king [L Pharaoh] and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen [45:10].” 2 Joseph ·chose [took] five of his brothers to ·introduce [present] to ·the king [L Pharaoh].
3 ·The king [L Pharaoh] said to his brothers, “What work do you do?”
And they said to him, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just as our ·ancestors [fathers] were.” 4 They said to ·the king [L Pharaoh], “We have come to ·live [sojourn; reside as aliens] in this land, because there is no ·grass in the land of Canaan for our animals to eat [L pasturage for the flocks of your servants], and the ·hunger [famine] is ·terrible [severe; heavy] there. So please allow ·us [L your servants] to live in the land of Goshen.”
5 Then ·the king [L Pharaoh] said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and ·you may choose any place in Egypt for them to live [L the land of Egypt is before you]. Give your father and your brothers the best land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if any of them are skilled shepherds, put them in charge of my ·sheep and cattle [L livestock].”
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and ·introduced him to the king [L he stood before Pharaoh], and Jacob blessed ·the king [L Pharaoh].
8 Then ·the king [L Pharaoh] said to Jacob, “How ·old are you [L many of the days are the years of your life]?”
9 Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent ·wandering from place to place [sojourning; residing as an alien]. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ·ancestors [fathers] ·lived [L wandered; sojourned; lived as an alien] much longer than I.” 10 Then Jacob blessed ·the king [L Pharaoh] and ·left [L went out from before the Pharaoh].
11 Joseph obeyed the king and ·gave his father and brothers [L settled his father and brothers and gave them a possession in] the best land in Egypt, near the city of Rameses [C a city built later during the time of Moses in the Nile Delta region; Ex. 1:11]. 12 And Joseph gave his father, his brothers, and ·everyone who lived with them [L all his father’s household] the food ·they needed [L according to their little ones/dependents].
Joseph Buys Land for the King
13 The ·hunger became worse [L famine was severe/intense/heavy], and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan ·became very poor [L wilted; languished]. 14 Joseph ·collected [gathered] all the ·money [silver] that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and Joseph brought that ·money [silver] to ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] palace. 15 After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no ·money [silver] left, ·they [L all Egypt] went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone, ·and if we don’t eat, we will [L why should we…?] die here in front of you.”
16 Joseph answered, “Since you have no ·money [silver], give me your ·farm animals [livestock], and I will give you food in return [L for your livestock].” 17 So people brought their ·farm animals [livestock] to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he ·kept them alive by trading [supplied them with] food for their ·farm animals [livestock] that year.
18 ·The next year [L When that year ended] the people came to Joseph [L in the second year] and said, “·You know [L We cannot hide from my master/lord that] we have no money left, and all our ·animals [L herds of cattle] belong to you. ·We have [L Before our master/lord there is] nothing left except our bodies and our land. 19 ·Surely both we and our land will [L Why should we and our land…?] die here in front of you. Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we will be ·slaves [servants] to ·the king [L Pharaoh], together with our land. Give us seed to plant so that we will live and not die, and the land will not become ·a desert [desolate].”
20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for ·the king [L Pharaoh; C Joseph’s plan led to the tremendous power of the Pharaoh in Egypt and the world]. Every Egyptian sold Joseph his field, because the ·hunger [famine] was very ·great [strong; intense]. So the land ·became the king’s [belonged to the Pharaoh], 21 and Joseph made the people ·slaves[a] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 The only land he did not buy was the land the priests owned. They did not need to sell their land because ·the king [L Pharaoh] ·paid them [gave them an allowance] for their work. So they had money to buy food.
23 Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for ·the king [L Pharaoh], so I will give you seed and you can plant ·your fields [L the land]. 24 At harvest time you must give one-fifth to ·the king [L Pharaoh]. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your ·children [little ones].”
25 The people said, “You have ·saved our lives [allowed us to live]. If ·you like [L we have found favor in the eyes of my master/lord], we will become slaves of ·the king [L Pharaoh].”
26 So Joseph made a law in Egypt, which continues today: One-fifth of everything from the land belongs to ·the king [L Pharaoh]. The only land ·the king [L Pharaoh] did not get was the priests’ land.
“Don’t Bury Me in Egypt”
27 The Israelites continued to live in the land of Goshen [45:10] in Egypt. There they got possessions and ·had many children [L were fruitful] and ·grew in number [greatly multiplied; 1:22].
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, so he lived to be one hundred forty-seven years old. 29 When Israel [C another name for Jacob; 32:28] knew he soon would die, he called his son Joseph to him and said to him, “If ·you love me [L I have found grace in your eyes], put your hand under my ·leg [L thigh; C a euphemism for male genitalia; this was a commitment to keep a promise]. ·Promise me [L Deal with me according to loyalty and faithfulness that] you will not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I ·die [L lie with my fathers/ancestors], carry me out of Egypt, and bury me ·where my ancestors are buried [L in their burial place].”
Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”
31 Then Jacob said, “·Promise [Swear to] me.” And ·Joseph promised [he swore to] him that he would do this [50:7–14]. Then Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his ·walking stick [staff; or bed].[b]
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