Genesis 47:1-25 ▼

1 So Joseph (YHWH has added) went and told Pharaoh (great house): “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan (lowland) and are now in Goshen (drawing near).”

2 And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh (great house).

3 “What is your⁺ occupation?” Pharaoh (great house) asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”

4 Then they said to Pharaoh (great house), “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan (lowland) has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen (drawing near).”

5 Pharaoh (great house) said to Joseph (YHWH has added), “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

6 the land of Egypt (land of bondage) is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen (drawing near). And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7 Then Joseph (YHWH has added) brought in his father Jacob (he grasps the heel) and presented him before Pharaoh (great house), and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 “How many years have you lived?” Pharaoh (great house) asked (he grasps the heel).

9 “My travels \sojourns/ have lasted 130 years,” Jacob (he grasps the heel) replied (great house). “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

10 Then Jacob (he grasps the heel) blessed Pharaoh (great house) and departed from his presence.

11 So Joseph (YHWH has added) settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt (land of bondage) and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses (child of the sun), as Pharaoh (great house) had commanded.

12 Joseph also (YHWH has added) provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.

13 There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt (land of bondage) and Canaan (lowland) had been exhausted by the famine.

14 Joseph (YHWH has added) collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt (land of bondage) and the land of Canaan (lowland) in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s (great house) palace.

15 When the money from the lands of Egypt (land of bondage) and Canaan (lowland) was gone, all the Egyptians (double straits) came to Joseph (YHWH has added) and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”

16 “Then bring me your⁺ livestock,” said Joseph (YHWH has added). “Since the money is gone, I will sell you⁺ food in exchange for your⁺ livestock.”

17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph (YHWH has added), and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh (great house). Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

20 So Joseph (YHWH has added) acquired for Pharaoh (great house) all the land in Egypt (land of bondage); the Egyptians (double straits), one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude [removed the people to the cities] from one end of Egypt (land of bondage) to the other.

22 However, he did not acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh (great house). They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.

23 Then Joseph (YHWH has added) said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you⁺ and your⁺ land for Pharaoh (great house) this day, here is seed for you⁺ to sow in the land.

24 At harvest time, you⁺ are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh (great house), and four-fifths will be yours⁺ as seed for the field and food for yourselves and your⁺ households and children.”

25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor in our lord’s eyes, and we will be Pharaoh’s (great house) servants.”