Genesis 47

1Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen.”

2He had taken five of his brothers, and he presented them to Pharaoh.

3Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They answered Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, just as our fathers were.”

4They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live here for a while, because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, since the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”

5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How old are you?”

9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my wandering are 130. My years have been few and hard, and they have not reached the years of my fathers in their wanderings.”

10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

11So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered.

12Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.

13There was no food anywhere in the land, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

14Joseph collected all the silver that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought the silver into Pharaoh’s palace.

15When the silver in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your eyes? Our silver is gone.”

16Joseph said, “Bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, since your silver is gone.”

17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. He got them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We cannot hide from my lord that our silver is gone and our herds of livestock belong to my lord. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land.

19Why should we perish before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and so that the land will not become desolate.”

20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians sold their fields, every one of them, because the famine was too severe for them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.

21As for the people, he moved them into the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.

22Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

23Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Sow the land.

24When the crops come in, give a fifth to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths will be yours as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your little ones.”

25They said, “You have saved our lives! May we find favor in my lord’s eyes; we will be slaves to Pharaoh.”

26So Joseph made it a law concerning the land of Egypt, still in force today, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

27Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

28Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the length of Jacob’s life was 147 years.

29When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt.

30When I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” Joseph said, “I will do as you say.”

31“Swear to me,” he said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.