Genesis 47

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1. 1Joseph went to Pharaoh and informed him, "My father and my brothers, along with their flocks, herds, and everything they own, have arrived from the land of Canaan. They are now in the region of Goshen."
2. 2He selected five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh.
3. 3Pharaoh asked the brothers, "What do you do for a living?" They replied, "Your servants tend sheep, just as our ancestors did before us."
4. 4They also told Pharaoh, "We have come to stay temporarily in this land because there is no grazing land for our flocks. The famine is severe in Canaan. So please allow your servants to settle in the region of Goshen."
5. 5Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and brothers have arrived to be with you."
6. 6"All of Egypt is open to you. Let your father and brothers settle in the finest part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock."
7. 7Joseph then brought his father Jacob in and introduced him to Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8. 8Pharaoh asked Jacob, "How many years have you lived?"
9. 9Jacob answered Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage on earth have been a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they have not reached the number of years my ancestors lived during their pilgrimages."
10. 10Jacob blessed Pharaoh and then left his presence.
11. 11Joseph settled his father and brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the finest part of the land, the region of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had directed.
12. 12Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and everyone in his father's household, giving each family what they needed.
13. 13There was no food anywhere in the land because the famine was extremely severe. Both Egypt and Canaan were devastated by it.
14. 14Joseph collected all the money that could be found in Egypt and Canaan as payment for the grain people purchased. He turned all this money over to Pharaoh's treasury.
15. 15When the money in Egypt and Canaan ran out, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food! Why should we die right in front of you? Our money is gone."
16. 16Joseph responded, "Bring me your livestock, and I will trade you food for them, since your money is gone."
17. 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he traded them food in exchange for their horses, flocks, herds, and donkeys. He provided them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.
18. 18When that year was over, they returned to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from my lord that our money is used up and our livestock already belongs to you. There is nothing left to offer my lord except our bodies and our farmland."
19. 19"Why should we perish before your eyes — both us and our farmland? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. We and our land will belong to Pharaoh. Just give us seed so that we can survive and not starve, and so the ground will not become barren."
20. 20So Joseph acquired all the farmland in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold their fields because the famine had overpowered them. In this way, the land became Pharaoh's property.
21. 21As for the people, he relocated them into the cities from one end of Egypt to the other.
22. 22The only land he did not purchase belonged to the priests, because they received a regular allowance from Pharaoh and lived on what Pharaoh provided them. For this reason, they did not have to sell their land.
23. 23Joseph told the people, "Today I have purchased you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you. Go and plant your fields."
24. 24"At harvest time, you must give one-fifth to Pharaoh. The remaining four-fifths will be yours — for planting your fields, for feeding yourselves and your households, and for feeding your children."
25. 25They responded, "You have saved our lives! May we find favor in the eyes of my lord. We will serve Pharaoh."
26. 26Joseph established it as a statute throughout Egypt — still in effect to this day — that one-fifth of the harvest belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land belonging to the priests did not become Pharaoh's.
27. 27Israel settled in Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful, increasing greatly in number.
28. 28Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, so the total length of his life was a hundred and forty-seven years.
29. 29When the time of Israel's death approached, he summoned his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have found grace in your eyes, please place your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt."
30. 30"Instead, when I lie down with my ancestors, carry me out of Egypt and lay me to rest in their burial place." Joseph replied, "I will do what you have asked."
31. 31Jacob said, "Make an oath to me." So Joseph swore an oath to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.