Genesis, 47

1. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they [are] in the land of Goshen.

1. Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and brothers with their sheep and cattle and all their possessions have come from the land of Canaan to Goshen."

2. And he took some of his brethren, [even] five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

2. He then presented five of his brothers to Pharaoh.

3. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What [is] your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants [are] shepherds, both we, [and] also our fathers.

3. Pharaoh asked, "What are your occupations?" and they replied, "Your servants are shepherds as were our fathers before us.

4. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine [is] sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

4. We have come to settle in the land for there is no more pasture for our sheep, so severe is the famine in the land of Canaan. And now we pray you, may we stay in the land of Goshen?"

5. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:

5. Pharaoh then spoke to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6. The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

6. The land of Egypt is before you; let your father and brothers settle in the best part; let them settle in Goshen, and if among them there are capable men, put them in charge of my cattle."

7. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

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

8. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old [art] thou?

8. who then asked him, "How old are you?"

9. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage [are] an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

9. Jacob replied, "The years of my wanderings are one hundred and thirty. Brief and difficult have been the years of my life, and not as many as those of my fathers."

10. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

10. Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and withdrew from his presence.

11. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

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

12. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to [their] families.

12. Joseph provided his father, his brothers and his father's entire household with food according to the number of their dependents.

13. And [there was] no bread in all the land; for the famine [was] very sore, so that the land of Egypt and [all] the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

13. Now so severe was the famine that no bread was to be had in all the land. Both Egypt and Canaan were exhausted because of the famine.

14. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

14. Joseph then collected all the money that had been given to buy bread in the lands of Egypt and Canaan. All this money Joseph took to Pharaoh's house.

15. And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.

15. When all the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph saying, "Give us bread! Why must we die before your eyes, for want of money?"

16. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

16. Joseph told them, "Give me your cattle to pay for bread since you have no money."

17. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread [in exchange] for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

17. So they brought their livestock and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for their horses, sheep and cattle and even their donkeys. In that way he supplied them with food for that year.

18. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

18. The following year they came to him again and said, "We will not hide from our lord that all our money is gone and that our cattle now belong to you. All that is left to us are our persons and our land.

19. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give [us] seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

19. Why should we die while you look on, ourselves and our land? So buy us and our land for bread; we shall be in bondage to you and Pharaoh. Give us grain that we may live and not die and our land remain desolate."

20. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.

20. So it was that Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; all the Egyptians sold their fields, so cruelly hard-pressed were they by the famine. Pharaoh became owner of the land

21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end thereof.

21. and Joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other.

22. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion [assigned them] of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

22. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because by a decree of Pharaoh they lived on what had been given to them by Pharaoh. For that reason they did not sell the land that belonged to them.

23. Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, [here is] seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

23. Then Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you to sow the land.

24. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth [part] unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

24. At harvest time you will give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths will be yours for seed for sowing, for food for yourselves and your families."

25. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.

25. They said, "You have saved our lives. If it please my lord, we shall be Pharaoh's serfs."

26. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, [that] Pharaoh should have the fifth [part]; except the land of the priests only, [which] became not Pharaoh's.

26. So Joseph introduced a statute that remains to this day, whereby a fifth of the produce goes to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh's.

27. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

27. So Israel lived in Egypt in the land of Goshen. They became owners of this land; they had many children and greatly increased in number.

28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

28. Jacob lived for one hundred and forty-seven years, seventeen of them in the land of Egypt.

29. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

29. When his life was drawing to a close he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If you wish to be faithful and kind to me, place your hand under my thigh and promise me that you will not bury me in Egypt!

30. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

30. But when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb." Joseph said, "I will do as you say."

31. And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

31. Jacob insisted, "Swear to it!" He swore to him and Israel fell back on his pillow.