Jacob Settles in Goshen
1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and they are in the land of Goshen.”
2 From among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”
They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, we and our fathers, are shepherds.”
4 They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Let your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. My days have been few and tragic. They have not reached the number of years of the life of my fathers in their pilgrimage.”
10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Joseph chose a place for his father and his brothers 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. 12 Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the size of their families.
Joseph’s Leadership in the Famine
13 There was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 Joseph accumulated all the money that was to be found in the lands of Egypt and Canaan, from the grain which the people had bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is all gone.”
16 Joseph said, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”
17 They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys; and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land will not be desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe, and the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made slaves of them, from one end of the border of Egypt to the other end of it. 22 Only he did not buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give 20% of it to Pharaoh, and 80% of it will be your own, for the seed of the field, for your food, for those of your households, and for food for your little ones.”
25 They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”
26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that 20% belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
27 Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they acquired possessions in it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.
29 The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”
Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.”
31 Israel said, “Swear to me.”
He swore to him. Then Israel bowed down at the head of the bed.