Jacob Settles in Goshen

47 Joseph went in and spoke to ·the king [^LPharaoh] and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen [45:10].” ² Joseph ·chose [took] five of his brothers to ·introduce [present] to ·the king [^LPharaoh].

³ ·The king [^LPharaoh] said to his brothers, “What work do you do?”

And they said to him, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just as our ·ancestors [fathers] were.” ⁴ They said to ·the king [^LPharaoh], “We have come to ·live [sojourn; reside as aliens] in this land, because there is no ·grass in the land of Canaan for our animals to eat [^Lpasturage for the flocks of your servants], and the ·hunger [famine] is ·terrible [severe; heavy] there. So please allow ·us [^Lyour servants] to live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Then ·the king [^LPharaoh] said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, ⁶ and ·you may choose any place in Egypt for them to live [^Lthe land of Egypt is before you]. Give your father and your brothers the best land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if any of them are skilled shepherds, put them in charge of my ·sheep and cattle [^Llivestock].”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and ·introduced him to the king [^Lhe stood before Pharaoh], and Jacob blessed ·the king [^LPharaoh].

⁸ Then ·the king [^LPharaoh] said to Jacob, “How ·old are you [^Lmany of the days are the years of your life]?”

⁹ Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent ·wandering from place to place [sojourning; residing as an alien]. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ·ancestors [fathers] ·lived [^Lwandered; sojourned; lived as an alien] much longer than I.” ¹⁰ Then Jacob blessed ·the king [^LPharaoh] and ·left [^Lwent out from before the Pharaoh].

¹¹ Joseph obeyed the king and ·gave his father and brothers [^Lsettled his father and brothers and gave them a possession in] the best land in Egypt, near the city of Rameses [^Ca city built later during the time of Moses in the Nile Delta region; Ex. 1:11]. ¹² And Joseph gave his father, his brothers, and ·everyone who lived with them [^Lall his father’s household] the food ·they needed [^Laccording to their little ones/dependents].

Joseph Buys Land for the King

¹³ The ·hunger became worse [^Lfamine was severe/intense/heavy], and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan ·became very poor [^Lwilted; languished]. ¹⁴ Joseph ·collected [gathered] all the ·money [silver] that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and Joseph brought that ·money [silver] to ·the king’s [^LPharaoh’s] palace. ¹⁵ After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no ·money [silver] left, ·they [^Lall Egypt] went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone, ·and if we don’t eat, we will [^Lwhy should we…?] die here in front of you.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered, “Since you have no ·money [silver], give me your ·farm animals [livestock], and I will give you food in return [^Lfor your livestock].” ¹⁷ So people brought their ·farm animals [livestock] to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he ·kept them alive by trading [supplied them with] food for their ·farm animals [livestock] that year.

¹⁸ ·The next year [^LWhen that year ended] the people came to Joseph [^Lin the second year] and said, “·You know [^LWe cannot hide from my master/lord that] we have no money left, and all our ·animals [^Lherds of cattle] belong to you. ·We have [^LBefore our master/lord there is] nothing left except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ ·Surely both we and our land will [^LWhy should we and our land…?] die here in front of you. Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we will be ·slaves [servants] to ·the king [^LPharaoh], together with our land. Give us seed to plant so that we will live and not die, and the land will not become ·a desert [desolate].”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for ·the king [^LPharaoh; ^CJoseph’s plan led to the tremendous power of the Pharaoh in Egypt and the world]. Every Egyptian sold Joseph his field, because the ·hunger [famine] was very ·great [strong; intense]. So the land ·became the king’s [belonged to the Pharaoh], ²¹ and Joseph made the people ·slaves^[a] from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² The only land he did not buy was the land the priests owned. They did not need to sell their land because ·the king [^LPharaoh] ·paid them [gave them an allowance] for their work. So they had money to buy food.

²³ Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for ·the king [^LPharaoh], so I will give you seed and you can plant ·your fields [^Lthe land]. ²⁴ At harvest time you must give one-fifth to ·the king [^LPharaoh]. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your ·children [little ones].”

²⁵ The people said, “You have ·saved our lives [allowed us to live]. If ·you like [^Lwe have found favor in the eyes of my master/lord], we will become slaves of ·the king [^LPharaoh].”

²⁶ So Joseph made a law in Egypt, which continues today: One-fifth of everything from the land belongs to ·the king [^LPharaoh]. The only land ·the king [^LPharaoh] did not get was the priests’ land.

“Don’t Bury Me in Egypt”

²⁷ The Israelites continued to live in the land of Goshen [45:10] in Egypt. There they got possessions and ·had many children [^Lwere fruitful] and ·grew in number [greatly multiplied; 1:22].

²⁸ Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, so he lived to be one hundred forty-seven years old. ²⁹ When Israel [^Canother name for Jacob; 32:28] knew he soon would die, he called his son Joseph to him and said to him, “If ·you love me [^LI have found grace in your eyes], put your hand under my ·leg [^Lthigh; ^Ca euphemism for male genitalia; this was a commitment to keep a promise]. ·Promise me [^LDeal with me according to loyalty and faithfulness that] you will not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I ·die [^Llie with my fathers/ancestors], carry me out of Egypt, and bury me ·where my ancestors are buried [^Lin their burial place].”

Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”

³¹ Then Jacob said, “·Promise [Swear to] me.” And ·Joseph promised [he swore to] him that he would do this [50:7–14]. Then Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his ·walking stick [staff; or bed].^[b]