Genesis 46-48

Easy-to-Read Version

God Assures Israel

46 So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First he went to Beersheba. There he worshiped God, the God of his father Isaac. He offered sacrifices. ² During the night God spoke to Israel in a dream and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”

Israel answered, “Here I am.”

³ Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt. In Egypt I will make you a great nation. ⁴ I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you out of Egypt again. You will die there, but Joseph will be with you. His own hands will close your eyes when you die.”

Israel Goes to Egypt

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Egypt. His sons, the sons of Israel, brought their father, their wives, and all their children to Egypt. They traveled in the wagons the Pharaoh had sent. ⁶ They also had their cattle and everything they owned in the land of Canaan. So Israel went to Egypt with all his children and his family. ⁷ With him were his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters. All of his family went with him.

The Family of Jacob (Israel)

⁸ These are the names of Israel’s sons and family who went to Egypt with him:

¹⁵ Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun were Jacob’s sons from his wife Leah. Leah had these sons in Paddan Aram. She also had a daughter named Dinah. There were 33 people in this family.

¹⁸ All these were Jacob’s sons from his wife’s servant, Zilpah. (Zilpah was the maid that Laban had given to his daughter Leah.) There were 16 people in this family.

²² These were the sons of Jacob from his wife Rachel. There were 14 people in this family.

²⁵ These were the sons of Jacob and Bilhah. (Bilhah was the maid that Laban had given to his daughter Rachel.) There were seven people in this family.

²⁶ The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went with him to Egypt was 66 people. (The wives of Jacob’s sons were not counted in this number.) ²⁷ Also, Joseph had two sons in Egypt. With these two grandsons, Jacob’s family in Egypt numbered 70 people in all.

Israel Arrives in Egypt

²⁸ Jacob sent Judah ahead to speak to Joseph. Judah went to Joseph in the land of Goshen. Then Jacob and his people followed into the land. ²⁹ Joseph learned that his father was coming. So he prepared his chariot and went out to meet his father, Israel, in Goshen. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged his neck and cried for a long time.

³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die in peace. I have seen your face, and I know that you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to the rest of his father’s family, “I will go and tell Pharaoh that you are here. I will say to Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and the rest of my father’s family have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me. ³² They are a family of shepherds. They have always kept sheep and cattle. They have brought all their animals and everything they own with them.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’ ³⁴ You tell him, ‘We are shepherds. All our lives we have been shepherds, and our ancestors were shepherds before us.’ Then Pharaoh will allow you to live in the land of Goshen. Egyptians don’t like shepherds, so it is better that you stay in Goshen.”

Israel Settles in Goshen

47 Joseph went in to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and all their families are here. They have all their animals and everything they own from the land of Canaan with them. They are now in the land of Goshen.” ² Joseph chose five of his brothers to be with him before the Pharaoh.

³ Pharaoh said to the brothers, “What work do you do?”

The brothers said to Pharaoh, “Sir, we are shepherds, just as our ancestors were shepherds before us.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “The famine is very bad in Canaan. There are no fields left with grass for our animals, so we have come to live in this land. We ask you to please let us live in Goshen.”

⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ You can choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if they are skilled shepherds, they can also care for my cattle.”

⁷ Then Joseph called his father Jacob to come in to meet Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “How old are you?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “I have had a short life with many troubles. I am only 130 years old. My father and his ancestors lived to be much older than I am.”

¹⁰ Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left from his meeting with him.

¹¹ Joseph did what Pharaoh said and gave his father and brothers land in Egypt. It was the best land in Egypt, in the eastern part of the country, around Rameses. ¹² Joseph also gave his father, his brothers, and all their people the food they needed.

Joseph Buys Land for Pharaoh

¹³ The famine got worse; there was no food anywhere in the land. Egypt and Canaan became very poor because of this bad time. ¹⁴ People in the land bought more and more grain. Joseph saved the money and brought it to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ After some time, the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left. They had spent all their money to buy grain. So the people of Egypt went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone. If we don’t eat, we will die while you are watching.”

¹⁶ But Joseph answered, “Give me your cattle, and I will give you food.” ¹⁷ So the people used their cattle and horses and all their other animals to buy food. And that year, Joseph gave them food and took their animals.

¹⁸ But the next year the people had no animals and nothing to buy food with. So they went to Joseph and said, “You know that we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. So we have nothing left—only what you see—our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Surely we will die while you are watching. But if you give us food, we will give Pharaoh our land, and we will be his slaves. Give us seed so that we can plant. Then we will live and not die, and the land will grow food for us again.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. All the people in Egypt sold Joseph their fields. They did this because they were very hungry. ²¹ And everywhere in Egypt all the people became Pharaoh’s slaves. ²² The only land Joseph didn’t buy was the land that the priests owned. The priests didn’t need to sell their land because Pharaoh paid them for their work. So they used this money to buy food to eat.

²³ Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. So I will give you seed, and you can plant your fields. ²⁴ At harvest time, you must give one-fifth of your crops to Pharaoh. You can keep four-fifths for yourselves. You can use the seed you keep for food and planting the next year. Now you can feed your families and your children.”

²⁵ The people said, “You have saved our lives. We are happy to be slaves to Pharaoh.”

²⁶ So Joseph made a law at that time in the land, and that law continues today. The law says that one-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the Pharaoh who owns all the land. The only land he does not own is the land of the priests.

Don’t Bury Me in Egypt

²⁷ Israel stayed in Egypt. He lived in the land of Goshen. His family grew and became very large. They became landowners there and did very well.

²⁸ Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years, so he was 147 years old. ²⁹ The time came when Israel knew he would soon die, so he called his son Joseph to him. He said, “If you love me, put your hand under my leg and make a promise.^[a] Promise that you will do what I say and that you will be truthful with me. When I die, don’t bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ Bury me in the place where my ancestors are buried. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in our family grave.”

Joseph answered, “I promise that I will do what you say.”

³¹ Then Jacob said, “Make a vow to me.” And Joseph vowed to him that he would do this. Then Israel laid his head back down on the bed.^[b]

Blessings for Manasseh and Ephraim

48 Some time later Joseph learned that his father was very sick. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to his father. ² When Joseph arrived, someone told Israel, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” Israel was very weak, but he tried hard and sat up in his bed.

³ Then Israel said to Joseph, “God All-Powerful appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan. God blessed me there. ⁴ He said to me, ‘I will make you a great family. I will give you many children and you will be a great people. Your family will own this land forever.’ ⁵ Now you have two sons. These two sons were born here in the country of Egypt before I came. Your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, will be like my own sons. They will be like Reuben and Simeon to me. ⁶ So these two boys will be my sons. They will share in everything I own. But if you have other sons, they will be your sons. But they will also be like sons to Ephraim and Manasseh—that is, in the future, they will share in everything that Ephraim and Manasseh own. ⁷ On the trip from Paddan Aram, Rachel died in the land of Canaan. This made me very sad. We were still traveling toward Ephrath. I buried her there on the road to Ephrath.” (Ephrath is Bethlehem.)

⁸ Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons. Israel said, “Who are these boys?”

⁹ Joseph said to his father, “These are my sons. These are the boys God gave me.”

Israel said, “Bring your sons to me. I will bless them.”

¹⁰ Israel was old and his eyes were not good. So Joseph brought the boys close to his father. Israel kissed and hugged the boys. ¹¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again. But look! God has let me see you and your children.”

¹² Then Joseph took the boys off Israel’s lap, and they bowed down in front of his father. ¹³ Joseph put Ephraim on his right side and Manasseh on his left side. (So Ephraim was on Israel’s left side, and Manasseh was on Israel’s right side.) ¹⁴ But Israel crossed his hands and put his right hand on the head of the younger boy Ephraim. Then he put his left hand on Manasseh, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ And Israel blessed Joseph and said,

¹⁷ Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head. This didn’t make Joseph happy. Joseph took his father’s hand because he wanted to move it from Ephraim’s head and put it on Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “You have your right hand on the wrong boy. Manasseh is the firstborn. Put your right hand on him.”

¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, son. I know. Manasseh is the firstborn. He will be great and will be the father of many people. But his younger brother will be greater than he is. And the younger brother’s family will be much larger.”

²⁰ So Israel blessed them that day. He said,

In this way Israel made Ephraim greater than Manasseh.

²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, my time to die is almost here, but God will still be with you. He will lead you back to the land of your ancestors. ²² I have given you one portion more than I gave to your brothers. I gave you the land that I won from the Amorites. I used my sword and bow to take that land.”