11 And Joseph situated 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 (A)Rameses, (B)as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Then Joseph provided (C)his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.

Joseph Deals with the Famine

13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, (D)so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 (E)And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for (F)why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”

16 Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he [a]fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.

18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. 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 servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may (G)live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”

20 Then Joseph (H)bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 And as for the people, he [b]moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 (I)Only the land of the (J)priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

25 So they said, “You have saved (K)our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, (L)except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

Joseph’s Vow to Jacob

27 So Israel (M)dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and (N)grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time (O)drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please (P)put your hand under my thigh, and (Q)deal kindly and truly with me. (R)Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but (S)let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and (T)bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

31 Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So (U)Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons(V)

48 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, (W)Manasseh and Ephraim. And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel [c]strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God (X)Almighty appeared to me at (Y)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will (Z)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and (AA)give this land to your descendants after you (AB)as an everlasting possession.’ And now your (AC)two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Your [d]offspring [e]whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. But as for me, when I came from Padan, (AD)Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.

And he said, “Please bring them to me, and (AE)I will bless them.” 10 Now (AF)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he (AG)kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, (AH)“I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”

12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and (AI)laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, (AJ)guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the (AK)firstborn. 15 And (AL)he blessed Joseph, and said:

“God, (AM)before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel (AN)who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let (AO)my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them (AP)grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

17 Now when Joseph saw that his father (AQ)laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused and said, (AR)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly (AS)his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

20 So he blessed them that day, saying, (AT)“By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but (AU)God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover (AV)I have given to you one [f]portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand (AW)of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 47:17 supplied
  2. Genesis 47:21 So with MT, Tg.; Sam., LXX, Vg. made the people virtual slaves
  3. Genesis 48:2 Collected his strength
  4. Genesis 48:6 children
  5. Genesis 48:6 Who are born to you
  6. Genesis 48:22 Lit. shoulder

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