Jacob Settles in Goshen
And Joseph came and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their sheep and their cattle and all that is theirs, have come from the land of Canaan — and look, they are in the land of Goshen.”
And from the whole of his brothers he took five men, and presented them before Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your work?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds of flocks, both we and our fathers.”
And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks — for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”
And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph: “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know of capable men among them, set them as chiefs of livestock over what is mine.”
And Joseph brought Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh — and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojournings are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the lives of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them a holding in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
And Joseph provided for his father and his brothers and all his father’s house with bread, down to the mouths of the little ones.
The Famine Continues
And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very heavy; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away before the famine.
And Joseph gathered all the silver found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain they were buying; and Joseph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s house.
And the silver was spent from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, and all Egypt came to Joseph: “Give us bread! Why should we die in front of you? For the silver is gone.”
And Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the silver is gone.”
And they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for the horses, and for the livestock of the flocks, and for the livestock of the herds, and for the donkeys. And he sustained them with bread for all their livestock that year.
And that year ended, and they came to him in the second year and said to him, “We will not hide it from my lord: the silver is spent, and the herds of animals belong to my lord. Nothing is left before my lord but our bodies and our ground.
Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our ground? Buy us and our ground for bread, and we with our ground will be slaves to Pharaoh. And give seed, so that we may live and not die, and the ground not turn to waste.”
And Joseph bought all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh — for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was strong on them — and the land became Pharaoh’s.
And the people — he moved them into the cities, from one end of the border of Egypt to the other.
Only the ground of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ate their allotment that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their ground.
And Joseph said to the people, “Look, I have bought you and your ground today for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you — sow the ground.
And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own — for seed for the field, and for your food, and for those in your houses, and for your little ones to eat.”
And they said, “You have kept us alive. Let us find favor in the eyes of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”
And Joseph made it a statute over the ground of Egypt, to this day: a fifth for Pharaoh. Only the ground of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.
The Israelites Prosper in Goshen
And Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they took holdings in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the days of Jacob — the years of his life — were a hundred and forty-seven years.
And the days drew near for Israel to die, and he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand, please, under my thigh, and do loyal love and faithfulness with me: please do not bury me in Egypt.
When I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”
And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself at the head of the bed.