Genesis 47–49

1So Joseph went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”

2And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

3“What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”

4Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”

5Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

6the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

7Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8“How many years have you lived?” Pharaoh asked.

9“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from his presence.

11So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

12Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.

13There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

14Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s palace.

15When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”

16“Then bring me your livestock,” said Joseph. “Since the money is gone, I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock.”

17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

19Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

20So Joseph acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Egypt; the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

21and Joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other.

22However, he did not acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh. They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.

23Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh this day, here is seed for you to sow in the land.

24At harvest time, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and food for yourselves and your households and children.”

25“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor in our lord’s eyes, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

26So Joseph established a law that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh, and it is in effect in the land of Egypt to this day. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.

27Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.

28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the length of his life was 147 years.

29When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,

30but when I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me with them.” Joseph answered, “I will do as you have requested.”

31“Swear to me,” Jacob said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

1Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.

3Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

4and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

5And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

6Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit.

7Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

8When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

9Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”

10Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

11“I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”

12Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown.

13And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him.

14But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

15Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

17When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.

18“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

19But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

20So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

22And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

1Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:

2Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.

3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

4Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.

5Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.

6May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.

7Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

8Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

9Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

11He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

13Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.

14Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.

15He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.

16Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.

17He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.

18I await Your salvation, O LORD.

19Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.

20Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.

21Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

22Joseph is a fruitful vine— a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.

23The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.

24Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

25by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.

26The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”

28These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

29Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

30The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

31There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.

32The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”

33When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.