Jacob and his family stay in the land of Goshen
1Joseph went to Pharaoh and said to him: ‘My father and my brothers have come from Canaan and they are now in Goshen. They have brought their animals and everything that belongs to them.’
2Joseph took 5 of his brothers to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh asked them: ‘What kind of work do you do?’ They said: ‘We are shepherds, and our fathers before us were also shepherds.’ 4They asked Pharaoh: ‘May we stay in your land as strangers? There is no more grass in Canaan for our sheep and goats. There is very little food there. May we please stay in Goshen?’
5Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6They may stay anywhere in Egypt. Choose the best part of the land for them. They may stay in Goshen. If they are good shepherds, you must tell them also to look after my sheep.’
7Later Joseph brought his father to meet Pharaoh. Jacob greeted Pharaoh and he blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh asked Jacob: ‘How old are you?’ 9Jacob said: ‘I am 130 years old. The Lord said this is how many years I may live on earth. My forefathers were older than I am, but I have suffered a lot because of many things.’ 10Then Jacob greeted Pharaoh and he went away. 11Joseph gave his father and his brothers the best part of Egypt to live in, as Pharaoh had said. It was near the city of Rameses and it became their own land. 12Joseph gave his father, his brothers and their children and everyone in his family food.
Joseph buys all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh
13There was very little food in the land and the famine was very bad. All the people in Egypt and Canaan were hungry and many of them died. 14Joseph started selling wheat to the people of Egypt and Canaan and he got all the money that they had. He took the money into Pharaoh's house.
15Later there was no money left in Egypt and Canaan. The people of Egypt came to Joseph and asked him: ‘Please give us food. We have no more money. Sir, if you do not give us food, we will die here in front of you.’
16Joseph said: ‘If you do not have any money, bring your animals to me. Give me your animals and I will give you food.’
17So they brought their cattle to Joseph and Joseph gave them food. He gave them food for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle and donkeys. He gave them food that year and they had to give their animals to Pharaoh.
18The next year they came to Joseph and asked him: ‘Sir, you know that all our money and all our animals now belong to you. We have nothing left to give you. We have only our lives and our land. It is all we have. 19Sir, why must we die here in front of you? Here we are with our land. Take us and our land and give us food. We will be Pharaoh's slaves and our land will belong to him. Give us food so that we can live, because if we die, no one can work on our land and grow food.’
20Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. Everyone in Egypt had to sell their land because they had no food to eat. This is how all the land in Egypt became Pharaoh's land.
21And all the people in Egypt became Pharaoh's slaves and he sent them to live in the towns and cities. 22Joseph bought all the land in Egypt, but he did not buy the land of the priests, because Pharaoh always paid the priests and gave them food. That is why the priests did not sell their land.
23Joseph told the people: ‘I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you. Sow it on the ground. 24But when you cut and harvest the wheat, you must give one 5th to Pharaoh and you can keep 4 5ths for yourselves. It is your seed that you must sow to get food to eat for you, your children and all the people in your families.’
25They said to Joseph: ‘You have saved our lives. You were good to us and we will be Pharaoh's slaves.’ 26Joseph made a new law in Egypt and that law is still the same today. One 5th of everything the people harvest belongs to Pharaoh. But the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh's land.
Joseph promises he will bury Jacob in Canaan
27Jacob and his family lived in the land of Goshen in Egypt. They got many things. They were fertile and had a lot of babies, and later they became a big and powerful nation. 28Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years. When he was 147 years old 29he felt the time was coming for him to die. Jacob called his son Joseph and said to him: ‘Will you please help me and do something for me. If you love me, put your hand_between_my_legs and promise that you will do what I ask. You must not bury me in Egypt. 30When I die, you must take my body out of Egypt and you must bury me with my forefathers in the grave of my family.’
Joseph said: ‘Father, I will do what you ask.’ 31And Jacob said: ‘You must promise me.’ Joseph promised Jacob that he would do it. Then Jacob knelt on his bed and thanked God.
