Genesis 46:28-48:22

New King James Version

Jacob Settles in Goshen

²⁸ Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, ^(A)to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came ^(B)to the land of Goshen. ²⁹ So Joseph made ready his ^(C)chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and ^(D)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(E)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, ^(F)“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² And the men are ^(G)shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³ So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ^(H)‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ ^(I)occupation has been with livestock ^(J)from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is ^(K)an^[a] abomination to the Egyptians.”

Joseph Is Governor of Egypt

47 Then Joseph ^(L)went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in ^(M)the land of Goshen.” ² And he took five men from among his brothers and ^(N)presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, ^(O)“What is your occupation?”

And they said to Pharaoh, ^(P)“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” ⁴ And they said to Pharaoh, ^(Q)“We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, ^(R)for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants ^(S)dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ^6 (T)The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell ^(U)in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob ^(V)blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ^(W)“The days of the years of my ^[b]pilgrimage are ^(X)one hundred and thirty years; ^(Y)few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and ^(Z)they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” ¹⁰ So Jacob ^(AA)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

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 ^(AB)Rameses, ^(AC)as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹² Then Joseph provided ^(AD)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, ^(AE)so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ^14 (AF)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 ^(AG)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 ^[c]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 ^(AH)live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”

²⁰ Then Joseph ^(AI)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 ^[d]moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. ^22 (AJ)Only the land of the ^(AK)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 ^(AL)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, ^(AM)except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

Joseph’s Vow to Jacob

²⁷ So Israel ^(AN)dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and ^(AO)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 ^(AP)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 ^(AQ)put your hand under my thigh, and ^(AR)deal kindly and truly with me. ^(AS)Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but ^(AT)let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and ^(AU)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 ^(AV)Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons^(AW)

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, ^(AX)Manasseh and Ephraim. ² And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel ^[e]strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God ^(AY)Almighty appeared to me at ^(AZ)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will ^(BA)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and ^(BB)give this land to your descendants after you ^(BC)as an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ And now your ^(BD)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. ⁶ Your ^[f]offspring ^[g]whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ But as for me, when I came from Padan, ^(BE)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).”

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

⁹ 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 ^(BF)I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(BG)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he ^(BH)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(BI)“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 ^(BJ)laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ^(BK)guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the ^(BL)firstborn. ¹⁵ And ^(BM)he blessed Joseph, and said:

¹⁷ Now when Joseph saw that his father ^(BR)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, ^(BS)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly ^(BT)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, ^(BU)“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 ^(BV)God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover ^(BW)I have given to you one ^[h]portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand ^(BX)of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”