Genesis:47

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* Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king . He told him : »My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks , their herds , and all that they own . They are now in the region of Goshen .« * Then he presented his brothers to the king . * The king asked : »What is your occupation ?« »We are shepherds , Sir , just as our ancestors were ,« they answered . * »We have come to live in this country . The famine is so severe in the land of Canaan that there is no pasture for our flocks . Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen .« * The king said to Joseph : »Now that your father and your brothers have arrived , * »the land of Egypt is theirs . Let them settle in the region of Goshen , the best part of the land . If there are any capable men among them , put them in charge of my own livestock .« * Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king . Jacob gave the king his blessing . * The king asked him : »How old are you ?« * Jacob answered : »My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years . Those years have been few and difficult , unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings .« * Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left . * Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt . He gave them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses . This was as the king had commanded . * Joseph provided food for his father , his brothers , and all the rest of his father ’s family , including the very youngest . * The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere . The people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger . * They bought grain from Joseph . Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace . * When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent , the Egyptians came to Joseph and said : »Give us food ! Do not let us die . Do something ! Our money is all gone .« * Joseph answered : »Bring your livestock . I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone .« * They brought their livestock to Joseph . He gave them food in exchange for their horses , sheep , goats , cattle , and donkeys . That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock . * The following year they said to him : »We will not hide the fact from you , Sir , that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you . There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands . * »Do not let us die . Do something ! Do not let our fields be deserted . Buy us and buy our land in exchange for food . We will be the king ’s slaves . He will own our land . Give us grain to keep us alive and seed so that we can plant our fields .« * Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king . Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land , because the famine was so severe . All the land became the king ’s property . * He removed the people into the cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other . * The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests . The king gave the priests an allowance to live on . So they did not have to sell their lands . * Joseph said to the people : »I have now bought you and your lands for the king . Here is seed for you to sow in your fields . * »You must give one-fifth to the king at the time of harvest . You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families .« * They answered : »You have saved our lives . You have been good to us . We will be the king ’s slaves .« * Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king . This law still remains in force today . Only the lands of the priests did not become the king ’s property . * The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen . They became rich and had many children . * Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years , until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old . * When the time drew near for him to die , he called for his son Joseph and said to him : »Place your hand under my thighs and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt . * »I want to be buried where my fathers are . Carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried .« Joseph answered : »I will do as you say .« * Jacob said : »Make a vow that you will .« Joseph made the vow . Jacob gave thanks there on his bed .

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