Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt

1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to ^gBeersheba, and offered sacrifices ^hto the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel ⁱin visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, ^jthe God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will ^kmake you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also ^lbring you up again, and ^mJoseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

5 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons ⁿthat Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and ^ocame into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

8 ^pNow ^qthese are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. ^rReuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of ^sLevi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of ^tJudah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but ^uEr and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of ^vPerez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 ^wThe sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, ^xwhom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 ^yThe sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 ^zThese are the sons of Zilpah, ^awhom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.

19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And ^bto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of ^cOn, bore to him. 21 And ^dthe sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

23 The son¹ of Dan: Hushim. 24 ^eThe sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 ^fThese are the sons of Bilhah, ^gwhom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. ^hAll the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

1 ^aThese are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were ^bseventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.

Jacob and Joseph Reunited

28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came ⁱinto the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and ^jfell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, ^k“Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, ^l“I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 ^mAnd the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ^m‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ^m‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock ⁿfrom our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell ^oin the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is ^pan abomination to the Egyptians.”

Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

1 So Joseph ^qwent in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in ^rthe land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and ^spresented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, ^t“What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, ^u“Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, ^v“We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell ^win the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers ^xin the best of the land. ^yLet them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any ^zable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, ^aand Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my ^bsojourning are 130 years. ^cFew and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and ^dthey have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their ^bsojourning.” 10 And Jacob ^eblessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled 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 ^fRameses, ^gas Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph ^hprovided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

Joseph and the Famine

13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 ⁱAnd Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. ^jWhy should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? ^kBuy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them¹ from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 ^lOnly the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a ^mfifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; ⁿmay it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; ^othe land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, ^pin the land of Goshen. ^qAnd they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. ^rSo the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

29 And ^swhen the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now ^tI have found favor in your sight, ^uput your hand under my thigh and ^vpromise to deal kindly and truly with me. ^wDo not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and ^xbury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then ^yIsrael bowed himself upon the head of his bed.²

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

1 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, ^z“God Almighty³ appeared to me at ^aLuz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you ^bfor an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now your ^ctwo sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, ^dare mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow ^eRachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance⁴ to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, ^f“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^gI may bless them.” 10 Now ^hthe eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, ⁱand he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, ^j“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 ^kAnd Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, ^lcrossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,

17 When Joseph saw that his father ^rlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, ^r“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, ^shis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude⁶ of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^uGod will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to ^vyou rather than to your brothers one mountain slope⁷ that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”