Bible in Basic English
GENESIS, 41
Joseph is made ruler of Egypt
41:1 Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream ; and in his dream he was by the side of the Nile ;
2 And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and their food was the river-grass.
3 And after them seven other cows came out of the Nile, poor-looking and thin ; and they were by the side of the other cows.
4 And the seven thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows. Then Pharaoh came out of his sleep.
5 But he went to sleep again and had a second dream, in which he saw seven heads of grain, full and good, all on one stem.
6 And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by the east wind.
7 And the seven thin heads made a meal of the good heads. And when Pharaoh was awake he saw it was a dream.
8 And in the morning his spirit was troubled ; and he sent for all the wise men of Egypt and all the holy men, and put his dream before them, but no one was able to give him the sense of it.
41:9 Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now ;
10 Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with the chief bread-maker ;
11 And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the dreams had a special sense.
12 And there was with us a young Hebrew, the captain's servant, and when we put our dreams before him, he gave us the sense of them.
13 And it came about as he said : I was put back in my place, and the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.
41:14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out of prison ; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed, he came before Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and no one is able to give me the sense of it ; now it has come to my ears that you are able to give the sense of a dream when it is put before you.
16 Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.
17 Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
18 And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass ;
19 Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt ;
20 And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came up first ;
21 And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as before. And so I came out of my sleep.
22 And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stem:
23 And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by the east wind, coming up after them:
24 And the seven thin heads made a meal of the seven good heads ; and I put this dream before the wise men, but not one of them was able to give me the sense of it.
41:25 Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense : God has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years : the two have the same sense.
27 The seven thin and poor-looking cows who came up after them are seven years ; and the seven heads of grain, dry and wasted by the east wind, are seven years when there will be no food.
28 As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what he is about to do.
29 Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of grain in Egypt ;
30 And after that will come seven years when there will not be enough food ; and the memory of the good years will go from men's minds ; and the land will be made waste by the bad years ;
31 And men will have no memory of the good time because of the need which will come after, for it will be very bitter.
32 And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is certain, and God will quickly make it come about.
33 And now let Pharaoh make search for a man of wisdom and good sense, and put him in authority over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him put overseers over the land of Egypt to put in store a fifth part of the produce of the land in the good years.
35 And let them get together all the food in those good years and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of the towns, and let them keep it.
36 And let that food be kept in store for the land till the seven bad years which are to come in Egypt ; so that the land may not come to destruction through need of food.
41:37 And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?
39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Seeing that God has made all this clear to you, there is no other man of such wisdom and good sense as you:
40 You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word : only as king will I be greater than you.
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
42 Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and put a chain of gold round his neck ;
43 And he made him take his seat in the second of his carriages ; and they went before him crying, Make way ! So he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh ; and without your order no man may do anything in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh gave Joseph the name of Zaphnath-paaneah ; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, the priest of On, to be his wife. So Joseph went through all the land of Egypt.
41:46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he came before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before the face of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
47 Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
48 And Joseph got together all the food of those seven years, and made a store of food in the towns : the produce of the fields round every town was stored up in the town.
49 So he got together a store of grain like the sand of the sea ; so great a store that after a time he gave up measuring it, for it might not be measured.
41:50 And before the time of need, Joseph had two sons, to whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, gave birth.
51 And to the first he gave the name Manasseh, for he said, God has taken away from me all memory of my hard life and of my father's house.
52 And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.
41:53 And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.
54 Then came the first of the seven years of need as Joseph had said : and in every other land they were short of food ; but in the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 And when all the land of Egypt was in need of food, the people came crying to Pharaoh for bread ; and Pharaoh said to the people, Go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do it.
56 And everywhere on the earth they were short of food ; then Joseph, opening all his store-houses, gave the people of Egypt grain for money ; so great was the need of food in the land of Egypt.
57 And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.
GENESIS, 42
Joseph's brothers come to Egypt for grain
42:1 Now Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, said to his sons, Why are you looking at one another?
2 And he said, I have had news that there is grain in Egypt : go down there and get grain for us, so that life and not death may be ours.
3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to get grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with them, for fear, as he said, that some evil might come to him.
5 And the sons of Israel came with all the others to get grain : for they were very short of food in the land of Canaan.
42:6 Now Joseph was ruler over all the land, and it was he who gave out the grain to all the people of the land ; and Joseph's brothers came before him and went down on their faces to the earth.
7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, it was clear to him who they were, but he made himself strange to them, and talking roughly to them, said, Where do you come from ? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to get food.
8 Now though Joseph saw that these were his brothers, they had no idea who he was.
9 Then the memory of his dreams about them came back to Joseph, and he said to them, You have come secretly to see how poor the land is.
10 And they said to him, Not so, my lord : your servants have come with money to get food.
11 We are all one man's sons, we are true men ; we have not come with any secret purpose.
12 And he said to them, No, but you have come to see how poor the land is.
13 Then they said, We your servants are twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; the youngest of us is now with our father, and one is dead.
14 And Joseph said, It is as I said ; you have come with some secret purpose ;
15 But in this way will you be put to the test : by the life of Pharaoh, you will not go away from this place till your youngest brother comes here.
16 Send one of your number to get your brother, and the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are true ; if not, by the life of Pharaoh, your purpose is certainly secret.
17 So he put them in prison for three days.
42:18 And on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this, if you would keep your lives : for I am a god-fearing man:
19 If you are true men, let one of you be kept in prison, while you go and take grain for the needs of your families ;
20 And come back to me with your youngest brother, so that your words may be seen to be true, and you will not be put to death. This is what you are to do.
21 And they said to one another, Truly, we did wrong to our brother, for we saw his grief of mind, and we did not give ear to his prayers ; that is why this trouble has come on us.
22 And Reuben said to them, Did I not say to you, Do the child no wrong ? but you gave no attention ; so now, punishment has come on us for his blood.
23 They were not conscious that the sense of their words was clear to Joseph, for he had been talking to them through one who had knowledge of their language.
24 And turning away from them, he was overcome with weeping ; then he went on talking to them again and took Simeon and put chains on him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph gave orders for their bags to be made full of grain, and for every man's money to be put back into his bag, and for food to be given them for the journey : which was done.
42:26 Then they put the bags of grain on their asses and went away.
27 Now at their night's resting-place one of them, opening his bag to give his ass some food, saw his money in the mouth of the bag.
28 And he said to his brothers, My money has been given back : it is in my bag ; then their hearts became full of fear, and turning to one another they said, What is this which God has done to us?
42:29 So when they came to Jacob their father, in the land of Canaan, they gave him an account of all their experiences, saying,
30 The man who is the ruler of the country was rough with us and put us in prison, saying that we had come with a secret evil purpose.
31 And we said to him, We are true men, we have no evil designs ;
32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father ; one is dead, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.
33 And the ruler of the land said, In this way I may be certain that you are true men ; let one of you be kept here with me, while you go and take grain for the needs of your families ;
34 And come back to me with your youngest brother : then I will be certain that you are true men, and I will give your brother back to you and let you do trade in the land.
42:35 And when they took the grain out of their bags, it was seen that every man's parcel of money was in his bag ; and when they and their father saw the money, they were full of fear.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, You have taken my children from me : Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin away ; all these things have come on me.
37 And Reuben said, Put my two sons to death if I do not come back to you with him ; let him be in my care and I will give him safely back to you.
38 And he said, I will not let my son go down with you ; for his brother is dead and he is all I have : if evil overtakes him on the journey, then through you will my grey head go down to the underworld in sorrow.
GENESIS, 43
Joseph's brothers return
43:1 Now the land was in bitter need of food.
2 And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.
3 And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.
4 If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food :
5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down : for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you.
6 And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?
7 And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living ? have you another brother ? And we had to give him answers ; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother ?
8 Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.
9 Put him into my care and make me responsible for him : if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.
10 Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now.
43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this : take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:
12 And take twice as much money with you ; that is to say, take back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been an error ;
13 And take your brother and go back to the man:
14 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man, so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If my children are to be taken from me ; there is no help for it.
15 So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.
43:16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant, Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they will take food with me in the middle of the day.
17 And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house.
18 Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money which was put back in our bags the first time ; he is looking for something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us and our asses for his use.
19 So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house,
20 And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food ;
21 And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, all our money in full weight : and we have it with us to give it back ;
22 As well as more money, with which to get food : we have no idea who put our money in our bags.
23 Then the servant said, Peace be with you : have no fear : your God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags for you : I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them.
24 And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet ; and he gave their asses food.
25 And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in the middle of the day : for word was given to them that they were to have a meal there.
43:26 And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.
27 And he said, How are you ? is your father well, the old man of whom you were talking to me ? is he still living?
28 And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him.
29 Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you gave me word ? And he said, God be good to you, my son.
30 Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.
31 Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us.
32 And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by themselves ; because the Egyptians may not take food with the Hebrews, for that would make them unclean.
33 And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest : so that they were looking at one another in wonder.
34 And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took wine freely with him.
GENESIS, 44
The missing cup
44:1 Then he gave orders to the servant who was over his house, saying, Put as much food into the men's bags as will go into them, and put every man's money in the mouth of his bag ;
2 And put my cup, my silver cup, in the youngest one's bag, with his money. So he did as Joseph said.
3 And at dawn the men, with their asses, were sent away.
4 And when they had gone only a little way out of the town, Joseph said to the servant who was over his house, Go after them ; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you done evil in reward for good ?
5 Is not this the cup from which my lord takes wine and by which he gets knowledge of the future ? Truly, you have done evil.
44:6 So he overtook them and said these words to them.
7 And they said to him, Why does my lord say such words as these ? far be it from your servants to do such a thing:
8 See, the money which was in the mouth of our bags we gave back to you when we came again from Canaan : how then might we take silver or gold from your lord's house?
9 If it comes to light that any of your servants has done this, let him be put to death, and we will be your lord's servants.
10 And he said, Let it be as you say : he in whose bag it is seen will become my servant ; and you will not be responsible.
11 Then every man quickly got his bag down and undid it.
12 And he made a search, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest ; and the cup was in Benjamin's bag.
13 Then in bitter grief they put the bags on the asses again and went back to the town.
44:14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house ; and he was still there : and they went down on their faces before him.
15 And Joseph said, What is this thing which you have done ? had you no thought that such a man as I would have power to see what is secret?
16 And Judah said, What are we to say to my lord ? how may we put ourselves right in his eyes ? God has made clear the sin of your servants : now we are in your hands, we and the man in whose bag your cup was seen.
17 Then he said, Far be it from me to do so : but the man who had my cup will be my servant ; and you may go back to your father in peace.
44:18 Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning against your servant : for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us.
19 My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother?
20 And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old ; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father.
21 And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him.
22 And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go ; for if he went away his father would come to his death.
23 But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again.
24 And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words.
25 And our father said, Go again and get us a little food.
26 And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down ; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us.
27 And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons ;
28 The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death ; and from that time I have not seen him,
29 If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld.
30 If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one,
31 When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld.
32 For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.
33 So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers.
34 For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father ?
GENESIS, 45
Joseph makes himself known
45:1 Then Joseph, unable to keep back his feelings before those who were with him, gave orders for everyone to be sent away, and no one was present when he made clear to his brothers who he was.
2 And so loud was his weeping, that it came to the ears of the Egyptians and all Pharaoh's house.
3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph : is my father still living ? But his brothers were not able to give him an answer for they were troubled before him.
45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me. And they came near, And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sent into Egypt.
5 Now do not be troubled or angry with yourselves for sending me away, because God sent me before you to be the saviour of your lives.
6 For these two years have been years of need, and there are still five more years to come in which there will be no ploughing or cutting of grain.
7 God sent me before you to keep you and yours living on earth so that you might become a great nation.
8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God : and he has made me as a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 Now go quickly to my father, and say to him, Your son Joseph says, God has made me ruler over all the land of Egypt : come down to me straight away:
10 The land of Goshen will be your living-place, and you will be near me ; you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks and herds and all you have:
11 And there I will take care of you, so that you and your family may not be in need, for there are still five bad years to come.
12 Now truly, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which says these things to you.
13 Give my father word of all my glory in Egypt and of all you have seen ; and come back quickly with my father.
14 Then, weeping, he took Benjamin in his arms, and Benjamin himself was weeping on Joseph's neck.
15 Then he gave a kiss to all his brothers, weeping over them ; and after that his brothers had no fear of talking to him.
45:16 And news of these things went through Pharaoh's house, and it was said that Joseph's brothers were come ; and it seemed good to Pharaoh and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Put your goods on your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan ;
18 And get your father and your families and come back to me : and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, and the fat of the land will be your food.
19 And say to them, This you are to do : take carts from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come back.
20 And take no thought for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.
45:21 And the children of Israel did as he said ; and Joseph gave them carts as had been ordered by Pharaoh, and food for their journey.
22 To every one of them he gave three changes of clothing ; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred bits of silver and five changes of clothing.
23 And to his father he sent ten asses with good things from Egypt on their backs, and ten she-asses with grain and bread and food for his father on the journey.
24 And he sent his brothers on their way, and said to them, See that you have no argument on the road.
25 So they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob.
26 And they said to him, Joseph is living, and is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And at this word Jacob was quite overcome, for he had no faith in it.
27 And they gave him an account of everything Joseph had said to them ; and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent for them, his spirit came back to him:
45:28 And Israel said, It is enough : Joseph my son is still living ; I will go and see him before my death.
GENESIS, 46
Israel' journey to Egypt
46:1 And Israel went on his journey with all he had, and came to Beer-sheba, where he made offerings to the God of his father Isaac.
2 And God said to Israel in a night-vision, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3 And he said, I am God, the God of your father : go down to Egypt without fear, for I will make a great nation of you there:
4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will see that you come back again, and at your death Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.
5 Then Jacob went on from Beer-sheba ; and the sons of Jacob took their father and their little ones and their wives in the carts which Pharaoh had sent for them.
6 And they took their cattle and all the goods which they had got in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, even Jacob and all his seed:
7 His sons and his sons' sons, his daughters and his daughters' sons and all his family he took with him into Egypt.
46:8 And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, even Jacob and all his sons : Reuben, Jacob's oldest son ;
9 And the sons of Reuben : Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi ;
10 And the sons of Simeon : Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul, the son of a woman of Canaan ;
11 And the sons of Levi : Gershon, Kohath, and Merari ;
12 And the sons of Judah : Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah : but Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of Canaan ; and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons of Issachar : Tola and Puah and Job and Shimron ;
14 And the sons of Zebulun : Sered and Elon and Jahleel ;
15 All these, together with his daughter Dinah, were the children of Leah, whom Jacob had by her in Paddan-aram ; they were thirty-three in number.
16 And the sons of Gad : Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi and Areli ;
17 And the sons of Asher : Jimnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah, and Sarah, their sister ; and the sons of Beriah : Heber and Malchiel.
18 These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah, and Jacob had these sixteen children by her.
19 The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel : Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And Joseph had Manasseh and Ephraim in the land of Egypt, by Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard.
22 All these were the children of Rachel whom Jacob had by her, fourteen persons.
23 And the son of Dan was Hushim.
24 And the sons of Naphtali : Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem.
25 These were the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, seven persons.
26 All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt, the offspring of his body, were sixty-six, without taking into account the wives of Jacob's sons.
27 And the sons of Joseph whom he had in Egypt were two. Seventy persons of the family of Jacob came into Egypt.
28 Now he had sent Judah before him to Goshen, to get word from Joseph ; and so they came to the land of Goshen.
29 And Joseph got his carriage ready and went to Goshen for the meeting with his father ; and when he came before him, he put his arms round his neck, weeping.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, Now that I have seen you living again, I am ready for death.
31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's people, I will go and give the news to Pharaoh, and say to him, My brothers and my father's people, from the land of Canaan, have come to me ;
32 And these men are keepers of sheep and owners of cattle, and have with them their flocks and their herds and all they have.
33 Now when Pharaoh sends for you and says, What is your business?
34 You are to say, Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our early days up to now, like our fathers ; in this way you will be able to have the land of Goshen for yourselves ; because keepers of sheep are unclean in the eyes of the Egyptians
GENESIS, 47
Joseph settles his father and brothers
47:1 Then Joseph went to Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers with their flocks and their herds and all they have, are come from Canaan, and are now in the land of Goshen.
2 And he took five of his brothers to Pharaoh.
3 And Pharaoh said to them, What is your business ? And they said, Your servants are keepers of sheep, as our fathers were before us.
4 And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to make a living in this land, because we have no grass for our flocks in the land of Canaan ; so now let your servants make a place for themselves in the land of Goshen.
5 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Let them have the land of Goshen ; and if there are any able men among them, put them over my cattle.
6 And Jacob and his sons came to Joseph in Egypt, and when word of it came to the ears of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, he said to Joseph, Your father and brothers have come to you ; all the land of Egypt is before you ; let your father and your brothers have the best of the land for their resting-place.
47:7 Then Joseph made his father Jacob come before Pharaoh, and Jacob gave him his blessing.
8 And Pharaoh said to him, How old are you?
9 And Jacob said, The years of my wanderings have been a hundred and thirty ; small in number and full of sorrow have been the years of my life, and less than the years of the wanderings of my fathers.
10 And Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing, and went out from before him.
11 And Joseph made a place for his father and his brothers, and gave them a heritage in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had given orders.
12 And Joseph took care of his father and his brothers and all his father's people, giving them food for the needs of their families.
47:13 Now there was no food to be had in all the land, so that all Egypt and Canaan were wasted from need of food.
14 And all the money in Egypt and in the land of Canaan which had been given for grain, came into the hands of Joseph : and he put it in Pharaoh's house.
15 And when all the money in Egypt and Canaan was gone, the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread ; would you have us come to destruction before your eyes ? for we have no more money.
16 And Joseph said, Give me your cattle ; I will give you grain in exchange for your cattle if your money is all gone.
17 So they took their cattle to Joseph and he gave them bread in exchange for their horses and flocks and herds and asses, so all that year he gave them food in exchange for their cattle.
18 And when that year was ended, they came to him in the second year, and said, We may not keep it from our lord's knowledge that all our money is gone, and all the herds of cattle are my lord's ; there is nothing more to give my lord but our bodies and our land ;
19 Are we to come to destruction before your eyes, we and our land ? take us and our land and give us bread ; and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh ; and give us seed so that we may have life and the land may not become waste.
47:20 So Joseph got all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh ; for every Egyptian gave up his land in exchange for food, because of their great need ; so all the land became Pharaoh's.
21 And as for the people, he made servants of them, town by town, from one end of Egypt to the other.
22 Only he did not take the land of the priests, for the priests had their food given them by Pharaoh, and having what Pharaoh gave them, they had no need to give up their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, I have made you and your land this day the property of Pharaoh ; here is seed for you to put in your fields.
24 And when the grain is cut, you are to give a fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be yours for seed and food, and for your families and your little ones.
25 And they said to him, Truly you have kept us from death ; may we have grace in your eyes, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26 Then Joseph made a law which is in force to this day, that Pharaoh was to have the fifth part ; only the land of the priests did not become his. [The present-day way to put people under control of government by giving all and taking all is very old.]
47:27 And so Israel was living among the Egyptians in the land of Goshen ; and they got property there, and became very great in numbers and in wealth.
28 And Jacob was living in the land of Goshen for seventeen years ; so the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.
47:29 And the time of his death came near, and he sent for his son Joseph and said to him, If now I am dear to you, put your hand under my leg and take an oath that you will not put me to rest in Egypt ;
30 But when I go to my fathers, you are to take me out of Egypt and put me to rest in their last resting-place. And he said, I will do so.
31 And he said, Take an oath to me ; and he took an oath to him : and Israel gave worship on the bed's head.
GENESIS, 48
Israel's last days
48:1 Now after these things, word came to Joseph that his father was ill : and he took with him his sons Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And when they said to Jacob, Your son Joseph is coming to see you : then Israel, getting all his strength together, had himself lifted up in his bed.
3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God, the Ruler of all, came to me in a vision at Luz in the land of Canaan, and gave me his blessing,
4 And said to me, Truly, I will make you fertile and give you increase and will make of you a great family of nations : and I will give this land to your seed after you to be their heritage for ever.
5 And now your two sons who came to birth in Egypt before I came to you here, are mine ; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, in the same way as Reuben and Simeon are.
6 And any other offspring which you have after them, will be yours, and will be named after their brothers in their heritage.
7 And as for me, when I came from Paddan, death overtook Rachel on the way, when we were still some distance from Ephrath ; and I put her to rest there on the road to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem.
8 Then Israel, looking at Joseph's sons, said, Who are these?
9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this land. And he said, Let them come near me, and I will give them a blessing.
10 Now because Israel was old, his eyes were no longer clear, and he was not able to see. So he made them come near to him, and he gave them a kiss, folding them in his arms.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had no hope of seeing your face again, but God in his mercy has let me see you and your children.
12 Then Joseph took them from between his knees, and went down on his face to the earth.
13 Then taking Ephraim with his right hand, Joseph put him at Israel's left side, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Israel's right side, placing them near him.
14 And Israel, stretching out his right hand, put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands on purpose, for Manasseh was the older.
15 And he gave Joseph a blessing, saying,
May the God to whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, gave worship, the God who has taken care of me all my life till this day,
16 The angel who has been my saviour from all evil, send his blessing on these children : and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be given to them ; and let them become a great nation in the earth.
48:17 Now when Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it did not seem right to him ; and lifting his father's hand he would have put it on the head of Manasseh.
18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the older ; put your right hand on his head.
19 But his father would not, saying, I am doing it on purpose, my son ; he will certainly become a nation and a great one ; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a great family of nations.
20 So he gave them his blessing that day, saying,
You will be the sign of blessing in Israel, for they will say, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh ; and he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, Now my death is near ; but God will be with you, guiding you back to the land of your fathers.
22 And I have given you more than your brothers, even Shechem as your heritage, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.
GENESIS, 49
Israel's prophecy
49:1 And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times.
2 Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:
4 But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours ; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers ; deceit and force are their secret designs.
6 Take no part in their secrets, O my soul ; keep far away, O my heart, from their meetings ; for in their wrath they put men to death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded.
7 A curse on their passion for it was bitter ; and on their wrath for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken up, driving them from their places in Israel.
8 To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise : your hand will be on the neck of your haters ; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you.
9 Judah is a young lion ; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son ; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion ; by whom will his sleep be broken?
10 The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule.
11 Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine ; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships ; the edge of his land will be by Zidon.
14 Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks:
15 And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing ; so he let them put weights on his back and became a servant.
16 Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road, biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall.
18 I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight.
20 Asher's bread is fat ; he gives delicate food for kings.
21 Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones.
22 Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain ;
23 He was troubled by the archers ; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him:
24 But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the Stone of Israel:
25 Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body:
26 Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father : blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills : let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat : in the morning he takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he has taken.
49:28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel : and these are the words their father said to them, blessing them ; to every one he gave his blessing.
29 And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his resting-place.
31 There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to rest.
32 In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth.
33 And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and went the way of his people.
GENESIS, 50
The death of Joseph
50:1 And Joseph put his head down on his father's face, weeping and kissing him.
2 And Joseph gave orders to his servants who had the necessary knowledge, to make his father's body ready, folding it in linen with spices, and they did so.
3 And the forty days needed for making the body ready went by : and there was weeping for him among the Egyptians for seventy days.
50:4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph said to the servants of Pharaoh, If now you have love for me, say these words to Pharaoh:
5 My father made me take an oath, saying, When I am dead, put me to rest in the place I have made ready for myself in the land of Canaan. So now let me go and put my father in his last resting-place, and I will come back again.
6 And Pharaoh said, Go up and put your father to rest, as you gave your oath to him.
7 So Joseph went up to put his father in his last resting-place ; and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, and the chief men of his house and all the chiefs of the land of Egypt,
8 And all the family of Joseph, and his brothers and his father's people : only their little ones and their flocks and herds they did not take with them from the land of Goshen.
9 And carriages went up with him and horsemen, a great army.
10 And they came to the grain-floor of Atad on the other side of Jordan, and there they gave the last honours to Jacob, with great and bitter sorrow, weeping for their father for seven days.
11 And when the people of the land, the people of Canaan, at the grain-floor of Atad, saw their grief, they said, Great is the grief of the Egyptians : so the place was named Abel-mizraim, on the other side of Jordan.
12 So his sons did as he had given them orders to do:
13 For they took him into the land of Canaan and put him to rest in the hollow rock in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham got with the field, for a resting-place, from Ephron the Hittite at Mamre.
14 And when his father had been put to rest, Joseph and his brothers and all who had gone with him, went back to Egypt.
50:15 Now after the death of their father, Joseph's brothers said to themselves, It may be that Joseph's heart will be turned against us, and he will give us punishment for all the evil which we did to him.
16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father, before his death, gave us orders, saying,
17 You are to say to Joseph, Let the wrongdoing of your brothers be overlooked, and the evil they did to you : now, if it is your pleasure, let the sin of the servants of your father's God have forgiveness. And at these words, Joseph was overcome with weeping.
18 Then his brothers went, and falling at his feet, said, Truly, we are your servants.
19 And Joseph said, Have no fear : am I in the place of God?
20 As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as you see today.
21 So now, have no fear : for I will take care of you and your little ones. So he gave them comfort with kind words.
50:22 Now Joseph and all his father's family went on living in Egypt : and the years of Joseph's life were a hundred and ten.
23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation : and the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, came to birth on Joseph's knees.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, The time of my death has come ; but God will keep you in mind and take you out of this land into the land which he gave by his oath to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
25 Then Joseph made the children of Israel take an oath, saying, God will certainly give effect to his word, and you are to take my bones away from here.
26 So Joseph came to his death, being a hundred and ten years old : and they made his body ready, and he was put in a chest in Egypt.
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