Genesis 47
Open in the reader1So May-He-Add went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Humbled and are now in Goshen.”
2And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
3“What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked May-He-Add’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”
4Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Humbled has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”
5Pharaoh said to May-He-Add, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,
6the land of Two-Straits is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7Then May-He-Add brought in his father Heel-Grabber and presented him before Pharaoh, and Heel-Grabber blessed Pharaoh.
8“How many years have you lived?” Pharaoh asked.
9“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Heel-Grabber replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
10Then Heel-Grabber blessed Pharaoh and departed from his presence.
11So May-He-Add settled his father and brothers in the land of Two-Straits and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12May-He-Add also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.
13There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Two-Straits and Humbled had been exhausted by the famine.
14May-He-Add collected all the money to be found in the land of Two-Straits and the land of Humbled in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s palace.
15When the money from the lands of Two-Straits and Humbled was gone, all the Two-Straitsians came to May-He-Add and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”
16“Then bring me your livestock,” said May-He-Add. “Since the money is gone, I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock.”
17So they brought their livestock to May-He-Add, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
19Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
20So May-He-Add acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Two-Straits; the Two-Straitsians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,
21and May-He-Add reduced the people to servitude from one end of Two-Straits to the other.
22However, he did not acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh. They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.
23Then May-He-Add said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh this day, here is seed for you to sow in the land.
24At harvest time, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and food for yourselves and your households and children.”
25“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor in our lord’s eyes, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26So May-He-Add established a law that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh, and it is in effect in the land of Two-Straits to this day. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.
27Now the children of Strives-with-God settled in the land of Two-Straits, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.
28And Heel-Grabber lived in the land of Two-Straits seventeen years, and the length of his life was 147 years.
29When the time drew near for Strives-with-God to die, he called his son May-He-Add and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Two-Straits,
30but when I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Two-Straits and bury me with them.” May-He-Add answered, “I will do as you have requested.”
31“Swear to me,” Heel-Grabber said. So May-He-Add swore to him, and Strives-with-God bowed in worship at the head of his bed.