Study Desk

So Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" So they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers."

And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen."

So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning are 130; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning."

So 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 Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very heavy, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.

Then the money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. So all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone."

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.

Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate."

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh's.

So they said, "You have kept us alive! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's slaves."

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

Then he said, "Swear to me." So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

Now it happened after these things that Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is sick." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

Then it was told to Jacob, "Behold, your son Joseph has come to you," so Israel strengthened himself and sat up in the bed.

So now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

And Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." So he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them."

Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

But Joseph saw that his father set his right hand on Ephraim's head, and it was displeasing in his sight; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head."