Study Desk

Yet there was no food throughout that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

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

So Joseph acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Egypt; the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh's,

However, 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.

So Joseph established a law that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh, and it is in effect in the land of Egypt to this day. Only the priests' land does not belong to Pharaoh.

"Swear to me," Jacob said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

Some time later, Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).

Joseph said to his father, "They are the sons God has given me in this place." So Jacob said, "Please bring them to me, that I may bless them."

"Not so, my father!" Joseph said. "This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."

So that day Jacob blessed them and said: "By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Then Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:

He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.

He will be a serpent by the road, a viper in the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles backward.

And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him,

So Jacob's sons did as he had charged them.

So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Before he died, your father commanded,

'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the transgression and sin of your brothers, for they did you wrong.' So now, Joseph, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones." So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them.

So Joseph died at the age of 110. And they embalmed his body and placed it in a coffin in Egypt.