Study Desk

So tell my father about the honor I have received here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen here. Now hurry, go bring my father back to me."

So Pharaoh told Joseph, "Tell your brothers to take all the food they need and go back to the land of Canaan.

So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them good wagons just as Pharaoh had promised. And Joseph gave them enough food for their trip.

So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father in the land of Canaan.

So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First he went to Beersheba. There he worshiped God, the God of his father Isaac. He offered sacrifices.

They also had their cattle and everything they owned in the land of Canaan. So Israel went to Egypt with all his children and his family.

Joseph learned that his father was coming. So he prepared his chariot and went out to meet his father, Israel, in Goshen. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged his neck and cried for a long time.

You tell him, ‘We are shepherds. All our lives we have been shepherds, and our ancestors were shepherds before us.' Then Pharaoh will allow you to live in the land of Goshen. Egyptians don't like shepherds, so it is better that you stay in Goshen."

They said to Pharaoh, "The famine is very bad in Canaan. There are no fields left with grass for our animals, so we have come to live in this land. We ask you to please let us live in Goshen."

After some time, the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left. They had spent all their money to buy grain. So the people of Egypt went to Joseph and said, "Please give us food. Our money is gone. If we don't eat, we will die while you are watching."

So the people used their cattle and horses and all their other animals to buy food. And that year, Joseph gave them food and took their animals.

But the next year the people had no animals and nothing to buy food with. So they went to Joseph and said, "You know that we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. So we have nothing left—only what you see—our bodies and our land.

Surely we will die while you are watching. But if you give us food, we will give Pharaoh our land, and we will be his slaves. Give us seed so that we can plant. Then we will live and not die, and the land will grow food for us again."

So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. All the people in Egypt sold Joseph their fields. They did this because they were very hungry.

The only land Joseph didn't buy was the land that the priests owned. The priests didn't need to sell their land because Pharaoh paid them for their work. So they used this money to buy food to eat.

Joseph said to the people, "Now I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. So I will give you seed, and you can plant your fields.

So Joseph made a law at that time in the land, and that law continues today. The law says that one-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the Pharaoh who owns all the land. The only land he does not own is the land of the priests.

Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years, so he was 147 years old.

The time came when Israel knew he would soon die, so he called his son Joseph to him. He said, "If you love me, put your hand under my leg and make a promise. Promise that you will do what I say and that you will be truthful with me. When I die, don't bury me in Egypt.

Some time later Joseph learned that his father was very sick. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to his father.