Study Desk

"There I will provide for you and sustain you, so that you and your household and all that are yours may not become impoverished, for there are still five years of famine to come."'

Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.

So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, "See that you do not quarrel on the journey [about how to explain this to our father]."

So they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father,

So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba [where both his father and grandfather had worshiped God], and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

So Jacob set out from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

Moreover, they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live temporarily (sojourn) in the land [of Egypt], for there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants [in our land], for the famine is very severe in Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen."

So Joseph settled his father and brothers and gave them a possession in Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses (Goshen), as Pharaoh commanded.

Now [in the course of time] there was no food in all the land, for the famine was distressingly severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished [in destitution and starvation] because of the famine.

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

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

Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived on the amount which Pharaoh gave them, so they did not sell their land.

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob's life was a hundred and forty-seven years.

Then he said, "Swear to me [that you will do it]." So he swore to him. Then Israel (Jacob) bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

Now some time after these things happened, Joseph was told, "Your father is sick." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him [to go to Goshen].

Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here [in Egypt]." So he said, "Please bring them to me, so that I may bless them."

Now Israel's eyes were so dim from age that he could not see [clearly]. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed and embraced them.

Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn; place your right hand on Manasseh's head."

"Dan shall be a [venomous] serpent in the way, A fanged snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward.

Then Joseph ordered his servants the physicians to embalm (mummify) his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel (Jacob).