Study Desk

You can choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if they are skilled shepherds, they can also care for my cattle."

Joseph also gave his father, his brothers, and all their people the food they needed.

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."

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.

Israel stayed in Egypt. He lived in the land of Goshen. His family grew and became very large. They became landowners there and did very well.

Now you have two sons. These two sons were born here in the country of Egypt before I came. Your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, will be like my own sons. They will be like Reuben and Simeon to me.

So these two boys will be my sons. They will share in everything I own. But if you have other sons, they will be your sons. But they will also be like sons to Ephraim and Manasseh—that is, in the future, they will share in everything that Ephraim and Manasseh own.

Then Joseph took the boys off Israel's lap, and they bowed down in front of his father.

He was the Angel who saved me from all my troubles. And I pray that he will bless these boys. Now they will have my name and the name of our ancestors, Abraham and Isaac. I pray that they will grow to become great families and nations on earth."

So Israel blessed them that day. He said, "The Israelites will use your names whenever they bless someone. They will say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" In this way Israel made Ephraim greater than Manasseh.

"Simeon and Levi are brothers. They are violent with their swords.

I will not join their secret meetings. I will not take part in their evil plans. They have killed people out of anger and crippled animals for fun.

They carried his body to Canaan and buried it in the cave at Machpelah. This was the cave near Mamre in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite. Abraham bought that cave to use as a burial place.

He said, ‘Tell Joseph that I beg him to please forgive his brothers for the bad things they did to him.' So now Joseph, we beg you, please forgive us for the bad things we did to you. We are the servants of God, the God of your father." That message made Joseph very sad, and he cried.

His brothers went to him and bowed down in front of him. They said, "We will be your servants."

This king said to his people, "Look at the Israelites. There are too many of them, and they are stronger than we are!

We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!"

The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things.

The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them.

They made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work hard at making bricks and mortar and to work hard in the fields. The Egyptians showed no mercy in all the hard work they made the Israelites do!