Genesis · Bible in Basic English
Genesis 47 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Then Joseph went to Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers with their flocks and their herds and all they have, are come from Canaan, and are now in the land of Goshen.
1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”
2 And he took five of his brothers to Pharaoh.
2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 And Pharaoh said to them, What is your business? And they said, Your servants are keepers of sheep, as our fathers were before us.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.”
4 And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to make a living in this land, because we have no grass for our flocks in the land of Canaan; so now let your servants make a place for themselves in the land of Goshen.
4 They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Let them have the land of Goshen; and if there are any able men among them, put them over my cattle.
5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 And Jacob and his sons came to Joseph in Egypt, and when word of it came to the ears of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, he said to Joseph, Your father and brothers have come to you; all the land of Egypt is before you; let your father and your brothers have the best of the land for their resting-place.
6 The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph made his father Jacob come before Pharaoh, and Jacob gave him his blessing.
7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 And Pharaoh said to him, How old are you?
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said, The years of my wanderings have been a hundred and thirty; small in number and full of sorrow have been the years of my life, and less than the years of the wanderings of my fathers.
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
10 And Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing, and went out from before him.
10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph made a place for his father and his brothers, and gave them a heritage in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had given orders.
11 Joseph placed 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.
12 And Joseph took care of his father and his brothers and all his father's people, giving them food for the needs of their families.
12 Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.
13 Now there was no food to be had in all the land, so that all Egypt and Canaan were wasted from need of food.
13 There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14 And all the money in Egypt and in the land of Canaan which had been given for grain, came into the hands of Joseph: and he put it in Pharaoh's house.
14 Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15 And when all the money in Egypt and Canaan was gone, the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread; would you have us come to destruction before your eyes? for we have no more money.
15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”
16 And Joseph said, Give me your cattle; I will give you grain in exchange for your cattle if your money is all gone.
16 Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”
17 So they took their cattle to Joseph and he gave them bread in exchange for their horses and flocks and herds and asses, so all that year he gave them food in exchange for their cattle.
17 They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.
18 And when that year was ended, they came to him in the second year, and said, We may not keep it from our lord's knowledge that all our money is gone, and all the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nothing more to give my lord but our bodies and our land;
18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
19 Are we to come to destruction before your eyes, we and our land? take us and our land and give us bread; and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh; and give us seed so that we may have life and the land may not become waste.
19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”
20 So Joseph got all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh; for every Egyptian gave up his land in exchange for food, because of their great need; so all the land became Pharaoh's.
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s.
21 And as for the people, he made servants of them, town by town, from one end of Egypt to the other.
21 As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it.
22 Only he did not take the land of the priests, for the priests had their food given them by Pharaoh, and having what Pharaoh gave them, they had no need to give up their land.
22 Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, I have made you and your land this day the property of Pharaoh; here is seed for you to put in your fields.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24 And when the grain is cut, you are to give a fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be yours for seed and food, and for your families and your little ones.
24 It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”
25 And they said to him, Truly you have kept us from death; may we have grace in your eyes, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
25 They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26 Then Joseph made a law which is in force to this day, that Pharaoh was to have the fifth part; only the land of the priests did not become his.
26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s.
27 And so Israel was living among the Egyptians in the land of Goshen; and they got property there, and became very great in numbers and in wealth.
27 Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
28 And Jacob was living in the land of Goshen for seventeen years; so the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.
28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.
29 And the time of his death came near, and he sent for his son Joseph and said to him, If now I am dear to you, put your hand under my leg and take an oath that you will not put me to rest in Egypt;
29 The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt,
30 But when I go to my fathers, you are to take me out of Egypt and put me to rest in their last resting-place. And he said, I will do so.
30 but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Jacob
He wrestled with God through the night and rose as Israel, father of twelve tribes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–35; 46–49
Joseph
Betrayed and enslaved, he rose to rule Egypt and saved his family from famine.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 37; 39–50
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 45:10; Genesis 46:31; Genesis 46:28; Genesis 45:16; Exodus 9:26
- 2 Acts 7:13; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Jude 24; Colossians 1:28
- 3 Genesis 46:33–34; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; Amos 7:14–15; Jonah 1:8; Genesis 4:2
- 4 Genesis 46:34; Deuteronomy 26:5; Genesis 15:13; Genesis 43:1; Acts 7:11
- 6 Exodus 18:21; Genesis 47:11; Proverbs 22:29; 2 Chronicles 26:10; Exodus 18:25
- 7 Genesis 47:10; 2 Samuel 14:22; Exodus 12:32; Luke 22:19; Matthew 26:26
- 9 Job 14:1; Psalm 39:12; Genesis 35:28; Psalm 39:5; Exodus 7:7
- 10 Genesis 47:7; Deuteronomy 33:1; Hebrews 7:7; 2 Samuel 8:10; Genesis 14:19
- 11 Genesis 47:6; Exodus 12:37; Exodus 1:11; John 17:24; John 14:2
- 12 Genesis 45:11; Mark 7:10–13; Exodus 20:12; Genesis 47:1; Ruth 4:15
- 13 Acts 7:11; Jeremiah 9:12; Lamentations 4:9; Genesis 41:30–31; 1 Kings 18:5
- 14 Genesis 41:56; Luke 16:10–12; 1 Peter 4:10; Luke 16:1–2; 1 Corinthians 4:2
- 15 Judges 8:8; Judges 8:5; Matthew 6:11; Psalm 37:3; Genesis 47:18–19
- 16 Philippians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 10:32; Proverbs 12:17; Colossians 4:5; Daniel 6:5–7
- 17 Isaiah 31:1; Job 2:4; Matthew 6:24; 1 Kings 10:28; Exodus 9:3
- 18 Jeremiah 38:9; 2 Kings 6:26
- 19 Nehemiah 5:2–3; Job 2:4; Lamentations 1:11; Lamentations 5:9; Lamentations 5:6
- 21 Genesis 41:48
- 22 Ezra 7:24; Joshua 21:1–45; Nehemiah 13:10; 1 Corinthians 9:13; Genesis 41:50
- 23 Isaiah 55:10; Isaiah 28:24–25; Genesis 45:6; Psalm 112:5; Proverbs 12:11
- 24 Genesis 41:34; Psalm 112:5; Psalm 41:1; Genesis 47:25; 1 Samuel 8:15–17
- 25 Genesis 33:15; Proverbs 11:26–27; Genesis 41:45; Genesis 50:20; Genesis 45:6–8
- 26 Genesis 47:22; Ezekiel 7:24
- 27 Genesis 46:3; Exodus 1:7; Acts 7:17; Psalm 107:38; Psalm 105:24
- 28 Psalm 90:10; Psalm 119:84; Psalm 90:12; Genesis 47:8–9; Genesis 37:2
- 29 Genesis 24:2; Deuteronomy 31:14; Genesis 24:49; 1 Kings 2:1; Genesis 50:24–25
- 30 Genesis 49:29–32; Genesis 25:9; Genesis 23:19; Genesis 50:25; 2 Samuel 19:37
- 31 1 Kings 1:47; Genesis 24:3; Hebrews 11:21; Genesis 47:29; Genesis 24:26
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- Hebrews 11:21 and Genesis 47:31: Jacob’s staff or Jacob’s bed?
In the Hebrew text of Genesis 47:31 Israel bows “upon the bed’s head.” In the Septuagint he bows “on the top of his staff,” and Hebrews 11:21 quotes the Greek. The Hebrew consonants can be read either way; only the later vowel marks decide. The Orthodox Church reads “staff,” and St John of Damascus used the verse in defending the veneration of holy things.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been," said Jacob, and elsewhere "all the days of my life." Thus under the form of history the law is laid down for what is to follow.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)