Genesis 47 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Ingressus ergo Joseph nuntiavit Pharaoni, dicens: Pater meus et fratres, oves eorum et armenta, et cuncta quæ possident, venerunt de terra Chanaan: et ecce consistunt in terra Gessen.
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 Extremos quoque fratrum suorum quinque viros constituit coram rege:
2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 quos ille interrogavit: Quid habetis operis? Responderunt: Pastores ovium sumus servi tui, et nos et patres nostri.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.”
4 Ad peregrinandum in terra tua venimus: quoniam non est herba gregibus servorum tuorum, ingravescente fame in terra Chanaan: petimusque ut esse nos jubeas servos tuos in terra Gessen.
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 Dixit itaque rex ad Joseph: Pater tuus et fratres tui venerunt ad te.
5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 Terra Ægypti in conspectu tuo est: in optimo loco fac eos habitare, et trade eis terram Gessen. Quod si nosti in eis esse viros industrios, constitue illos magistros pecorum meorum.
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 Post hæc introduxit Joseph patrem suum ad regem, et statuit eum coram eo: qui benedicens illi,
7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 et interrogatus ab eo: Quot sunt dies annorum vitæ tuæ?
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 respondit: Dies peregrinationis meæ centum triginta annorum sunt, parvi et mali, et non pervenerunt usque ad dies patrum meorum quibus peregrinati sunt.
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 Et benedicto rege, egressus est foras.
10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Joseph vero patri et fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Ægypto in optimo terræ loco, Ramesses, ut præceperat Pharao.
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 Et alebat eos, omnemque domum patris sui, præbens cibaria singulis.
12 Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.
13 In toto enim orbe panis deerat, et oppresserat fames terram, maxime Ægypti et Chanaan.
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 E quibus omnem pecuniam congregavit pro venditione frumenti, et intulit eam in ærarium regis.
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 Cumque defecisset emptoribus pretium, venit cuncta Ægyptus ad Joseph, dicens: Da nobis panes: quare morimur coram te, deficiente pecunia?
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 Quibus ille respondit: Adducite pecora vestra, et dabo vobis pro eis cibos, si pretium non habetis.
16 Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”
17 Quæ cum adduxissent, dedit eis alimenta pro equis, et ovibus, et bobus, et asinis: sustentavitque eos illo anno pro commutatione pecorum.
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 Venerunt quoque anno secundo, et dixerunt ei: Non celabimus dominum nostrum quod deficiente pecunia, pecora simul defecerunt: nec clam te est, quod absque corporibus et terra nihil habeamus.
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 Cur ergo moriemur te vidente? et nos et terra nostra tui erimus: eme nos in servitutem regiam, et præbe semina, ne pereunte cultore redigatur terra in solitudinem.
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 Emit igitur Joseph omnem terram Ægypti, vendentibus singulis possessiones suas præ magnitudine famis. Subjecitque eam Pharaoni,
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 et cunctos populos ejus a novissimis terminis Ægypti usque ad extremos fines ejus,
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 præter terram sacerdotum, quæ a rege tradita fuerat eis: quibus et statuta cibaria ex horreis publicis præbebantur, et idcirco non sunt compulsi vendere possessiones suas.
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 Dixit ergo Joseph ad populos: En ut cernitis, et vos et terram vestram Pharao possidet: accipite semina, et serite agros,
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 ut fruges habere possitis. Quintam partem regi dabitis: quatuor reliquas permitto vobis in sementem, et in cibum familiis et liberis vestris.
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 Qui responderunt: Salus nostra in manu tua est: respiciat nos tantum dominus noster, et læti serviemus regi.
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 Ex eo tempore usque in præsentem diem, in universa terra Ægypti regibus quinta pars solvitur, et factum est quasi in legem, absque terra sacerdotali, quæ libera ab hac conditione fuit.
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 Habitavit ergo Israël in Ægypto, id est, in terra Gessen, et possedit eam: auctusque est, et multiplicatus nimis.
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 Et vixit in ea decem et septem annis: factique sunt omnes dies vitæ illius, centum quadraginta septem annorum.
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 Cumque appropinquare cerneret diem mortis suæ, vocavit filium suum Joseph, et dixit ad eum: Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, pone manum tuam sub femore meo: et facies mihi misericordiam et veritatem, ut non sepelias me in Ægypto:
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 sed dormiam cum patribus meis, et auferas me de terra hac, condasque in sepulchro majorum meorum. Cui respondit Joseph: Ego faciam quod jussisti.
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)