Genesis chapter .xlvij.
¶ And Ioseph went and told Pharao and said: my father and my brethren their sheep and their beasts and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan and are in the land of Gosan.
And Ioseph took a part of his brethren: even five of them, and presented them unto Pharao.
And Pharao said unto his brethren: what is your occupation? And they said unto Pharao: feeders of sheep are thy servants, both we and also our fathers.
They said moreover unto Pharao: for to sojourn in the land are we come, for thy servants have no pasture for their sheep so sore is the famishment in the land of Canaan. Now therefore let thy servants dwell in the land of Gosan.
And Pharao said unto Ioseph: thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee.
The land of Egypt is open before thee: In the best place of the land make both thy father and thy brethren dwell: And even in the land of Gosan let them dwell. Moreover if thou know any men of activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle.
And Ioseph brought in Iacob his father and set him before Pharao. And Iacob blessed Pharao.
And Pharao asked Iacob, how old art thou?
And Iacob said unto Pharao: the days of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of my life been, and have not attained unto the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimages.
And Iacob blessed Pharao and went out from him.
And Ioseph prepared dwellings for his father and his brethren, and gave them possessions in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land: even in the land of Rameses, as Pharao commanded.
And Ioseph made provision for his father, his brethren and all his father's household, as young children are fed with bread.
¶ There was no bread in all the land, for the dearth was exceeding sore: so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, were famished by the reason of the dearth.
And Ioseph brought together all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and he laid up the money in Pharao's house.
When money failed in the land of Egypt and of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Ioseph and said: give us sustenance: wherefore sufferest thou us to die before thee: for our money is spent.
Then said Ioseph: bring your cattle, and I will give yow for your cattle, if ye be without money.
And they brought their cattle unto Ioseph. And he gave them bread for horses and sheep, and oxen and asses: so he fed them with bread for all their cattle that year.
When that year was ended, they came unto him the next year and said unto him: we will not hide it from my lord, how that we have neither money nor cattle for my lord: there is no more left for my lord, but even our bodies and our lands.
Wherefore lettest thou us die before thine eyes, and the land to go to nought? buy us and our lands for bread: and let both us and our lands be bond to Pharao. Give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land go not to waste.
And Ioseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharao. For the Egyptians sold every man his land because the dearth was sore upon them: and so the land became Pharao's.
And he appointed the people unto the cities, from one side of Egypt unto the other:
only the land of the Priests bought he not. For there was an ordinance made by Pharao for the priests, that they should eat that which was appointed unto them: which Pharao had given them wherefore they sold not their lands.
Then Ioseph said unto the folk: behold I have bought you this day and your lands for Pharao. Take there seed and go sow the land.
And of the increase, ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharao, and four parts shall be your own, for seed to sow the field: and for you, and them of your households, and for your children, to eat.
And they answered: Thou hast saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and let us be Pharao's servants.
And Ioseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day: that men must give Pharao the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which was not bond unto Pharao.
¶ And Israel dwelt in Egypt: even in the country of Gosan. And they had their possessions therein, and they grew and multiplied exceedingly.
Moreover Iacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so that the hole age of Iacob was an hundred and forty seven years.
When the time drew nye, that Israel must die: he sent for his son Ioseph and said unto him: If I have found grace in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh and deal mercifully and truly with me, that thou bury me not in Egypt:
but let me lie by my fathers, and carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burial. And he answered: I will do as thou hast said.
And he said: swear unto me: and he sware unto him. And then Israel bowed him unto the bed's head.
Praise the Everlasting Lord for His Faithful Word.