< Genesis 47 >

1 Ingressus ergo Ioseph nunciavit Pharaoni, dicens: Pater meus et fratres, oves eorum et armenta, et cuncta quæ possident, venerunt de Terra Chanaan: et ecce consistunt in Terra Gessen.
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:
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.
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 iubeas servos tuos in Terra Gessen.
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 Ioseph: Pater tuus et fratres tui venerunt ad te.
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.
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 Ioseph patrem suum ad regem, et statuit eum coram eo: qui benedicens illi,
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?
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.
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.
Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Ioseph vero patri et fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Ægypto in optimo terræ loco, Ramesses, ut præceperat Pharao.
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.
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.
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.
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 Ioseph, dicens: Da nobis panes: quare morimur coram te, deficiente pecunia?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Ioseph omnem Terram Ægypti, vendentibus singulis possessiones suas præ magnitudine famis. Subiecitque eam Pharaoni,
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 eius a novissimis terminis Ægypti usque ad extremos fines eius,
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.
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 Ioseph ad populos: En ut cernitis, et vos et terram vestram Pharao possidet: accipite semina, et serite agros,
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.
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.
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.
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 Israel in Ægypto, id est, in Terra Gessen, et possedit eam: auctusque est, et multiplicatus nimis.
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.
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 Ioseph, 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:
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 maiorum meorum. Cui respondit Ioseph: Ego faciam quod iussisti.
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.”
31 Et ille: Iura ergo, inquit, mihi. Quo iurante, adoravit Israel Deum, conversus ad lectuli caput.
Israel said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.

< Genesis 47 >