Genesis 47

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
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 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan, with their flocks and herds and everything else they own; and they are now in the region of Goshen."
2 Extremos quoque fratrum suorum quinque viros constituit coram rege :	2 He then presented to Pharaoh five of his brothers whom he had selected from their full number.
3 quos ille interrogavit : Quid habetis operis ? Responderunt : Pastores ovium sumus servi tui, et nos et patres nostri.	3 When Pharaoh asked them what their occupation was, they answered, "We, your servants, like our ancestors, are shepherds.
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 We have come," they continued, "in order to stay in this country, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks in the land of Canaan, so severe has the famine been there. Please, therefore, let your servants settle in the region of Goshen."
5 Dixit itaque rex ad Joseph : Pater tuus et fratres tui venerunt ad te.	5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "They may settle in the region of Goshen; and if you know any of them to be qualified, you may put them in charge of my own livestock." Thus, when Jacob and his sons came to Joseph in Egypt, and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, heard about it, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Now that your father and 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 at your disposal; settle your father and brothers in the pick of the land."
7 Post hæc introduxit Joseph patrem suum ad regem, et statuit eum coram eo : qui benedicens illi,	7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh. After Jacob had paid his respects to Pharaoh,
8 et interrogatus ab eo : Quot sunt dies annorum vitæ tuæ ?	8 Pharaoh asked him, "How many years have you lived?"
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 replied: "The years I have lived as a wayfarer amount to a hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been these years of my life, and they do not compare with the years that my ancestors lived as wayfarers."
10 Et benedicto rege, egressus est foras.	10 Then Jacob bade Pharaoh farewell and withdrew from his presence.
11 Joseph vero patri et fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Ægypto in optimo terræ loco, Ramesses, ut præceperat Pharao.	11 As Pharaoh had ordered, Joseph settled his father and brothers and gave them holdings in Egypt on the pick of the land, in the region of Rameses.
12 Et alebat eos, omnemque domum patris sui, præbens cibaria singulis.	12 And Joseph sustained his father and brothers and his father's whole household, down to the youngest, with food.
13 In toto enim orbe panis deerat, et oppresserat fames terram, maxime Ægypti et Chanaan.	13 Since there was no food in any country because of the extreme severity of the famine, and the lands of Egypt and Canaan were languishing from hunger,
14 E quibus omnem pecuniam congregavit pro venditione frumenti, et intulit eam in ærarium regis.	14 Joseph gathered in, as payment for the rations that were being dispensed, all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan, and he put it in Pharaoh's palace.
15 Cumque defecisset emptoribus pretium, venit cuncta Ægyptus ad Joseph, dicens : Da nobis panes : quare morimur coram te, deficiente pecunia ?	15 When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, pleading, "Give us food or we shall perish under your eyes; for our money is gone."
16 Quibus ille respondit : Adducite pecora vestra, et dabo vobis pro eis cibos, si pretium non habetis.	16 "Since your money is gone," replied Joseph, "give me your livestock, and I will sell you bread in return for your livestock."
17 Quæ cum adduxissent, dedit eis alimenta pro equis, et ovibus, et bobus, et asinis : sustentavitque eos illo anno pro commutatione pecorum.	17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he sold them food in return for their horses, their flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, and their donkeys. Thus he got them through that year with bread in exchange for all their livestock.
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 ended, they came to him in the following one and said: "We cannot hide from my lord that, with our money spent and our livestock made over to my lord, there is nothing left to put at my lord's disposal except our bodies and our farm land.
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 and our land perish before your very eyes? Take us and our land in exchange for food, and we will become Pharaoh's slaves and our land his property; only give us seed, that we may survive and not perish, and that our land may not turn into a waste."
20 Emit igitur Joseph omnem terram Ægypti, vendentibus singulis possessiones suas præ magnitudine famis. Subjecitque eam Pharaoni,	20 Thus Joseph acquired all the farm land of Egypt for Pharaoh, since with the famine too much for them to bear, every Egyptian sold his field; so the land passed over to Pharaoh,
21 et cunctos populos ejus a novissimis terminis Ægypti usque ad extremos fines ejus,	21 and the people were reduced to slavery, from one end of Egypt's territory to the other.
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 the priests' lands Joseph did not take over. Since the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived off the allowance Pharaoh had granted them, they did not have to 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 Joseph told the people: "Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh, here is your seed for sowing 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 But when the harvest is in, you must give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, while you keep four-fifths as seed for your fields and as food for yourselves and your families (and as food for your children)."
25 Qui responderunt : Salus nostra in manu tua est : respiciat nos tantum dominus noster, et læti serviemus regi.	25 "You have saved our lives!" they answered. "We are grateful to my lord that we can be Pharaoh's slaves."
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 Thus Joseph made it a law for the land in Egypt, which is still in force, that a fifth of its produce should go to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not pass over to Pharaoh.
27 Habitavit ergo Israël in Ægypto, id est, in terra Gessen, et possedit eam : auctusque est, et multiplicatus nimis.	27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. There they acquired property, were fertile, and increased greatly.
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 for seventeen years; the span of his life came to a hundred and 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 When the time approached for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him: "If you really wish to please me, put your hand under my thigh as a sign of your constant loyalty to me; do not let me be buried 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 When I lie down with my ancestors, have me taken out of Egypt and buried in their burial place."
31 Et ille : Jura ergo, inquit, mihi. Quo jurante, adoravit Israël Deum, conversus ad lectuli caput.	31 "I will do as you say," he replied. But his father demanded, "Swear it to me!" So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed.