Genesis 47:13-26
The
famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere. Neither Egypt
nor Canaan
were producing crops because of the famine. Joseph
collected all the money that could be found in Egypt and in Canaan as payment
for the grain people bought. Then he took it to Pharaoh''s palace. When the money in Egypt and Canaan was gone,
all the Egyptians came to Joseph. "Give us food," they said. "Do
you want us to die right in front of you? We don''t have any more money!" Joseph replied, "If you don''t
have any more money, give me your
livestock, and I''ll give you food in
exchange." So they brought their
livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep,
goats, cattle, and donkeys. During that year he supplied them with food in
exchange for all their livestock. When
that year was over, they came to him the next year. "Sir," they said
to him, "you know that our money is gone, and you have all our livestock.
There''s nothing left to bring you except our bodies and our land. Do you want us to die right in front of you? Do
you want the land to be ruined? Take us and our land in exchange for food. Then
we will be Pharaoh''s slaves and our land will be his property. But give us seed
so that we won''t starve to death and the ground won''t become a desert." Joseph bought all the land in Egypt
for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his fields because the famine was so severe.
The land became Pharaoh''s. All over
Egypt Joseph moved the people to the cities. But
he didn''t buy the priests'' land because the priests received an income from
Pharaoh, and they lived on that income. That''s why they didn''t sell their land. Joseph said to the people, "Now
that I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Plant
crops in the land. Every time you
harvest, give one-fifth of the produce to Pharaoh. Four-fifths will be yours to
use as seed for your fields and as food for your households." "You have saved our lives," they
said. "Please, sir, we are willing to be Pharaoh''s slaves." Joseph made a law concerning the land in Egypt
which is still in force today: One-fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh.
Only the land of the priests didn''t belong to Pharaoh.