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| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying: My father and brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are come out of the land of Chanaan: and behold they stay in the land of Gessen. 2 Five men also, the last of his brethren, he presented before the king: The last... Extremos. Some interpret this word of the chiefest, and most rightly: but Joseph seems rather to have chosen out such as had the meanest appearance, that Pharao might not think of employing them at court, with danger of their morals and religion. 3 And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered: We, thy servants, are shepherds, both we and our fathers. 4 We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass for the flocks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the land of Chanaan: and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants may be in the land of Gessen. 5 The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee. 6 The land of Egypt is before thee: and make them dwell in the best place, and give them the land of Gessen. And if thou knowest that there are industrious men among them, make them rulers over my cattle. 7 After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and presented him before him: and he blessed him. 8 And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of thy life? 9 He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years, few, and evil, and they are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers. 10 And blessing the king, he went out. 11 But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had commanded. 12 And he nourished them, and all his father's house, allowing food to every one.
13 For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had oppressed the land, more especially of Egypt and Chanaan; 14 Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it in to the king's treasure. 15 And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give us bread: why should we die in thy presence, having now no money? 16 And he answered them: Bring me your cattle, and for them I will give you food, if you have no money. 17 And when they had brought them, he gave them food in exchange for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses: and he maintained them that year for the exchange of their cattle. 18 And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are gone: neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes? we will be thine, both we and our lands: buy us to be the king's servants, and give us seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness. 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his possessions, because of the greatness of the famine. And he brought it into Pharao's hands: 21 And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof, 22 Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by the king: to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of the public stores, and therefore they were not forced to sell their possessions. 23 Then Joseph said to the people: Behold, as you see, both you and your lands belong to Pharao; take seed and sow the fields, 24 That you may have corn. The fifth part you shall give to the king; the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your families and children. 25 And they answered: our life is in thy hand; only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king. 26 From that time unto this day, in the whole land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the kings, and it is become as a law, except the land of the priests, which was free from this covenant.
27 So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it; and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly. 28 And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years. 29 And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt show me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt. 30 But I will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying place of my ancestors. And Joseph answered him: I will do what thou hast commanded. 31 And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to the bed's head. To the bed's head... St. Paul, Hebrews 11:21, following the Greek translation of the Septuagint, reads adored the top of his rod. Where note, that the same word in the Hebrew, according to the different pointing of it, signifies both a bed and a rod. And to verify both these sentences, we must understand that Jacob leaning on Joseph's rod adored, turning towards the head of his bed: which adoration, inasmuch as it was referred to God, was an absolute and sovereign worship: but inasmuch as it was referred to the rod of Joseph, as a figure of the sceptre, that is, of the royal dignity of Christ, was only an inferior and relative honour.
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
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. 2 Extremos quoque fratrum suorum quinque viros constituit coram rege: 3 quos ille interrogavit: Quid habetis operis? Responderunt: Pastores ovium sumus servi tui, et nos et patres nostri. 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. 5 Dixit itaque rex ad Joseph: Pater tuus et fratres tui venerunt ad te. 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. 7 Post hæc introduxit Joseph patrem suum ad regem, et statuit eum coram eo: qui benedicens illi, 8 et interrogatus ab eo: Quot sunt dies annorum vitæ tuæ? 9 respondit: Dies peregrinationis meæ centum triginta annorum sunt, parvi et mali, et non pervenerunt usque ad dies patrum meorum quibus peregrinati sunt. 10 Et benedicto rege, egressus est foras. 11 Joseph vero patri et fratribus suis dedit possessionem in Ægypto in optimo terræ loco, Ramesses, ut præceperat Pharao. 12 Et alebat eos, omnemque domum patris sui, præbens cibaria singulis.
13 In toto enim orbe panis deerat, et oppresserat fames terram, maxime Ægypti et Chanaan. 14 E quibus omnem pecuniam congregavit pro venditione frumenti, et intulit eam in ærarium regis. 15 Cumque defecisset emptoribus pretium, venit cuncta Ægyptus ad Joseph, dicens: Da nobis panes: quare morimur coram te, deficiente pecunia? 16 Quibus ille respondit: Adducite pecora vestra, et dabo vobis pro eis cibos, si pretium non habetis. 17 Quæ cum adduxissent, dedit eis alimenta pro equis, et ovibus, et bobus, et asinis: sustentavitque eos illo anno pro commutatione pecorum. 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. 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. 20 Emit igitur Joseph omnem terram Ægypti, vendentibus singulis possessiones suas præ magnitudine famis. Subjecitque eam Pharaoni, 21 et cunctos populos ejus a novissimis terminis Ægypti usque ad extremos fines ejus, 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. 23 Dixit ergo Joseph ad populos: En ut cernitis, et vos et terram vestram Pharao possidet: accipite semina, et serite agros, 24 ut fruges habere possitis. Quintam partem regi dabitis: quatuor reliquas permitto vobis in sementem, et in cibum familiis et liberis vestris. 25 Qui responderunt: Salus nostra in manu tua est: respiciat nos tantum dominus noster, et læti serviemus regi. 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.
27 Habitavit ergo Israël in Ægypto, id est, in terra Gessen, et possedit eam: auctusque est, et multiplicatus nimis. 28 Et vixit in ea decem et septem annis: factique sunt omnes dies vitæ illius, centum quadraginta septem annorum. 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: 30 sed dormiam cum patribus meis, et auferas me de terra hac, condasque in sepulchro majorum meorum. Cui respondit Joseph: Ego faciam quod jussisti. 31 Et ille: Jura ergo, inquit, mihi. Quo jurante, adoravit Israël Deum, conversus ad lectuli caput.
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
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