1 Josefa kayenda kanobudza Faro eti, “Tate bangu ne bakulu bangu ne pkhwizi dzabo ne ng'ombe ne tjimwe ne tjimwe bazha bedwa ku shango ye Kanana ngono baku Gosheni.” 2 Katola bali bashanu be bakulu babe kabayisa kuna Faro. 3 Faro kababhuzwa kati, “Nshingo wenyu ini?” Ibo bakadabila beti, “Ti bathuwi be pkhwizi ne mbudzi sa botate bedu bakabe bali bathuwi.” 4 Bakabe beti kuna Faro, “Tazha kowokumbila kugala mu shango yenyu ngoti bhamba ligulu ku Kanana, zwithuwo zwedu azwina mafulo. Ndizo tomukumbila muletje tigale mu Gosheni.” 5 Faro kadwa Josefa kati, “Tate babo ne bakulu babo bazha ku kuli, 6 ngono shango ye Egipiti unoibona, gadza tate babo ne bakulu babo mu ntuthu mbuya we shango. Ubagadze mu Gosheni. Ha ili kuti unoziba kuna bamwe mu bali banotubula bali majatu uthame kuti babe batjengeti be zwithuwo zwangu.”
7 Ipapo Josefa kazhisa tate babe Jakubo kuna Faro. Jakubo kakombolela Faro, 8 Faro kambhuzwa eti, “Muna makole mangana?”
9 Jakubo kadabila Faro eti, “Makole e kutjila kwangu ndiyenda yenda mu shango i zana lina makumi matatu (130), makole angu mafupi muna a bobatategulu bangu koga akabe makole akasima anolema.” 10 Jakubo kakombolela Faro kabhuda kayendazwe. 11 Ndizo Josefa kagadza tate babe mu shango ye Egipiti, kabapa thundu mu magalo mabuya e shango, mu ntuthu we Ramesesi sekwa akabe adwiwa ndi Faro. 12 Josefa kapa tate babe ne bakulu babe ne phuli yose ye nsha wa tate babe zojiwa kuyenda nge kuti bangana.
Bhamba
13 Kwakabe kusina zojiwa mu shango yose ngoti bhamba lakabe lili gulu, shango ye Egipiti ne Kanana dzakabe dzapaladziwa nge bhamba. 14 Josefa kakubunganya mari wose akabe angawang'wa mu Egipiti ne mu Kanana kutenga mathunde ngono kaayisa ku ng'umba ya Faro ye bushe. 15 Kukati mari e bathu be Egipiti nebe Kanana abapelela, Baegipiti bose bakazha kuna Josefa bakati kunli, “Utipe zojiwa. Apa tingafa wakatilinga? Mari edu apela.”
16 Josefa kabadabila eti, “Zhisani zwithuwo zwenyu, ndowotenganya zojiwa nge zwithuwo zwenyu se mari enyu apela.” 17 Ndizo bakazhisa zwithuwo zwabo kuna Josefa, iye kabapa zojiwa etetshanya nge mbizi dzabo ne pkhwizi dzabo ne mbudzi ne ng'ombe dzabo ne madonki. Kapitsha gole ilelo ebapa zojiwa etenganya nge zwithuwo zwabo.
18 Gole ilelo likati lapela, bakazha kunli muna linolitobela bakati, “Atingasumbikile tetshi zibo yekuti mari edu akapela ne zwithuwo zwedu zwabe zwenyu, akutjina tjatisalila tetshi wedu kuzhe kwe mibili yedu ne minda yedu. 19 Tingafa ne bana bedu ne minda yedu ingabe makula makatilinga kene? Mutitenge iswi ne minda yedu, mutetshanye nge zojiwa, iswi ne minda yedu towobe balanda ba Faro. Mutipe mbewu kuyita kuti titjile tisife nge zhala ne kuti minda isibe makula.”
20 Ndizo Josefa katenga minda yose mu Egipiti ikabe ya Faro. Baegipiti bose bakatengesa minda yabo ngoti bhamba lakabe lakababangalalila. Minda yose ikabe ya Faro. 21 Josefa kathama bathu bakabe balanda mu mizi Egipiti yose. 22 Ne kwakajalo minda yaasakatenga nge ye bapirisiti ngoti ibo bakabe bana gobe kudwa kuna Faro, ndizo bakabe bana zojiwa zwakalizana. Ndizo basakatengesa minda yabo wali. 23 Ipapo Josefa kadwa bathu kati, “Nasi ndamutenga ndimutengela Faro, mbewu eyi dzwalani mu minda. 24 Ngono nge tjibaka tje kuvuna, saka le bushanu mu masaka ali mashanu mulipe Faro. Manna asala mubige mbewu, kumwe zwibe zojiwa zwenyu ne be misha yenyu.”
25 Bathu bakashandula beti, “Matitjidza, nge kube ne ngoni mutili, ha kushathisa tetshi wedu, towobe balanda ba Faro.” 26 Ndizo Josefa kathama kuti kube nlayo mu Egipiti, na nasi utjashinga, saka le bushanu mu masaka ali mashanu nge la Faro. Minda dze bapirisiti koga ndidzo dzakabe dzisidza Faro.
Kukumbila kwa Josefa kwe bupelo
27 Baiziraela bakagala mu shango ye Egipiti mu ntuthu we Gosheni. Bakathama fumwa ikoko bakabe ne mbeleko bakawanda kukulu kwazo. 28 Jakubo wakagala makole ali gumi lina ali kutendeka mu shango ye Egipiti. Makole wose e bupenyu gugwe makole ali zana lina makumi manna ana ali kutendeka (147). 29 Tjibaka tjekuti Iziraela afe tjikati tjiswika kadana nkololo uwe Josefa kandwa kati, “Ha ndiamutjilika mukuli milidza luboko gugo utune kuti unowondithamila buthu ne lebeswa. Usindibiganye mu Egipiti. 30 Ha ndifa nditobela botate bangu, undisenge undiduse mu Egipiti, unondibiganya pabakabiganyiwa.” Josefa kashandula eti, “Ndowothama sekwa maleba.” 31 Iziraela kabe eti, “Tuna.” Ipapo Josefa katuna. Iziraela kakotamisa nsholo uwe pa bulawo gugwe.
1 So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He told him, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen.” 2 He then presented his brothers to the king. 3 The king asked them, “What is your occupation?”
“We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were,” they answered. 4 “We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen.” 5 The king said to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, 6 the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, 8 and the king asked him, “How old are you?”
9 Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings.” 10 Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded. 12 Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.
The Famine
13 The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger. 14 As they bought grain, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace. 15 When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Don't let us die. Do something! Our money is all gone.”
16 Joseph answered, “Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18 The following year they came to him and said, “We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands. 19 Don't let us die. Do something! Don't let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king's slaves, and he will own our land. Give us grain to keep us alive and seed so that we can plant our fields.”
20 Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king's property. 21 Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on. 23 Joseph said to the people, “You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields. 24 At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families.”
25 They answered, “You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king's slaves.” 26 So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.
Jacob's Last Request
27 The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children. 28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old. 29 When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Place your hand between my thighs and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt. 30 I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”
31 Jacob said, “Make a vow that you will.” Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.