So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory ¹  in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, ²  just as Pharaoh had commanded.

But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ¹  because of the famine.

Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ¹  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ² 

When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ¹  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ²  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ¹  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ²  So the land became Pharaoh’s.

So Joseph made it a statute, ¹  which is in effect ²  to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers ¹  of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt,

¹ During ²  that long period of time ³  the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites ⁴  groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry ⁵  because of their slave labor went up to God.

The Lord said, “I have surely seen ¹  the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ² 

He replied, ¹  “Surely I will be with you, ²  and this will be the sign ³  to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve ⁴  God on this mountain.”

and I have promised ¹  that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, ²  to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

Then Moses took ¹  his wife and sons ²  and put them on a donkey and headed back ³  to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

The Lord said ¹  to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, ²  see that you ³  do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. ⁴  But I will harden ⁵  his heart ⁶  and ⁷  he will not let the people go.

When the fish ¹  that were in the Nile died, the Nile began ²  to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood ³  everywhere in the land of Egypt!

But the magicians of Egypt did the same ¹  by their secret arts, and so ²  Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ³  and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron ⁴  – just as the Lord had predicted.

The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff ¹  over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’”

They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people ¹  and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

The Lord did so; a ¹  thick ²  swarm of flies came into ³  Pharaoh’s house and into the houses ⁴  of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined ⁵  because of the swarms of flies.

I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ¹  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ²  in Egypt from the day it was founded ³  until now.

When Moses extended ¹  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ²  sent thunder ³  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ⁴  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt.