Genesis 47:13-26

The hunger became worse, and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan became very poor. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and he brought that money to the king’s palace. After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left, they went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone, and if we don’t eat, we will die here in front of you.” Joseph answered, “Since you have no money, give me your farm animals, and I will give you food in return.” So people brought their farm animals to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he kept them alive by trading food for their farm animals that year. The next year the people came to Joseph and said, “You know we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. We have nothing left except our bodies and our land. Surely both we and our land will die here in front of you. Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we will be slaves to the king, together with our land. Give us seed to plant so that we will live and not die, and the land will not become a desert.” So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian sold Joseph his field, because the hunger was very great. So the land became the king’s, and Joseph made the people slaves from one end of Egypt to the other. The only land he did not buy was the land the priests owned. They did not need to sell their land because the king paid them for their work. So they had money to buy food. Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for the king, so I will give you seed and you can plant your fields. At harvest time you must give one-fifth to the king. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your children.” The people said, “You have saved our lives. If you like, we will become slaves of the king.” So Joseph made a law in Egypt, which continues today: One-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the king. The only land the king did not get was the priests’ land.