Single lesson
Joseph Manages the Famine in Egypt
Genesis 47:13–26
This lesson helps children follow what happened during the severe famine in Egypt and notice each new step people took. They will sequence the account, name the choices made, and talk about Joseph’s actions and the outcomes described for the people and Pharaoh.
Before you teach
In this passage, the famine is very severe in Egypt and Canaan. When the money fails, the Egyptians come to Joseph for bread. The next year, after the livestock is gone, they come again and offer their land and themselves for bread. The passage shows Joseph’s management and the rule that Pharaoh would receive a fifth of the harvest.
Students will be able to retell the order of Genesis 47:13–26 and explain two choices people made and two outcomes described in the passage.
Welcome: What runs out first?
5 minShow three simple drawings or written words on paper: money, animals and land. Ask children which one disappeared first in the story, then tell them they will listen for the order. Introduce the setting: there was no bread in all the land because the famine was very severe, and both Egypt and Canaan were suffering.
Genesis 47:13
Read and explain: From money to livestock
7 minRead verses 13–17 aloud. Explain that people first bought grain with money, and Joseph gathered that money into Pharaoh’s house. When the money was gone, the Egyptians asked for bread, and Joseph exchanged food for livestock. Point out that the passage repeats the seriousness of the famine and shows a new arrangement for getting food.
Genesis 47:13, Genesis 47:14, Genesis 47:15, Genesis 47:16, Genesis 47:17
Discuss: From livestock to land and service
6 minRead verses 18–22. Help children hear the second request from the people. They say their money is spent and “the herds of livestock are my lord’s”, so they offer their land and themselves for bread and ask for seed so the land will not stay empty. Joseph buys the land for Pharaoh and moves people to the cities. The priests’ land is treated differently in this passage.
Genesis 47:18, Genesis 47:19, Genesis 47:20, Genesis 47:21, Genesis 47:22
Make and respond: Famine sequence cards
8 minChildren make four simple sequence cards: severe famine, money for grain, livestock for food, land and seed with a fifth for Pharaoh. If time allows, add a fifth card about the priests’ land. As they place the cards in order, ask them to match each step with the people’s need and Joseph’s response from the passage.
Genesis 47:13, Genesis 47:14, Genesis 47:16, Genesis 47:19, Genesis 47:23, Genesis 47:24, Genesis 47:26
Closing: What was the final arrangement?
4 minRead verses 23–26 again. Summarise the ending: Joseph gives seed, the people sow the land, Pharaoh receives a fifth at harvest, and four parts remain for seed and food. The people say, ‘You have saved our lives,’ and Joseph makes this a statute concerning the land of Egypt. Finish by reviewing the sequence together.
Genesis 47:23, Genesis 47:24, Genesis 47:25, Genesis 47:26
Questions to explore
What did the people use to get food before they traded their livestock?
Look at the first exchange in the passage, where grain is bought and Joseph gathers the money into Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 47:14, Genesis 47:15
What did the people ask for after their money and livestock were gone, and why did they ask for seed?
Listen for their own words about what was left and their request so they could live and the land would not become desolate.
Genesis 47:18, Genesis 47:19
What share of the harvest belonged to Pharaoh, and what were the other parts for?
Find the number Joseph gives and the list of uses for the rest of the harvest.
Genesis 47:24
Make, think or respond
Famine Steps Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or markers
- scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Help children fold or cut paper into four or five cards.
- On each card, draw or write one step from the passage: severe famine, money for grain, livestock for food, land and seed, a fifth for Pharaoh.
- Read the verses again and ask children to place the cards in order.
- Invite each child to explain one card using words from the passage.
The cards help children follow the order of Genesis 47:13–26 and connect each choice with its result in the text.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, pre-write the card labels and let them add simple drawings, then retell the story with actions for buy, give and sow.
- For older or confident readers, ask them to add verse numbers to each card and explain why the people said, 'You have saved our lives,' from Genesis 47:25.
An optional closing prayer
'God, thank you for this passage. Please help us understand what we read, notice the choices people made, and learn to listen carefully to your word.'
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Genesis 47
13 There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14 Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”
16 Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”
17 They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.
18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s.
21 As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it.
22 Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24 It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”
25 They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.