²⁴ When harvest season arrives, you are to provide a fifth of the harvest to Pharaoh. The remaining four fifths are to be for your use, for seed, and to feed you, your households, and your little ones.”

²⁵ “You’ve saved our lives,” they replied. “If it pleases you, your Excellency, we’ll be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

²⁶ So Joseph crafted a statute concerning Egypt that remains valid to this day that Pharaoh should own a fifth of the produce, excluding the land belonging to the priests, which remained outside of Pharaoh’s control.