Genesis
45
- Then Joseph could no longer control himself
before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my
presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known
to his brothers.
- And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians
heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.
- Joseph said to his brothers, "I am
Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to
answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
- Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come
close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother
Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt !
- And now, do not be distressed and do not
be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives
that God sent me ahead of you.
- For two years now there has been famine
in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.
- But God sent me ahead of you to preserve
for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
- "So then, it was not you who sent me
here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household
and ruler of all Egypt.
- Now hurry back to my father and say to him,
'This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come
down to me; don't delay.
- You shall live in the region of Goshen and
be near me -- you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds,
and all you have.
- I will provide for you there, because five
years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all
who belong to you will become destitute.'
- "You can see for yourselves, and so
can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you.
- Tell my father about all the honor accorded
me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here
quickly."
- Then he threw his arms around his brother
Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.
- And he kissed all his brothers and wept
over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.
- When the news reached Pharaoh's palace that
Joseph's brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased.
- Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your
brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan,
- and bring your father and your families
back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy
the fat of the land.'
- "You are also directed to tell them,
'Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and
get your father and come.
- Never mind about your belongings, because
the best of all Egypt will be yours.'"
- So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave
them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for
their journey.
- To each of them he gave new clothing, but
to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
- And this is what he sent to his father:
ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded
with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey.
- Then he sent his brothers away, and as they
were leaving he said to them, "Don't quarrel on the way !"
- So they went up out of Egypt and came to
their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.
- They told him, "Joseph is still alive!
In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt." Jacob was stunned; he did not believe
them.
- But when they told him everything Joseph
had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back,
the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
- And Israel said, "I'm convinced! My
son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
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