GenesisChapter 45

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¹Then Joseph could not hold back his feelings in front of all his helpers. He cried out, "Make everyone leave me!" So no one else was with Joseph when he told his brothers who he was. ²But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. Pharaoh's household soon heard about it. ³Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" But his brothers couldn't answer him. They were too scared to be in front of him. ⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come close to me." So they came close. He said, "I am Joseph, your brother. I'm the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵But now, don't be upset. Don't be angry with yourselves for selling me here. It was because God sent me ahead of you to save lives. ⁶The famine has been in the land for two years now. And there will be five more years with no plowing and no harvest. ⁷God sent me ahead of you to keep some of you alive on the earth. He sent me to save your lives in a great rescue. ⁸So it was not you who sent me here. It was God. He has made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me lord over all Pharaoh's household. He made me ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹Now hurry back to my father. Tell him, 'Your son Joseph says this: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait. ¹⁰You will live in the land of Goshen and be near me. You, your children, and your grandchildren can come. Bring your flocks and herds and everything you own. ¹¹I will take care of you there, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your family and all you own will end up with nothing.' ¹²Look! You can see it, and my brother Benjamin can see it. It is really me, Joseph, talking to you. ¹³Tell my father about all my honor in Egypt. Tell him everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly." ¹⁴Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept. Benjamin wept too as they hugged. ¹⁵Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers talked with him. ¹⁶News reached Pharaoh's palace that Joseph's brothers had come. Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. ¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this. Load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Then bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt. You will eat the best food the land has.' ¹⁹Also tell them this: 'Take wagons from Egypt for your little children and your wives. Bring your father and come back. ²⁰Don't worry about your things. The best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'" ²¹So the sons of Israel did what they were told. Joseph gave them wagons, just as Pharaoh had said. He also gave them supplies for the trip. ²²He gave each of them new clothes. But to Benjamin he gave 300 shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.a ²³He sent these things to his father. He sent ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt. He also sent ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and food for his father's trip. ²⁴Then Joseph sent his brothers on their way. As they were leaving, he said to them, "Don't fight with each other on the way!" ²⁵So the brothers went up out of Egypt. They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶They said, "Joseph is still alive! He is ruler over all the land of Egypt!" But Jacob was shocked. He didn't believe them. ²⁷But then they told him everything Joseph had said to them. And Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him. Then the spirit of their father Jacob came back to life. ²⁸Israel said, "That's enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die."