Genesis 45

Joseph could no longer control himself before all those standing around him. He cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” No one remained with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept aloud, and the Egyptians heard it, and Pharaoh’s household heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified in his presence. Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” They came near, and he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. The famine has been in the land for two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay. You will live in the land of Goshen and be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, your flocks and herds and all you have. I will provide for you there, for there are still five years of famine, so that you and your household and all you have do not fall into poverty.’ Your eyes, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see that it is my own mouth speaking to you. Tell my father about all my honor in Egypt and all you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” He fell on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers spoke with him. The news was heard in Pharaoh’s house: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” This pleased Pharaoh and his servants. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and go to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households and come to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ You are also commanded: ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, bring your father, and come. Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to Pharaoh’s command and provisions for the journey. To each of them he gave changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, weighing about seven and a half pounds, and five changes of clothing. To his father he sent the following: ten male donkeys carrying the good things of Egypt and ten female donkeys carrying grain, bread, and provisions for his father’s journey. He sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” They went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart grew numb, for he did not believe them. But they told him all the words Joseph had spoken to them. When he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, “It is enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Rights and attribution