Genesis 45

1 And Joseph could not hold himself together with everyone standing around him. He cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So no one else was near Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that all the Egyptians heard it, and word reached the house of Pharaoh. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” And his brothers could not answer him — they stood shaken before him. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 Now do not be grieved, and do not be hard on yourselves for selling me here — for God sent me ahead of you, for life. 6 This is the second year of famine on the earth, and there are still five years to come with neither plowing nor harvest. 7 God sent me ahead of you to preserve a remnant of you on the earth — to keep alive a great company of survivors from you. 8 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. 9 Hurry — go up 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 — do not delay. 10 You shall live in the land of Goshen of Arabia, and you will be near me — you, your sons, and your sons’ sons, your sheep and your oxen and everything that is yours. [a] 11 And I will provide for you there — for there are still five years of famine — so that you are not destroyed, you and your sons and all you have.’ 12 Look — your own eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my own mouth speaking to you. 13 Tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and everything you have seen. And hurry — bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept on him, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. And after that, his brothers talked with him.

16 The report reached the house of Pharaoh: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” And Pharaoh was glad, and his household with him. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers: ‘Do this — load your wagons and go to the land of Canaan, 18 and take up your father and your possessions and come to me. I will give you the best of all Egypt, and you shall eat the marrow of the land.’ 19 And command them this too: ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives. Take up your father, and come. 20 And let your eye not cling to your belongings — for the best of all Egypt shall be yours.’” 21 And the sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, as King Pharaoh had said, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each of them he gave two changes of clothing — but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of gold and five changes of clothing. [b] 23 And to his father he sent gifts in the same measure: ten donkeys carrying some of all the good things of Egypt, and ten mules carrying bread for his father’s journey. 24 So he sent his brothers off, and as they left he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” 25 And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. 26 And they told him, “Your son Joseph is alive — and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” And Jacob’s mind was stunned, for he did not believe them. 27 But they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is a great thing for me — my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”