Together Again

When Joseph heard Judah offer his own life for Benjamin, he could not hold back any longer. He cried out, “Send everyone away!” — and when he was alone with his brothers, he wept so loudly that the Egyptians outside could hear it. And he said, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer a word. They stood frozen, terrified before him. But Joseph said, “Come close to me.” And they came close. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. But do not be grieved, and do not be hard on yourselves for selling me here — for God sent me ahead of you, to save lives. The famine will last five more years. It was not you who sent me here, but God — and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept too. And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried over each one — and after that, his brothers talked with him, for the first time in all those long years.

Joseph said, “Hurry home to my father and tell him: your son Joseph is alive, and God has made him lord of all Egypt. Come down to me, and do not wait! You shall live in the land of Goshen, near me — you and your children and your children’s children, your flocks and everything you have — and I will take care of you through the years of famine.” Pharaoh was glad too, and sent wagons for the wives and the little ones, and gifts and provisions for the whole journey. So the brothers went home to Canaan and told their father, “Joseph is alive! He is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob’s heart stood still — he did not believe them. But when they told him everything, and he saw the wagons Joseph had sent, his spirit came back to life, and Israel said, “What a great thing — my son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

So Jacob and all his family — his sons, and their wives, and all the grandchildren, with their flocks and herds — came down to Egypt. And Joseph got in his chariot and rode to meet his father, and fell on his neck, and wept there a long, long time. The family was together again, safe in the land of Goshen, with food for everyone through all the years of famine. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen more years, with all his sons around him, and he blessed each one of them. And when he died, at a very great old age, Joseph and all his brothers carried him home to Canaan and buried him with Abraham and Isaac. Then the brothers were afraid Joseph might finally pay them back for the evil they had done. But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid — for I belong to God. You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, to save many people’s lives, as he has done to this day. Do not fear: I will take care of you and your little ones.” And he comforted them, and spoke kindly to their hearts. And Joseph lived a long life in Egypt, with his brothers and their families around him — the whole family of Israel, whom God had saved through the boy with the dreams.