Genesis 45
45
Joseph Tells His Brothers Who He Is
1 #
Ac 7.13. Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.” 2Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's#45.2 the king: See the note at 12.15. palace.
3Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer. 4Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said:
Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. 5Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.
6There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. 7But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. 8After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt.
9 #
Ac 7.14. Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can. 10You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own. 11I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death.”
12All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph. 13Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.
14Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying. 15Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.
16When it was told in the palace that Joseph's brothers had come, the king and his officials were happy. 17So the king said to Joseph:
Tell your brothers to load their donkeys and return to Canaan. 18Tell them to bring their father and their families here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they can eat and enjoy everything that grows there. 19Also tell your brothers to take some wagons from Egypt for their wives and children to ride in. And be sure they bring their father. 20They can leave their possessions behind, because they will be given the best of everything in Egypt.
21Jacob's sons agreed to do what the king had said. And Joseph gave them wagons and food for their trip home, just as the king had ordered. 22Joseph gave some new clothes to each of his brothers, but to Benjamin he gave five new outfits and 300 pieces of silver. 23To his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the best things in Egypt, and ten other donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other food for the return trip. 24Then he sent his brothers off and told them, “Don't argue on the way home!”
25Joseph's brothers left Egypt, and when they arrived in Canaan, 26they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them. 27Then they told him everything Joseph had said. When he saw the wagons Joseph had sent, he felt much better 28and said, “Now I can believe you! My son Joseph must really be alive, and I will get to see him before I die.”
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Genesis 45
45
1 Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he called out, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”
His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. 4Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”
They came near. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no ploughing and no harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. 8So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry, 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. Don’t wait. 10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11There I will provide for you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ 12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.” 14He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
16 The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. 18Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ 19Now you are commanded to do this: Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20Also, don’t concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.”
21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. 24So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.”
25 They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. 26They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them. 27They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. 28Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
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