Genesis 45
45
Joseph Tells Who He Is
1Joseph could not control himself any longer. He cried in front of all the people who were there. Joseph said, “Tell everyone to leave here.” So all the people left. Only the brothers were left with Joseph. Then he told them who he was. 2Joseph continued to cry, and all the Egyptian people in Pharaoh’s house heard it. 3He said to his brothers, “I am your brother Joseph. Is my father doing well?” But the brothers did not answer him because they were confused and afraid.
4So Joseph said to his brothers again, “Come here to me. I beg you, come here.” When the brothers went to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph. I am the one you sold as a slave to Egypt. 5Now don’t be worried. Don’t be angry with yourselves for what you did. It was God’s plan for me to come here. I am here to save people’s lives. 6This terrible famine has continued for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. 7So God sent me here ahead of you so that I can save your people in this country. 8It was not your fault that I was sent here. It was God’s plan. God made me like a father to Pharaoh. I am the governor over all his house and over all Egypt.”
Israel Invited to Egypt
9Joseph said, “Hurry up and go to my father. Tell him his son Joseph sent this message: ‘God made me the governor of Egypt. So come here to me quickly. Don’t wait. 10You can live near me in the land of Goshen. You, your children, your grandchildren, and all of your animals are welcome here. 11I will take care of you during the next five years of hunger. So you and your family will not lose everything you own.’
12“Surely you can see that I really am Joseph. Even my brother Benjamin knows it is me, your brother, talking to you. 13So tell my father about the honor I have received here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen here. Now hurry, go bring my father back to me.” 14Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin, and they both began crying. 15Then Joseph cried as he kissed all his brothers. After this, the brothers began talking with him.
16Pharaoh learned that Joseph’s brothers had come to him. This news spread throughout Pharaoh’s house. Pharaoh and his servants were very excited! 17So Pharaoh told Joseph, “Tell your brothers to take all the food they need and go back to the land of Canaan. 18Tell them to bring your father and their families back here to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt to live on. And your family can eat the best food we have here. 19Also give your brothers some of our best wagons. Tell them to go to Canaan and bring your father and all the women and children back in the wagons. 20Don’t worry about bringing all of their belongings. We can give them the best of Egypt.”
21So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them good wagons just as Pharaoh had promised. And Joseph gave them enough food for their trip. 22He gave each brother a suit of beautiful clothes. But to Benjamin he gave five suits of beautiful clothes and 300 pieces of silver. 23Joseph also sent gifts to his father. He sent ten donkeys with bags full of many good things from Egypt. And he sent ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for his father on his trip back. 24Then Joseph told his brothers to go. While they were leaving, he said to them, “Go straight home, and don’t fight on the way.”
25So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father in the land of Canaan. 26They told him, “Father, Joseph is still alive! And he is the governor over the whole country of Egypt.”
Their father did not know what to think. At first he didn’t believe them. 27But then they told him everything Joseph had said. Then their father saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to bring him back to Egypt, and he became excited and very happy. 28Israel said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive! I am going to see him before I die!”
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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.