Genesis 44:1–47:12
44 And he commanded 1the asteward of his house, saying, b“Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 2 Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3 As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you crepaid evil for good? 5 Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”
6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words. 7 And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing. 8 Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan dthe money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 With whomever of your servants it is found, elet him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
10 And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.” 11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. 12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and 2left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they ftore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they gfell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”
16 Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has hfound out the iniquity of your servants; here iwe are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”
17 But he said, j“Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
18 Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and kdo not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and la child of his old age, who is young; his brother is mdead, and he nalone is left of his mother’s children, and his ofather loves him.’ 21 Then you said to your servants, p‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22 And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 But you said to your servants, q‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’
24 “So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. 25 And rour father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that smy wife bore me two sons; 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, t“Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. 29 But if you utake this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’
30 “Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since vhis life is bound up in the lad’s life, 31 it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 32 For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, w‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 Now therefore, please xlet your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would 3come upon my father?”
Joseph Revealed to His Brothers
45 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him awhile Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he bwept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.
3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, c“I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, dwhom you sold into Egypt. 5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; efor God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years the ffamine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 And God gsent me before you to preserve a 1posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but hGod; and He has made me ia father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a jruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not 2tarry. 10 kYou shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will lprovide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.” ’
12 “And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is mmy mouth that speaks to you. 13 So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and nbring my father down here.”
14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15 Moreover he okissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
16 Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” So it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan. 18 Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat pthe 3fat of the land. 19 Now you are commanded—do this: Take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives; bring your father and come. 20 Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
21 Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them qcarts, 4according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. 22 He gave to all of them, to each man, rchanges of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and sfive changes of garments. 23 And he sent to his father these things: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey. 24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.”
25 Then they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. 26 And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” tAnd Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit uof Jacob their father revived. 28 Then Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to aBeersheba, and offered sacrifices bto the God of his father Isaac. 2 Then God spoke to Israel cin the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
3 So He said, “I am God, dthe God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will emake of you a great nation there. 4 fI will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely gbring you up again; and hJoseph 1will put his hand on your eyes.”
5 Then iJacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the 2carts jwhich Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, kJacob and all his descendants with him. 7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
8 Now lthese were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: mReuben was Jacob’s firstborn. 9 The nsons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 oThe sons of Simeon were 3Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, 4Jachin, 5Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of pLevi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of qJudah were rEr, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). sThe sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, 6Puvah, 7Job, and Shimron. 14 The tsons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the usons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with …