Genesis 44–50

Joseph’s Final Test

44Then Joseph commanded his steward: “Fill the men’s bags with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s money at the top of his bag. ^d2Put my cup, the silver one, at the top of the youngest one’s bag, along with his grain money.” So he did as Joseph told him.

³At morning light, the men were sent off with their donkeys. ⁴They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Get up. Pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? ^e5Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? ^fWhat you have done is wrong!’ ”

⁶When he overtook them, he said these words to them. ⁷They said to him, “Why does my lord say these things? Your servants could not possibly do such a thing. ⁸We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found at the top of our bags. How could we steal gold and silver from your master’s house? ⁹If any of us is ^gfound to have it, he must die, and we also will become my lord’s slaves.” ^h

¹⁰The steward replied, “What you have said is right, but only the one who is found to have it will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless.”

¹¹So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. ¹²The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³Then they tore their clothes, ⁱand each one loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

¹⁴When Judah and his brothers reached Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. ^j15“What is this you have done?” Joseph said to them. “Didn’t you know that a man like me could uncover the truth by divination?”

¹⁶“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

¹⁷Then Joseph said, “I swear that I will not do this. The man in whose possession the cup was found will be my slave. The rest of you can go in peace to your father.”

Judah’s Plea for Benjamin

¹⁸But Judah approached him and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. ^kDo not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. ^l19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. ^mThe boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’ ²¹Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him to me so that I can see him.’ ⁿ²²But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’ ²³Then you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.’ ^o

²⁴“This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported your words to him. ²⁵But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food.’ ^p26We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’ ²⁷Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸One left—I said that he must have been torn to pieces—and I have never seen him again. ^q29If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.’ ^r

³⁰“So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life— ³¹when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. ³²Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’ ^s33Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. ³⁴For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

Joseph Reveals His Identity

45Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, ^tso he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. ^u2But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. ³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.

⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt. ^v5And now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. ^w6For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. ⁷God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. ^x8Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹“Return quickly 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 without delay. ¹⁰You can settle in the land of Goshen ^yand be near me—you, your children, and grandchildren, your sheep, cattle, and all you have. ¹¹There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.” ’ ^z12Look! Your eyes and my brother Benjamin’s eyes can see that it is I, Joseph, who am ^aspeaking to you. ¹³Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.” ^b

¹⁴Then Joseph threw his arms around Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. ¹⁵Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept, ^cand afterward his brothers talked with him.

The Return for Jacob

¹⁶When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. ¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go on back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Get your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can eat from the richness of the land.’ ¹⁹You are also commanded, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives and bring your father here. ^d20Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ” ^e

²¹The sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them provisions for the journey. ²²He gave each of the brothers changes of clothes, ^fbut he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. ^g23He sent his father the following: 10 donkeys carrying the best products of Egypt and 10 female donkeys carrying grain, food, and provisions for his father on the journey. ²⁴So Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t argue on the way.”

²⁵So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶They said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, ^hfor he did not believe them. ²⁷But when they told Jacob all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go to see him before I die.”

Jacob Leaves for Egypt

46Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, ⁱand he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ²That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: ^j“Jacob, Jacob!” He said.

And Jacob replied, “Here I am.”

³God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ^k4I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. ^lJoseph will put his hands on your eyes.” ^mn

⁵Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, ^oalong with their children and their wives. ⁶They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his children went with him to Egypt. ^p7His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.

Jacob’s Family

⁸These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: ^q

Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben.

⁹Reuben’s sons: ^rHanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰Simeon’s sons: ^sJemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

¹¹Levi’s sons: ^tGershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹²Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.

Perez’s sons: ^uHezron and Hamul.

¹³Issachar’s sons: ^vTola, Puvah, ^wJashub, ^xand Shimron.

¹⁴Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons: ^y33.

¹⁶Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷Asher’s sons: ^zImnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.

Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.

¹⁸These were the sons of Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—that she bore to Jacob: 16 persons.

¹⁹The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁰Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On. ^a

²¹Benjamin’s sons: ^bBela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

²²These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob:…