So there wasn’t anyone with Joseph when he told his brothers who he was. ²He sobbed so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. Everyone in Pharaoh’s house heard about it.

³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

But his brothers weren’t able to answer him. They were too afraid of him.

⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” So they did.

Then he said, “I am your brother Joseph. I’m the one you sold into Egypt. ⁵But don’t be upset. And don’t be angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me ahead of you to save many lives.

⁶“For two years now, there hasn’t been enough food in the land. And for the next five years, people won’t be plowing or gathering crops. ⁷But God sent me ahead of you to keep some of you alive on earth. He sent me here to save your lives by an act of mighty power.

⁸“So then, it wasn’t you who sent me here. It was God. He made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me master of Pharaoh’s whole house. He made me ruler of the whole land of Egypt.

⁹“Now hurry back to my father. Say to him, ‘Your son Joseph says, “God has made me master of the whole land of Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t waste any time. ¹⁰You will live in the area of Goshen. You, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you have will be near me. ¹¹There I will provide everything you need.

“ ‘ “Five years without enough food are still coming. If you don’t come down here, you and your family and everyone who belongs to you will lose everything.” ’

¹²“Brothers, you can see for yourselves that it’s really I, Joseph, speaking to you. My brother Benjamin can see it too.

¹³“Tell my father about all of the honor that has been given to me in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

¹⁴Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and sobbed. Benjamin also hugged him and sobbed. ¹⁵Joseph kissed all of his brothers and sobbed over them. After that, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶The news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come. Pharaoh and all of his officials were pleased.

¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Here’s what I want you to tell your brothers. Say to them, ‘Load your animals. Return to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Bring your father and your families back to me. I’ll give you the best land in Egypt. You can enjoy all of the good things in the land.’

¹⁹“And here’s something else I want you to tell them. Say to them, ‘Take some carts from Egypt. Your children and your wives can use them. Get your father and come back. ²⁰Don’t worry about the things you have back there. The best of everything in Egypt will belong to you.’ ”

²¹So the sons of Israel did it. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded. He also gave them supplies for their journey. ²²He gave new clothes to each of them.

But he gave more than seven pounds of silver to Benjamin. He also gave him five sets of clothes.

²³He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt. He also sent ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other supplies for his journey.

²⁴Then Joseph sent his brothers away. As they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t argue on the way!”

²⁵So they went up out of Egypt. They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of the whole land of Egypt.”

Jacob was shocked. He didn’t believe them. ²⁷So they told him everything Joseph had said to them.

Jacob saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back. That gave new life to their father Jacob. ²⁸Israel said, “I believe it now! My son Joseph is still alive. I’ll go and see him before I die.”

Jacob Goes Down to Egypt

46So Israel started out with everything that belonged to him. When he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

²God spoke to Israel in a vision at night. “Jacob! Jacob!” he said.

“Here I am,” Jacob replied.

³“I am God. I am the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. There I will make you into a great nation. ⁴I will go down to Egypt with you. You can be sure that I will bring you back again. And when you die, Joseph will close your eyes with his own hand.”

⁵Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob and their families in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to carry them.

⁶So Jacob and his whole family went to Egypt. They took their livestock with them. And they took everything they had gotten in Canaan. ⁷Jacob took his sons and grandsons with him to Egypt. He also took his daughters and granddaughters. He took all of his children and grandchildren with him.

⁸Here are the names of Israel’s children and grandchildren who went to Egypt. Jacob and all of his children and grandchildren are included.

Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son.

⁹The sons of Reuben were

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

¹⁰The sons of Simeon were

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a woman from Canaan.

¹¹The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

¹²The sons of Judah were

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah. But Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³The sons of Issachar were

Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron.

¹⁴The sons of Zebulun were

Sered, Elon and Jahleel.

¹⁵Those were the sons and grandsons who were born to Jacob and Leah in Paddan Aram. Leah also had a daughter by Jacob. Her name was Dinah. The total number of people in the family line of Jacob and Leah was 33.

¹⁶The sons of Gad were

Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.

¹⁷The sons of Asher were

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.

¹⁸Those were the children and grandchildren who were born to Jacob and Zilpah. Laban had given Zilpah to his daughter Leah. The total number of people in the family line of Jacob and Zilpah was 16.

¹⁹The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were

Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰In Egypt, Asenath had Manasseh and Ephraim by Joseph. Asenath was the daughter of Potiphera. Potiphera was the priest of On.

²¹The sons of Benjamin were

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

²²Those were the sons and grandsons who were born to Jacob and Rachel. The total number of people in the family line of Jacob and Rachel was 14.

²³The son of Dan was

Hushim.

²⁴The sons of Naphtali were

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.

²⁵Those were the sons and grandsons who were born to Jacob and Bilhah. Laban had given Bilhah to his daughter Rachel. The total number of people in the family line of Jacob and Bilhah was seven.

²⁶The total number of those who went to Egypt with Jacob was 66. That number includes only his own children and grandchildren. It doesn’t include his sons’ wives or his grandsons’ wives.

²⁷The total number of the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt was 70. That includes the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt.

²⁸Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph. He sent him to get directions to Goshen. And so they arrived in the area of Goshen.

²⁹Then Joseph had his servants get his chariot ready. He went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as he came to his father, Joseph threw his arms around him. Then Joseph sobbed for a long time.

³⁰Israel said to Joseph, “I have seen for myself that you are still alive. Now I’m ready to die.”

³¹Then Joseph spoke to his brothers and to the rest of his father’s family. He said, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh. I’ll say to him, ‘My brothers and the rest of my father’s family have come to me. They were living in the land of Canaan. ³²The men are shepherds. They take care of livestock. They’ve brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’

³³“Pharaoh will send for you. He’ll ask, ‘What do you do for a living?’ ³⁴You should answer, ‘We’ve taken care of livestock from the time we were boys. We’ve done just as our fathers did.’ It’s the practice of the people of Egypt not to mix with shepherds.

“So Pharaoh will let you settle in the area of Goshen.”

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