Genesis 45–46

¹And Joseph hath not been able to refrain himself before all those standing by him, and he calleth, ‘Put out every man from me;’ and no man hath stood with him when Joseph maketh himself known unto his brethren, ²and he giveth forth his voice in weeping, and the Egyptians hear, and the house of Pharaoh heareth. ³And Joseph saith unto his brethren, ‘I am Joseph, is my father yet alive?’ and his brethren have not been able to answer him, for they have been troubled at his presence. ⁴And Joseph saith unto his brethren, ‘Come nigh unto me, I pray you,’ and they come nigh; and he saith, ‘I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt; ⁵and now, be not grieved, nor let it be displeasing in your eyes that ye sold me hither, for to preserve life hath God sent me before you.

⁶‘Because these two years the famine is in the heart of the land, and yet are five years, in which there is neither ploughing nor harvest; ⁷and God sendeth me before you, to place of you a remnant in the land, and to give life to you by a great escape; ⁸and now, ye—ye have not sent me hither, but God, and He doth set me for a father to Pharaoh, and for lord to all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹‘Haste, and go up unto my father, then ye have said to him, Thus said Joseph thy son, God hath set me for lord to all Egypt; come down unto me, stay not, ¹⁰and thou hast dwelt in the land of Goshen, and been near unto me, thou and thy sons, and thy son’s sons, and thy flock, and thy herd, and all that thou hast, ¹¹and I have nourished thee there—for yet are five years of famine—lest thou become poor, thou and thy household, and all that thou hast.

¹²‘And lo, your eyes are seeing, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth which is speaking unto you; ¹³and ye have declared to my father all my honour in Egypt, and all that ye have seen, and ye have hasted, and have brought down my father hither.’ ¹⁴And he falleth on the neck of Benjamin his brother, and weepeth, and Benjamin hath wept on his neck; ¹⁵and he kisseth all his brethren, and weepeth over them; and afterwards have his brethren spoken with him.

¹⁶And the sound hath been heard in the house of Pharaoh, saying, ‘Come have the brethren of Joseph;’ and it is good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, ¹⁷and Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘Say unto thy brethren, This do ye: lade your beasts, and go, enter ye the land of Canaan, ¹⁸and take your father, and your households, and come unto me, and I give to you the good of the land of Egypt, and eat ye the fat of the land.

¹⁹‘Yea, thou—thou hast been commanded: this do ye, take for yourselves out of the land of Egypt, waggons for your infants, and for your wives, and ye have brought your father, and come; ²⁰and your eye hath no pity on your vessels, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ²¹And the sons of Israel do so, and Joseph giveth waggons to them by the command of Pharaoh, and he giveth to them provision for the way; ²²to all of them hath he given—to each changes of garments, and to Benjamin he hath given three hundred silverlings, and five changes of garments; ²³and to his father he hath sent thus: ten asses bearing of the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses bearing corn and bread, even food for his father for the way. ²⁴And he sendeth his brethren away, and they go; and he saith unto them, ‘Be not angry in the way.’

²⁵And they go up out of Egypt, and come in to the land of Canaan, unto Jacob their father, ²⁶and they declare to him, saying, ‘Joseph is yet alive,’ and that he is ruler over all the land of Egypt; and his heart ceaseth, for he hath not given credence to them. ²⁷And they speak unto him all the words of Joseph, which he hath spoken unto them, and he seeth the waggons which Joseph hath sent to bear him away, and live doth the spirit of Jacob their father; ²⁸and Israel saith, ‘Enough! Joseph my son is yet alive; I go and see him before I die.’

Chapter 46

¹And Israel journeyeth, and all that he hath, and cometh in to Beer-Sheba, and sacrificeth sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac; ²and God speaketh to Israel in visions of the night, and saith, ‘Jacob, Jacob;’ and he saith, ‘Here am I.’ ³And He saith, ‘I am God, God of thy father, be not afraid of going down to Egypt, for for a great nation I set thee there; ⁴I—I go down with thee to Egypt, and I—I also certainly bring thee up, and Joseph doth put his hand on thine eyes.’

⁵And Jacob riseth from Beer-Sheba, and the sons of Israel bear away Jacob their father, And their infants, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharaoh hath sent to bear him, ⁶and they take their cattle, and their goods which they have acquired in the land of Canaan, and come into Egypt—Jacob, and all his seed with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, yea, all his seed he brought with him into Egypt. ⁸And these are the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt: Jacob and his sons, Jacob’s first-born, Reuben. ⁹And sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰And sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul son of the Canaanitess. ¹¹And sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹²And sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah, (and Er and Onan die in the land of Canaan.) And sons of Pharez are Hezron and Hamul. ¹³And sons of Issachar: Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron. ¹⁴And sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵These are sons of Leah whom she bare to Jacob in Padan-Aram, and Dinah his daughter; all the persons of his sons and his daughters are thirty and three. ¹⁶And sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷And sons of Asher: Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸These are sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she beareth these to Jacob—sixteen persons. ¹⁹Sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰And born to Joseph in the land of Egypt (whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, hath borne to him) are Manasseh and Ephraim. ²¹And sons of Benjamin: Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. ²²These are sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the persons are fourteen. ²³And sons of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴And sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵These are sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and she beareth these to Jacob—all the persons are seven. ²⁶All the persons who are coming to Jacob to Egypt, coming out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob’s sons, all the persons are sixty and six. ²⁷And the sons of Joseph who have been born to him in Egypt are two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who are coming into Egypt are seventy.

²⁸And Judah he hath sent before him unto Joseph, to direct before him to Goshen, and they come into the land of Goshen; ²⁹and Joseph harnesseth his chariot, and goeth up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and appeareth unto him, and falleth on his neck, and weepeth on his neck again; ³⁰and Israel saith unto Joseph, ‘Let me die this time, after my seeing thy face, for thou art yet alive.’ ³¹And Joseph saith unto his brethren, and unto the house of his father, ‘I go up, and declare to Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and the house of my father who are in the land of Canaan have come in unto me; ³²and the men are feeders of a flock, for they have been men of cattle; and their flock, and their herd, and all that they have, they have brought.’ ³³‘And it hath come to pass when Pharaoh calleth for you, and hath said, What are your works? ³⁴that ye have said, Thy servants have been men of cattle from our youth, even until now, both we and our fathers,—in order that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for the abomination of the Egyptians is every one feeding a flock.’

Chapter 47