< Genesis 45 >
1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood before him, so he cried out, "Send everyone away from me." So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the house of Pharaoh heard about it.
3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?" But his brothers couldn't answer him, for they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." So they moved closer. And he said, "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 Now do not be upset or angry with yourselves that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7 God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now, it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 Now hurry and go up to my father and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not delay.
10 You shall dwell in the land of Gesen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, and your children's children, and your flocks, and your herds, and everything that you have.
11 There I will provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, otherwise you and your household and all that you have would become destitute.
12 Look, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.
13 So you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. But you must hurry and bring my father down here."
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder.
15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept on 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." It pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and go. Enter the land of Canaan.
18 Take your father and your families and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the richness of the land.'
19 Now you are commanded, 'Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father and come.
20 Also, do not worry about your possessions, for the best of all of the land of Egypt is yours."
21 So the sons of Israel did that. And Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.
22 He gave to all of them, to each one, a change of clothing. But to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
23 To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and food and provision for his father on the journey.
24 So he sent his brothers off, and as they departed he said to them, "Do not be fearful on the journey."
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
26 And they told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." But he was unmoved, because he did not believe them.
27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
28 Then Israel said, "I'm convinced. My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
