Bible Time

¹THEN Joseph could no longer control his emotions before all those who stood in his presence; and he said, Cause everyone to go out from me. And no one remained there with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ²And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph your brother; is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him because they were afraid at his presence. ⁴And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me; and they came near. And he said to them, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold to the Egyptians. ⁵Now do not be grieved, nor displeased with yourselves, that you sold me here; for it was to provide for you that God sent me before you. ⁶Look the famine has been in the land 2 years; and there are still 5 years, in which there will be no one who sows nor who reaps. ⁷And God sent me before you, to preserve for you a remnant on the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord over all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁹Hurry, and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord over all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay; ¹⁰And you will live in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have; ¹¹And I will provide for you there; for the famine will yet last 5 years more; lest you, your household, and all that you have perish. ¹²And look, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³And you must tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen; and you will hurry and bring down my father here. ¹⁴Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵Moreover, he kissed all his brothers and wept on them; and after that, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶And the news of their meeting was reported in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brothers are come; and the news pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. ¹⁷And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this: load your animals with wheat, and go, and carry it to the land of Canaan; ¹⁸And take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat of the fat of the land. ¹⁹Look, you are the governor; say to your brothers, Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your wives and for your little ones, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰And do not regard your stuff which you leave behind; for the choicest of all the land of Egypt is yours. ²¹And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²²To all of them he gave each man 2 pairs of garments; but to Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver and 5 pairs of garments. ²³And to his father he sent after this manner: 10 donkeys laden with the good things of Egypt, and 10 she-donkeys laden with wheat, wine, and provisions for his father's journey. ²⁴So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, Quarrel not on the journey.

²⁵And they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. ²⁶And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. But Jacob disregarded their story, for he did not believe them. ²⁷And they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, their father Jacob was content. ²⁸And he said, This is great news for me, for my son Joseph is still alive; I will go and see him before I die.