Genesis 44-45

New American Standard Bible

The Brothers Are Brought Back

44 ^(A)Then he commanded his house steward, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the opening of his sack. ² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain.” And he did ^[a]as Joseph had told him. ^3 [b]As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys. ⁴ They had just left ^(B)the city, and were not far away, when Joseph said to his house steward, “Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Is this not that from which my lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for ^(C)divination? You have done wrong in doing this!’”

⁶ So ^[c]he overtook them and spoke these words to them. ⁷ And they said to him, “Why does my lord say such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, ^(D)the money which we found in the opening of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ^9 (E)With whomever of your servants it is found, he shall die, and we also shall be my lord’s ^(F)slaves.” ¹⁰ So he said, “Now let it indeed be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, but the rest of you shall be considered innocent.” ¹¹ Then they hurried, each man lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹² And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and ^(G)the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they ^(H)tore their clothes in grief, and when each man had loaded his donkey, they returned to ^(I)the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there, and ^(J)they fell down to the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not know that a man who is like me can indeed practice ^(K)divination?” ¹⁶ So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What words can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s ^(L)slaves, both we and the one in whose ^[d]possession the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose ^[e]possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and ^[f](M)do not be angry with your servant; for ^(N)you are equal to Pharaoh. ^19 (O)My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and ^(P)a little boy born in our father’s old age. Now ^(Q)his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘^(R)Bring him down to me so that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, ^[g]his father would die.’ ²³ You said to your servants, however, ‘^(S)Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ ²⁴ So it came about when we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And ^(T)our father said, ‘Go back, buy us a little food.’ ²⁶ But we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that ^(U)my wife bore me two sons; ²⁸ and the one left me, and ^(V)I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you also take this one from ^[h]me, and harm happens to him, you will ^(W)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in ^[i]sorrow.’ ³⁰ So now, when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us—since ^[j](X)our father’s life is so attached to the boy’s life— ³¹ when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. So your servants will ^(Y)bring the gray hair of your servant, our father, down to Sheol in sorrow. ³² For your servant ^(Z)accepted responsibility for the boy from my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then ^[k]my father can let me take the blame forever.’ ³³ So now, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear that I may see the evil that would ^[l]overtake my father.”

Joseph Deals Kindly with His Brothers

45 Then Joseph could not control himself in front of everyone standing before him, and he shouted, “Have everyone leave me!” So there ^[m]was no one with him ^(AA)when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² Then ^(AB)he ^[n]wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “^(AC)I am Joseph! ^(AD)Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for ^(AE)they were terrified in his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come ^[o]closer to me.” And they came ^[p]closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you ^(AF)sold to Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be grieved or angry ^[q]with yourselves because ^(AG)you sold me here, for ^(AH)God sent me ahead of you ^[r]to save lives. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land ^(AI)these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ So ^(AJ)God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to ^[s]keep you alive by a great deliverance. ⁸ Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a ^(AK)father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father, and ^(AL)say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. ¹⁰ For you shall live in the land of ^(AM)Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your ^[t]grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will also ^(AN)provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”’ ¹² Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. ¹³ Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and ^(AO)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and ^(AP)wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ Now when ^(AQ)the ^[u]news was heard in Pharaoh’s house ^[v]that Joseph’s brothers had come, it ^[w]pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your livestock and ^[x]go to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households and come to me; and ^(AR)I will give you the ^[y]best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: ^[z]take ^(AS)wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ²⁰ And do not ^[aa]concern yourselves with your property, for the ^[ab]best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them ^(AT)wagons according to the ^[ac]command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To ^[ad]each of them he gave ^(AU)changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and ^(AV)five changes of garments. ²³ And to his father he sent ^[ae]the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the ^[af]best things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and sustenance for his father ^[ag]on the journey.

²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and ^[ah]as they departed, he said to them, “Do not ^[ai]quarrel on the journey.” ²⁵ Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But ^[aj]he was stunned, for ^(AW)he did not believe them. ²⁷ When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the ^(AX)wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”