Genesis 44:18-45:28

New International Version

¹⁸ Then Judah^(A) went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^(B) let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry^(C) with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants,^(D) ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’^{(E) 20} And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.^(F) His brother is dead,^(G) and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’^(H)

²¹ “Then you said to your servants,^(I) ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’^{(J) 22} And we said to my lord,^(K) ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’^{(L) 23} But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’^{(M) 24} When we went back to your servant my father,^(N) we told him what my lord^(O) had said.^(P)

²⁵ “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’^{(Q) 26} But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’^(R)

²⁷ “Your servant my father^(S) said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.^{(T) 28} One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.”^(U) And I have not seen him since.^{(V) 29} If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave^(W) in misery.’^(X)

³⁰ “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father,^(Y) and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life,^{(Z) 31} sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die.^(AA) Your servants^(AB) will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave^(AC) in sorrow. ³² Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’^(AD)

³³ “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave^(AE) in place of the boy,^(AF) and let the boy return with his brothers. ³⁴ How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery^(AG) that would come on my father.”^(AH)

Joseph Makes Himself Known

45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself^(AI) before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!”^(AJ) So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept^(AK) so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.^(AL)

³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?”^(AM) But his brothers were not able to answer him,^(AN) because they were terrified at his presence.^(AO)

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.”^(AP) When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!^{(AQ) 5} And now, do not be distressed^(AR) and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,^(AS) because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.^{(AT) 6} For two years now there has been famine^(AU) in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant^(AV) on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.^[a](AW)

⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.^(AX) He made me father^(AY) to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.^{(AZ) 9} Now hurry^(BA) back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay.^{(BB) 10} You shall live in the region of Goshen^(BC) and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.^{(BD) 11} I will provide for you there,^(BE) because five years of famine^(BF) are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’^(BG)

¹² “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin,^(BH) that it is really I who am speaking to you.^{(BI) 13} Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt^(BJ) and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.^(BK)”

¹⁴ Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin^(BL) embraced him,^(BM) weeping. ¹⁵ And he kissed^(BN) all his brothers and wept over them.^(BO) Afterward his brothers talked with him.^(BP)

¹⁶ When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come,^(BQ) Pharaoh and all his officials^(BR) were pleased.^{(BS) 17} Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals^(BT) and return to the land of Canaan,^{(BU) 18} and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt^(BV) and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’^(BW)

¹⁹ “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts^(BX) from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. ²⁰ Never mind about your belongings,^(BY) because the best of all Egypt^(BZ) will be yours.’”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts,^(CA) as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.^{(CB) 22} To each of them he gave new clothing,^(CC) but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels^[b] of silver and five sets of clothes.^{(CD) 23} And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys^(CE) loaded with the best things^(CF) of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey.^{(CG) 24} Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”^(CH)

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt^(CI) and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.^{(CJ) 26} They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.”^(CK) Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them.^{(CL) 27} But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts^(CM) Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ And Israel said, “I’m convinced!^(CN) My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”^(CO)