Genesis 44:18-45:15

Common English Bible

Judah appeals for Benjamin

¹⁸ Judah approached him and said, “Please, my master, allow your servant to say something to my master without getting angry with your servant since you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My master asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or brother?’ ²⁰ And we said to my master, ‘Yes, we have an elderly father and a young brother, born when he was old. His brother is dead and he’s his mother’s only child. But his father loves him.’ ²¹ You told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him.’ ²² And we said to my master, ‘The young man can’t leave his father. If he leaves, his father will die.’ ²³ You said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come down with you, you’ll never see my face again.’

²⁴ “When we went back to my father your servant, we told him what you said. ²⁵ Our father told us, ‘Go back and buy for us a little food.’ ²⁶ But we said, ‘We can’t go down. We will go down only if our youngest brother is with us. We won’t be able to gain an audience with the man without our youngest brother with us.’ ²⁷ Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave birth to two sons for me. ²⁸ One disappeared and I said, “He must have been torn up by a wild animal,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ And if you take this one from me too, something terrible will happen to him, and you will send me—old as I am—to my grave in despair.’ ³⁰ When I now go back to your servant my father without the young man—whose life is so bound up with his— ³¹ and when he sees that the young man isn’t with us,^[a] he will die, and your servants will have sent our father your servant—old as he is—to his grave in grief. ³² I, your servant, guaranteed the young man’s safety to my father, telling him, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, it will be my fault forever.’ ³³ Now, please let your servant stay as your slave instead of the young man so that he can go back with his brothers. ³⁴ How can I go back to my father without the young man? I couldn’t bear to see how badly my father would be hurt.”

Joseph reveals his identity

45 Joseph could no longer control himself in front of all his attendants, so he declared, “Everyone, leave now!” So no one stayed with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. ² He wept so loudly that the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s household heard him. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m Joseph! Is my father really still alive?” His brothers couldn’t respond because they were terrified before him.

⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” and they moved closer. He said, “I’m your brother Joseph! The one you sold to Egypt. ⁵ Now, don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves that you sold me here. Actually, God sent me before you to save lives. ⁶ We’ve already had two years of famine in the land, and there are five years left without planting or harvesting. ⁷ God sent me before you to make sure you’d survive^[b] and to rescue your lives in this amazing way. ⁸ You didn’t send me here; it was God who made me a father to Pharaoh, master of his entire household, and ruler of the whole land of Egypt.

⁹ “Hurry! Go back to your father. Tell him this is what your son Joseph says: ‘God has made me master of all of Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t delay. ¹⁰ You may live in the land of Goshen, so you will be near me, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everyone with you. ¹¹ I will support you there, so you, your household, and everyone with you won’t starve, since the famine will still last five years.’ ¹² You and my brother Benjamin have seen with your own eyes that I’m speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father about my power in Egypt and about everything you’ve seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. ¹⁵ He kissed all of his brothers and wept, embracing them. After that, his brothers were finally able to talk to him.