Genesis 45:1-46:27

New American Standard Bible

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 ^[a]was no one with him ^(A)when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² Then ^(B)he ^[b]wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “^(C)I am Joseph! ^(D)Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for ^(E)they were terrified in his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come ^[c]closer to me.” And they came ^[d]closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you ^(F)sold to Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be grieved or angry ^[e]with yourselves because ^(G)you sold me here, for ^(H)God sent me ahead of you ^[f]to save lives. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land ^(I)these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ So ^(J)God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to ^[g]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 ^(K)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 ^(L)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 ^(M)Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your ^[h]grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will also ^(N)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 ^(O)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and ^(P)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 ^(Q)the ^[i]news was heard in Pharaoh’s house ^[j]that Joseph’s brothers had come, it ^[k]pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your livestock and ^[l]go to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households and come to me; and ^(R)I will give you the ^[m]best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: ^[n]take ^(S)wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ²⁰ And do not ^[o]concern yourselves with your property, for the ^[p]best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them ^(T)wagons according to the ^[q]command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To ^[r]each of them he gave ^(U)changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and ^(V)five changes of garments. ²³ And to his father he sent ^[s]the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the ^[t]best things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and sustenance for his father ^[u]on the journey.

²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and ^[v]as they departed, he said to them, “Do not ^[w]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 ^[x]he was stunned, for ^(W)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 ^(X)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.”

Jacob Moves to Egypt

46 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to ^(Y)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the ^(Z)God of his father Isaac. ² And ^(AA)God spoke to Israel ^[y]in visions of the night and said, “^(AB)Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” ³ Then He said, “^(AC)I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will ^(AD)make you into a great nation there. ^4 (AE)I will go down with you to Egypt, and ^(AF)I will also assuredly bring you up again; and ^(AG)Joseph will ^[z]close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the ^(AH)wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and ^(AI)came to Egypt, Jacob and all his ^[aa]descendants with him: ⁷ his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his ^[ab]descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

Those Who Came to Egypt

⁸ Now these are the ^(AJ)names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ And the ^(AK)sons of Simeon: ^[ac]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, ^[ad]Jachin, ^[ae]Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ And the sons of Levi: ^[af]Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the ^(AL)sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ And the sons of Issachar: Tola, ^[ag]Puvvah, ^[ah]Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; ^[ai]all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. ¹⁶ And the ^(AM)sons of Gad: ^[aj]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, ^[ak]Ezbon, Eri, ^[al]Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ And the ^(AN)sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the ^(AO)sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons. ¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ^20 (AP)Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ²¹ And the ^(AQ)sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, ^[am]Ehi, Rosh, ^[an]Muppim, ^[ao]Huppim, and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all. ²³ And the sons of Dan: ^[ap]Hushim. ²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali: ^[aq]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and ^[ar]Shillem. ²⁵ These are the ^(AR)sons of Bilhah, whom ^(AS)Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all. ^26 (AT)All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, ^[as]his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all, ²⁷ and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were ^[at]two; ^(AU)all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.