Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.”(A) When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!(B) And now, do not be distressed(C) and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,(D) because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.(E) For two years now there has been famine(F) in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant(G) on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a](H)

“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.(I) He made me father(J) to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.(K) Now hurry(L) 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.(M) 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen(N) and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.(O) 11 I will provide for you there,(P) because five years of famine(Q) are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’(R)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 45:7 Or save you as a great band of survivors

And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

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“Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.[a] So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser[b] to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.

“Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! 10 You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. 11 I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 45:7 Or and to save you with an extraordinary rescue. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  2. 45:8 Hebrew a father.