Joseph Tells Who He Is

45 Joseph could not control himself any longer. He cried in front of all the people who were there. Joseph said, “Tell everyone to leave here.” So all the people left. Only the brothers were left with Joseph. Then Joseph told them who he was. ²Joseph continued to cry, and all the Egyptian people in Pharaoh’s house heard it. ³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am your brother Joseph. Is my father doing well?” But the brothers did not answer him. They were confused and scared. ⁴So Joseph said to his brothers again, “Come here to me. I beg you, come here.” So the brothers went close to Joseph. And Joseph said to them, “I am your brother Joseph. I am the one you sold as a slave to Egypt. ⁵Now, don’t be worried. Don’t be angry with yourselves for what you did. It was God’s plan for me to come here. I am here to save your life. ⁶This terrible time of hunger has continued for two years now. And there will be five more years without planting or harvest. ⁷So God sent me here ahead of you so that I can save your people in this country. ⁸It wasn’t your fault that I was sent here. It was God’s plan. God made me like a father to Pharaoh. I am the governor over all his house and over all of Egypt.”

Israel Invited to Egypt

⁹Joseph said, “Hurry up and go to my father. Tell him his son Joseph sent this message.” God made me the governor of Egypt. So come here to me. Don’t wait. Come now. ¹⁰You can live near me in the land of Goshen. You, your children, your grandchildren, and all of your animals are welcome here. ¹¹I will take care of you during the next five years of hunger. So you and your family will not lose everything you own. ¹²Joseph told his brothers, “Surely you can see that I really am Joseph. Even my brother Benjamin knows it is me, your brother, talking to you. ¹³So tell my father about the honor I have received here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen here. Now hurry, go bring my father back to me.” ¹⁴Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin, and they both began crying. ¹⁵Then Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried on them. After this, the brothers began talking with him. ¹⁶Pharaoh learned that Joseph’s brothers had come to him. This news spread all through Pharaoh’s house. Pharaoh and his servants were very excited! ¹⁷Pharaoh told Joseph, “Tell your brothers to take all the food they need and go back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Tell them to bring your father and their families back here to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt to live on. And your family can eat the best food we have here.” ¹⁹Then the Pharaoh said, “Also give your brothers some of our best wagons. Tell them to go to Canaan and bring your father and all the women and children back in the wagons. ²⁰Don’t worry about bringing all of their belongings. We can give them the best of Egypt.” ²¹So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them good wagons like the Pharaoh had promised. And Joseph gave them enough food for their trip. ²²Joseph gave each brother a suit of beautiful clothes. But Joseph gave Benjamin five suits of beautiful clothes. And Joseph also gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver. ²³Joseph also sent gifts to his father. He sent ten donkeys with bags full of many good things from Egypt. And he sent ten female donkeys full of grain, bread, and other food for his father on his trip back. ²⁴Then Joseph told his brothers to go. And while they were leaving, Joseph said to them, “Go straight home. And don’t fight on the way.” ²⁵So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father in the land of Canaan. ²⁶The brothers told him, “Father, Joseph is still alive! And he is the governor over the whole country of Egypt.” Their father did not know what to think. At first he didn’t believe them. ²⁷But then they told him everything Joseph had said. And Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent for him to bring him back to Egypt. Then Jacob became excited and very, very happy. ²⁸Israel said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive! I am going to see him before I die!”

God Assures Israel

46 So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First Israel went to Beersheba. There, Israel worshiped God, the God of his father Isaac. He offered sacrifices.* ²During the night, God spoke to Israel in a dream. God said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And Israel answered, “Here I am.” ³Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt. In Egypt I will make you a great nation. ⁴I will go to Egypt with you. And I will bring you out of Egypt again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you. His own hands will close your eyes when you die.”

Israel Goes to Egypt

⁵Then Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Egypt. His sons, the sons of Israel, brought their father, their wives, and all their children to Egypt. They traveled in the wagons the Pharaoh had sent. ⁶They also had their cattle and all the things that they owned in the land of Canaan. So Israel went to Egypt with all his children and his family. ⁷With him were his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters. All of his family went with him into Egypt.

Jacob’s Family

⁸Here are the names of Israel’s* sons and family that went into Egypt with him: Reuben was Jacob’s first son. ⁹Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, and Zohar. There was also Shaul. (Shaul was born from a Canaanite woman.) ¹¹Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹²Judah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Er and Onan died while still in Canaan.) Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³Issachar’s sons were Tola, Puah, Job, and Shimron. ¹⁴Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun were Jacob’s sons from his wife Leah. Leah had those sons in Paddan Aram. She also had a daughter named, Dinah. There were 33 people in this family. ¹⁶Gad’s sons were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Isvi, Beriah, and their sister, Serah. Also there were Beriah’s sons, Heber and Malkiel. ¹⁸All those were Jacob’s sons from his wife’s servant, Zilpah. (Zilpah was the maid that Laban had given to his daughter Leah.) There were 16 people in this family. ¹⁹Benjamin was also with Jacob. Benjamin was Jacob and Rachel’s son. (Joseph was also Rachel’s son, {but Joseph was already in Egypt}.) ²⁰In Egypt, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (Joseph’s wife was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest in the city of On.) ²¹Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²²Those were the sons of Jacob from his wife Rachel. There were 14 people in this family. ²³Dan’s son was Hushim. ²⁴Naphtali’s sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵Those were the sons of Jacob and Bilhah. (Bilhah was the maid that Laban had given to his daughter Rachel.) There were seven people in this family. ²⁶The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants* that went with him to Egypt was 66 people. (The wives of Jacob’s sons were not counted in this number.) ²⁷Also, there were the two sons of Joseph. They had been born in Egypt. So there was a total of 70 people in Jacob’s family in Egypt.

Israel Arrives in Egypt

²⁸Jacob sent Judah ahead to speak to Joseph first. Judah went to Joseph in the land of Goshen. Then Jacob and his people followed into that land. ²⁹Joseph learned that his father was coming. So Joseph prepared his chariot and went out to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged his neck and cried for a long time. ³⁰Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die in peace. I have seen your face and I know that you are still alive.” ³¹Joseph said to his brothers and to the rest of his father’s family, “I will go and tell Pharaoh that you are here. I will say to Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and the rest of my father’s family have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me. ³²They are a family of shepherds. They have always kept sheep and cattle. They have brought all their animals and everything they own with them.’ ³³When Pharaoh calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’ ³⁴You tell him, ‘We are shepherds. All our lives we have been shepherds. And our ancestors* were shepherds before us.’ Then Pharaoh will allow you to live in the land of Goshen. Egyptian people don’t like shepherds, so it is better that you stay in Goshen.”

sacrifice(s) A gift to God. Usually it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar. Israel Another name for Jacob. This name means “he fights for God” or “he fights with God.” descendants A person’s children and their future families. ancestors Literally, “fathers.” This means a person’s parents, grandparents, and all the people they are descended from.