Joseph Reveals Who He Is

45 Joseph could not control himself in front of his servants any longer. He cried out, “Have everyone leave me.” When only the brothers were left with Joseph, he told them who he was. ² Joseph cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. And the people in the king’s palace heard about it. ³ He said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But the brothers could not answer him, because they were very afraid of him.

⁴ So Joseph said to them, “Come close to me.” So the brothers came close to him. And he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph. You sold me as a slave to go to Egypt. ⁵ Now don’t be worried. Don’t be angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to save people’s lives. ⁶ No food has grown on the land for two years now. And there will be five more years without planting or harvest. ⁷ So God sent me here ahead of you. This was to make sure you have some descendants left on earth. And it was to keep you alive in an amazing way. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. God has made me the highest officer of the king of Egypt. I am in charge of his palace. I am the master of all the land of Egypt.

⁹ “So leave quickly and go to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all Egypt. Come down to me quickly. ¹⁰ Live in the land of Goshen. You will be near me. Also your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds and all that you have will be near me. ¹¹ I will care for you during the next five years of hunger. In this way, you and your family and all that you have will not starve.’

¹² “Now you can see for yourselves. The one speaking to you is really Joseph. And my brother Benjamin can see this. ¹³ So tell my father about how powerful I have become in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring him back to me.” ¹⁴ Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and cried. And Benjamin cried also. ¹⁵ Then Joseph kissed all his brothers. He cried as he hugged them. After this, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ The king of Egypt and his officers learned that Joseph’s brothers had come. And they were very happy about this. ¹⁷ So the king said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and go back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Tell them to bring their father and their families back here to me. I will give them the best land in Egypt. And they will eat the best food we have here. ¹⁹ Tell them to take some wagons from Egypt for their children and their wives. And tell them to bring their father back also. ²⁰ Tell them not to worry about bringing any of their things with them. We will give them the best of what we have in Egypt.”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as the king had ordered. And he gave them food for their trip. ²² He gave each brother a change of clothes. But he gave Benjamin five changes of clothes. And Joseph gave him about seven and one-half pounds of silver. ²³ Joseph also sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt. And he sent ten female donkeys. They were loaded with grain, bread and other food for his father on his trip back. ²⁴ Then Joseph told his brothers to go. As they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way home.”

²⁵ So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive. He is the ruler over all the land of Egypt.” Their father was shocked and did not believe them. ²⁷ But the brothers told him everything Joseph had said. Then Jacob saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt. Now Jacob felt better. ²⁸ Jacob, also called Israel, said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”