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Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” So there was no one else with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, for they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come close to me.” and they came near. He said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For two years the famine has been in the land, and there will be five more years without ploughing or harvesting. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 “Now hurry 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; do not delay. 10 You can settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute” ’.
12 “Now you can see with your own eyes, and my brother Benjamin can also see, that it really is me speaking to you. 13 Tell my father how greatly I am honoured in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him and wept. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
16 When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his officials were pleased. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can enjoy the fat of the land’.
19 “You are to also instruct them, ‘Do this: Take carts from the land of Egypt for your children and for your wives, and get your father and come. 20 Do not be concerned about your belongings, because the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.”
21 So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each of them he gave a change of clothes; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of clothes. 23 To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other provisions for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel along the way.”
25 So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all of the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, and he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”