Genesis 45

Joseph Reveals Who He Is

1 Joseph could not control himself in front of his servants any longer, so 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.” When the brothers came close to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold as a slave to go to Egypt.5 Now don’t be worried or 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 to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and 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, and 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 where you will be near me. Your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have will also be near me.11 I will care for you during the next five years of hunger so that you and your family and all that you have will not starve.’12 “Now you can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that the one speaking to you is really Joseph.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 And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried as he hugged them. After this, his brothers talked with him.16 When the king of Egypt and his officers learned that Joseph’s brothers had come, they were very happy.17 So the king said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and go back to the land of Canaan18 and 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 to bring their father back also.20 Tell them not to worry about bringing any of their things with them, because 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 food for their trip.22 He gave each brother a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin five changes of clothes and about seven and one-half pounds of silver.23 Joseph also sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt and ten female donkeys 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 and is the ruler over all the land of Egypt.” Their father was shocked and did not believe them.27 But when the brothers told him everything Joseph had said, and when Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt, he felt better.28 Israel said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive, and I will go and see him before I die.”

Genesis 46

Jacob Goes to Egypt

1 So Israel took all he had and started his trip. He went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

2 During the night God spoke to Israel in a vision and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”
And Jacob answered, “Here I am.”

3 
Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, because I will make your descendants a great nation there.4 I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you out of Egypt again. Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes when you die.”

5 
Then Jacob left Beersheba. The sons of Israel loaded their father, their children, and their wives in the wagons the king of Egypt had sent.6 They also took their farm animals and everything they had gotten in Canaan. So Jacob went to Egypt with all his descendants—7 his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He took all his family to Egypt with him.

Jacob’s Family

8 

Now these are the names of the children of Israel who went into Egypt (Jacob and his descendants).
Reuben was Jacob’s first son.9 Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.10 Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul (Simeon’s son by a Canaanite woman).11 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.12 Judah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan). Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul.13 Issachar’s sons were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.14 Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.15 These are the sons of Leah and Jacob born in Northwest Mesopotamia, in addition to his daughter Dinah. There were thirty-three persons in this part of Jacob’s family.16 Gad’s sons were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.17 Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and their sister was Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malkiel.18 These are Jacob’s sons by Zilpah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. There were sixteen persons in this part of Jacob’s family.19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.20 In Egypt, Joseph became the father of Manasseh and Ephraim by his wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

21 
Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

22 
These are the sons of Jacob by his wife Rachel. There were fourteen persons in this part of Jacob’s family.

23 
Dan’s son was Hushim.

24 
Naphtali’s sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

25 
These are Jacob’s sons by Bilhah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. There were seven persons in this part of Jacob’s family.

26 
So the total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went to Egypt was sixty-six, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons.27 Joseph had two sons born in Egypt, so the total number in the family of Jacob in Egypt was seventy.

Jacob Arrives in Egypt

28 

Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to see Joseph in Goshen. When Jacob and his people came into the land of Goshen,29 Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as Joseph saw his father, he hugged him, and cried there for a long time.

30 
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, because I have seen your face and I know you are still alive.”

31 
Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s family, “I will go and tell the king you are here. I will say, ‘My brothers and my father’s family have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me.32 They are shepherds and take care of farm animals, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and everything they own with them.’33 When the king calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’34 This is what you should tell him: ‘We, your servants, have taken care of farm animals all our lives. Our ancestors did the same thing.’ Then the king will allow you to settle in the land of Goshen, away from the Egyptians, because they don’t like to be near shepherds.”

Genesis 47

Jacob Settles in Goshen

1 Joseph went in to the king and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen.”2 Joseph chose five of his brothers to introduce to the king.

3 
The king said to the brothers, “What work do you do?”
And they said to him, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.”4 They said to the king, “We have come to live in this land, because there is no grass in the land of Canaan for our animals to eat, and the hunger is terrible there. So please allow us to live in the land of Goshen.”

5 
Then the king said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you,6 and you may choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if any of them are skilled shepherds, put them in charge of my sheep and cattle.”

7 
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and introduced him to the king, and Jacob blessed the king.

8 
Then the king said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

9 
Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent wandering from place to place. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ancestors lived much longer than I.”10 Then Jacob blessed the king and left.11 Joseph obeyed the king and gave his father and brothers the best land in Egypt, near the city of Rameses.12 And Joseph gave his father, his brothers, and everyone who lived with them the food they needed.

Joseph Buys Land for the King

13 The hunger became worse, and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan became very poor.14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and he brought that money to the king’s palace.15 After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left, they went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone, and if we don’t eat, we will die here in front of you.”16 Joseph answered, “Since you have no money, give me your farm animals, and I will give you food in return.”17 So people brought their farm animals to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he kept them alive by trading food for their farm animals that year.18 The next year the people came to Joseph and said, “You know we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. We have nothing left except our bodies and our land.19 Surely both we and our land will die here in front of you. Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we will be slaves to the king, together with our land. Give us seed to plant so that we will live and not die, and the land will not become a desert.”

20 
So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian sold Joseph his field, because the hunger was very great. So the land became the king’s,21 and Joseph made the people slaves from one end of Egypt to the other.22 The only land he did not buy was the land the priests owned. They did not need to sell their land because the king paid them for their work. So they had money to buy food.

23 
Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for the king, so I will give you seed and you can plant your fields.24 At harvest time you must give one-fifth to the king. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your children.”

25 
The people said, “You have saved our lives. If you like, we will become slaves of the king.”

26 
So Joseph made a law in Egypt, which continues today: One-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the king. The only land the king did not get was the priests’ land.

“Don’t Bury Me in Egypt”

27 

The Israelites continued to live in the land of Goshen in Egypt. There they got possessions and had many children and grew in number.

28 
Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, so he lived to be one hundred forty-seven years old.29 When Israel knew he soon would die, he called his son Joseph to him and said to him, “If you love me, put your hand under my leg. Promise me you will not bury me in Egypt.

30 When I die, carry me out of Egypt, and bury me where my ancestors are buried.”
Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”

31 
Then Jacob said, “Promise me.” And Joseph promised him that he would do this. Then Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his walking stick.