I Am Joseph
Joseph clears the room and breaks down: I am Joseph. He tells his terrified brothers not to torment themselves — our Father sent him ahead to keep them alive. Wagons are loaded, and Jacob's numb heart revives at the news.
45 1Joseph could not control himself before everyone standing by him, so he cried out, "Send everyone away from me!" No one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and Pharaoh's household heard it. 3Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" His brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified at his presence.
4Joseph said to his brothers, "Please, come close to me." They came close. He said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
5Now don't be distressed or angry with yourselves for selling me here, since our Father sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6Famine has been in the land two years now; five more years remain with no plowing or harvest. 7Our Father sent me ahead of you to preserve a remnant for you on earth, and keep you alive as a great band of survivors. 8So now, it wasn't you who sent me here, but our Father—he made me father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. a a v8 Joseph names his slavery as our Father's providence — the brothers' evil and the Father's redemptive plan running through the same event.
9Hurry, go up to my father, tell him: Your son Joseph says: Our Father has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don't delay. 10You'll live in Goshen, near me—you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, all you own. 11I will provide for you there—five years of famine remain—so you, your household, and all you own don't fall into poverty. 12Your eyes see, and my brother Benjamin's eyes see, that it is my own mouth speaking to you. 13Tell my father all my honor in Egypt, and all you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here. 14Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck." 15He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers talked with him.
16News reached Pharaoh's house: "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh and his officials. 17Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers: do this—load your animals, go, return to the land of Canaan. 18Take your father and your households and come to me. I will give you the best of Egypt's land, and you will eat the richness of the land. 19You are commanded: tell them, 'Do this—take wagons from Egypt for your children and wives, bring your father, and come. 20Don't worry about your belongings—the best of all Egypt's land is yours.'"
21The sons of Israel did so; Joseph gave them wagons per Pharaoh's order, and gave them provisions for the road. 22He gave each a change of clothes, but Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. 23He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with Egypt's best, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his journey. 24He sent his brothers off; as they left, he said, "Don't quarrel on the way."
25So they left Egypt and came to their father Jacob in Canaan. 26They told him, "Joseph is still alive—ruler over all Egypt!" But his heart went numb; he didn't believe them. 27But when they told him all Joseph's words to them, and he saw the wagons Joseph sent to carry him, their father Jacob's spirit revived. 28Israel said, "Enough! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
