Genesis 45

EasyEnglish Bible

Joseph says who he is

45 After Judah said this, Joseph could not control himself. He did not want to cry in front of all his servants. So he shouted, ‘Make everyone go away from me!’ So there was no one still there with Joseph, except his brothers. Then he told his brothers who he was. ² Joseph wept loudly, so that the Egyptians heard him. All the people in Pharaoh's house knew about it.

³ Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him because they were too frightened. They could see Joseph was there in front of them!^[a]

⁴ Then Joseph said to them, ‘Come near to me.’ So they did that. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph. I am the one that you sold to become a slave in Egypt! ⁵ But do not be upset. Do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me like that. No! It was God who sent me here! He sent me here before you came. He did that so that I could save people's lives. ⁶ There has been a famine for two years already. No food will grow for another five years. ⁷ But God sent me to come here before you. Because of that, your family would stay alive. God would do a great thing to save you and your descendants. ⁸ So you did not really send me here. It was God who did that! He made me Pharaoh's most important officer, as if I am his father. I take care of everything in Pharaoh's palace. I have authority to rule over all of Egypt.^{[b] 9} Now hurry back to my father. Say to him, “This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord over all Egypt. Come here to me. Come now. ¹⁰ You can live in the region called Goshen. You, your children and your grandchildren can live there. You can bring your sheep, goats and cows, together with everything that you have. In Goshen you will all be near me. ¹¹ I will take care of you there. I will give food to you, because there will be five more years of famine. If you do not come here, you and all your family and servants will become very poor.” ’

¹² Joseph continued to say to his brothers, ‘As I speak to you now, you can all see clearly that I really am Joseph. My brother Benjamin also knows that. ¹³ Tell my father about the authority that I have here in Egypt. Tell him about everything that you have seen here. Then bring my father here quickly.’

¹⁴ Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and he wept. Benjamin hugged Joseph and he also wept. ¹⁵ Joseph continued to weep as he kissed each of his other brothers too. After this, his brothers began to talk to Joseph.

¹⁶ Pharaoh then heard that Joseph's brothers had arrived in Egypt. Pharaoh and his officers were happy to know that. ¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Tell your brothers to do this. Say to them, “Put food on your donkeys and return home to Canaan. ¹⁸ Then bring your father and your families to come here to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt to live on. You will have all the best things that the land gives to you.”  ¹⁹ You must also tell your brothers, “Take some carts from here in Egypt. Your wives and children can ride in them to come back here. Bring your father and come quickly. ²⁰ Do not worry. You do not have to bring all your things from your own country. The best things of Egypt will belong to you.” ’

²¹ So Jacob's sons did what Pharaoh said. Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh had told him to do. He also gave them food for their journey. ²² Joseph gave new clothes to each of his brothers. But he gave 300 silver coins and five sets of clothes to Benjamin. ²³ Joseph also sent these things to his father:

²⁴ Then Joseph sent his brothers to start their journey. As they left, he said to them, ‘Do not argue with each other on your way home!’

²⁵ The brothers left Egypt and they returned home to their father Jacob in Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, ‘Joseph is still alive! He rules over all of Egypt!’ Jacob was so surprised that he did not believe what they said. ²⁷ So Jacob's sons told him everything that Joseph had said to them. Jacob saw the carts that Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt. Then Jacob felt stronger again. ²⁸ Jacob said, ‘Now I believe you! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.’