Joseph Reveals His Identity

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!”

So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so.

“I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you. For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’

Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you. Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced. Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him.

When the news reached Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do as follows: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan. Then bring your father and your families and return to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat from the fat of the land.’ You are also directed to tell them: ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives, and bring your father and come back. But pay no regard to your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”

So the sons of Israel did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. He gave new garments to each of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. And he sent to his father the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father’s journey.

Then Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way!”

So the brothers went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. “Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!”

But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them. However, when they relayed all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob was revived.

“Enough!” declared Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I will go to see him before I die.”