45:1 Then Joseph could not control himself in front of everyone standing before him, and he shouted, “Have everyone leave me!” So there ①was no one with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
▷ ①Lit stood
45:2 Then he ①wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it.
▷ ①Lit gave forth his voice in weeping
45:3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified in his presence.
45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come ①closer to me.” And they came ②closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold to Egypt.
▷ ①Lit near ②Lit near
45:5 Now do not be grieved or angry ①with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you ②to save lives.
▷ ①Lit in your eyes ②Lit for preservation of life
45:6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
45:7 So God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to ①keep you alive by a great deliverance.
▷ ①As in MT; another reading (cf. LXX) keep alive for you a great remnant
45:8 Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
45:9 Hurry and go up 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.
45:10 For you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your ①grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.
▷ ①Lit children’s children
45:11 There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.” ’
45:12 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.
45:13 Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.”
45:14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
45:15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
45:16 Now when the ①news was heard in Pharaoh’s house ②that Joseph’s brothers had come, it ③pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
▷ ①Lit voice ②Lit saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come” ③Lit was good in the eyes of
45:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your livestock and ①go to the land of Canaan,
▷ ①Lit come, go
45:18 and take your father and your households and come to me; and I will give you the ①best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’
▷ ①Lit good
45:19 Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: ①take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come.
▷ ①Lit take for yourselves
45:20 And do not ①concern yourselves with your property, for the ②best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
▷ ①Lit let your eye look with regret upon your vessels ②Lit good
45:21 Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons according to the ①command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.
▷ ①Lit mouth
45:22 To ①each of them he gave changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.
▷ ①Lit all of them he gave each man
45:23 And to his father he sent ①the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the ②best things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and sustenance for his father ③on the journey.
▷ ①Lit like this ②Lit good ③Lit for
45:24 So he sent his brothers away, and ①as they departed, he said to them, “Do not ②quarrel on the journey.”
▷ ①Lit they departed; and he said ②Lit be agitated
45:25 Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob.
45:26 And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But ①he was stunned, for he did not believe them.
▷ ①Lit his heart grew numb
45:27 When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
45:28 Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”