Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in one room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told him who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
“I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come closer,” he said to them So they came closer. And he said to them again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold to slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me here ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! An he is the one who made me an advisor to Pharaoh-the manger of his entire palace and governor of all of Egypt.” (vv. 1-8, NLT)