Category: Scripture

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have joined you here, choose any place in the entire land of Egypt for them to live. Give them the best the best land of Egypt. Let them live in the region of Goshen. If any of them have special skills, put them in charge my livestock, too.”

Then Joseph brought his father, Jacob, and presented him to Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

“How old are you?” Pharaoh asked Jacob.

Jacob replied, “I have traveled this earth 130 hard years. But my life has been short compared to the live of my ancestors.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again before leaving his court. (vv. 5-10, NLT)

As they neared their destination, Jacob sent Judah ahead to meet Joseph and get directions to the region of Goshen. And when they finally arrived there, Joseph prepared his chariot and traveled to Goshen to meet his father, Jacob. When Joseph arrived, he embraced his father and wept, holding him for a long time.

Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again and know that you are still alive.”

And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s entire family. “I will go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘My brothers and my father’s entire family have tom to me from the land of Canaan. These men are shepherds, and they raise livestock. They have brought with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.'”

Then he said, “When Pharaoh calls for you and asks about your occupation, you must tell him, ‘We, your servants have raised livestock all our lives, as our ancestors have always done.’ When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds.” (vv. 28-34, NLT)

So Jacob set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Issac. During the night God spoke to him in a vision. “Jacob!” he called.

“Here I am,” Jacob replied.

“I am God, the God of your father”, the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”

So Jacob left Beersheba, and his sons took him to Egypt. They carried with him and their little ones and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had provided for them. They also took all of the livestock and all the personal belongings they had acquired in the and of Canaan. So Jacob and his entire family went to Egypt-sons and grandsons, daughter and granddaughters-all of his descendants. (vv. 1-7-NLT)

The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went with him to Egypt, not counting his sos’s wives, was sixty-six. In addition, Joseph had two sons who were born in Egypt. So all together, there were seventy members of Jacob’s family in the land of Egypt. (vv 26-27, NLT)

The news soon reached Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have arrived!” Pharaoh and his officials were delighted to hear this.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, ” Tell your brothers, ‘This is what you must do: Load your pack animals , and hurry back to the land of Canaan. Then get your father and all of your families, and return here to me. I will give you the very best land in Egypt, and you will eat from the best that the land produces.”

So the sons of Jacob did as they were told. Joseph provided them with wagons, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them supplies for their journey. And he gave each of them new clothes-but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and 300 pieces of silver. He also sent his father ten male donkeys, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other supplies he would need on his journey. (vv. 16-23, NLT)

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)

When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave instructions to his palace manager: “Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money back in his sack. Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain. So the manager did as Joseph instructed him. (vv. 1-2, NLT)

Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. “What have you done?” Joseph demanded. Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”

Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we way to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves-all of us, not just our brother wh had you cup in his sack.”

“No,” Joseph said. “I would never do such a thing! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you my go back to your father in peace.” (vv 14-17, NLT)

When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts they had brought him, then bowed low to the ground before him. After greeting them, he asked, “How is your father, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?”

“Yes”, they replied. “Our father, your servant, is alive and well.” And they bowed again.

Then Joseph looked at his brother, Benjamin, the son of his own mother. “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about? ” Joseph asked. “May God be gracious to you.” Then Joseph hurried from the room because he was so overcome with emotion for brother. He went to his private room, where he broke down and wept. After washing his face, he came back out, keeping himself under control. Then he ordered, “Bring out the food!”

The waiters served Joseph at his own table, and his brothers were served at a separate table. The Egyptians who ate with Joseph sat at their own table, because Egyptians despise Hebrews and refused to eat with them. Joseph told each of his brothers where to sit, and to their amazement, he seated them according to age, from oldest to youngest. And Joseph filled their plates with food from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as must as he gave the others. So they feasted and drank freely with him. (vv. 26-34, NLT)

Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. He also gave them supplies for their journey home.So the brothers loaded their donkeys with grain and headed for home. (vv. 25-26, NLT)

When the brothers came to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that happen to them. (v. 29, NLT)

As they emptied out their sacks, there in each man’s sack was the bag of money he had paid for the grain! The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money. Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone! An now you want to take Benjamin, too! Everything is going against me!”

Then Ruben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. I’ll be responsible for hi, and I promises to bring him back.”

But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on our journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.” (vv. 35-38, NLT)

“No!, my lord!,” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to by food. We are all brothers – members of the same family. we are honest men, sir! We are not spies!”

“Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

“Sir, they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father, and one of our brothers is no no longer with us.”

But Joseph insisted “As I said, you are spies! This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, it it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know that you are spies.”

So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. On the third day, Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. But you must bring your younger brother back to me. This will prove if you are telling the truth, and you will not die..” To this agreed. (vv. 10-20, NLT)

When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are standing around looking at one another? I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”

So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. So Jacob’s sons’ arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.

Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was him that all his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph recognized his brothers immediately, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.

“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.” (vv. 1-7, NLT)