1 Joseph could no longer control himself in the presence of all his attendants, so he cried out, "Have everyone withdraw from me!" Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers.
2 But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him, and so the news reached Pharaoh's palace.
3 "I am Joseph," he said to his brothers. "Is my father still in good health?" But his brothers could give him no answer, so dumbfounded were they at him.
4 "Come closer to me," he told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: "I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt.
5 But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.
6 For two years now the famine has been in the land, and for five more years tillage will yield no harvest.
7 God, therefore, sent me on ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance.
8 So it was not really you but God who had me come here; and he has made of me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.
9 "Hurry back, then, to my father and tell him: 'Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come to me without delay.
10 You will settle in the region of Goshen, where you will be near me--you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything that you own.
11 Since five years of famine still lie ahead, I will provide for you there, so that you and your family and all that are yours may not suffer want.'
12 Surely, you can see for yourselves, and Benjamin can see for himself, that it is I, Joseph, who am speaking to you.
13 Tell my father all about my high position in Egypt and what you have seen. But hurry and bring my father down here."
14 Thereupon he flung himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept in his arms.
15 Joseph then kissed all his brothers, crying over each of them; and only then were his brothers able to talk with him.
16 When the news reached Pharaoh's palace that Joseph's brothers had come, Pharaoh and his courtiers were pleased.
17 So Pharaoh told Joseph: "Say to your brothers: 'This is what you shall do: Load up your animals and go without delay to the land of Canaan.
18 There get your father and your families, and then come back here to me; I will assign you the best land in Egypt, where you will live off the fat of the land.'
19 Instruct them further: 'Do this. Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your children and your wives and to transport your father on your way back here.
20 Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best in the whole land of Egypt shall be yours.'"
21 The sons of Israel acted accordingly. Joseph gave them the wagons, as Pharaoh had ordered, and he supplied them with provisions for the journey.
22 He also gave to each of them fresh clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of garments.
23 Moreover, what he sent to his father was ten jackasses loaded with the finest products of Egypt and ten jennies loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey.
24 As he sent his brothers on their way, he told them, "Let there be no recriminations on the way."
25 So they left Egypt and made their way to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.
26 When they told him, "Joseph is still alive--in fact, it is he who is ruler of all the land of Egypt," he was dumbfounded; he could not believe them.
27 But when they recounted to him all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent for his transport, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
28 "It is enough," said Israel. "My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die."
Versículos relacionados com Genesis, 45:
Genesis 45 tells the story of Joseph, who finally reveals his true identity to his brothers who sold him as a slave many years earlier. He forgives them and invites them all his family to live with him in Egypt during the hunger that plagued the region. The five verses below were selected for their relevance with the topics covered in this chapter.
Genesis 41:52: "To the second he called Ephraim, because he said, God made me fruity in the land of my affliction." Joseph names his youngest son, Efraim, as a memory of God's blessing even in the midst of his distress in Egypt.
Exodus 1:7: "And the children of Israel fruited, and increased a lot, and multiplied, and were strengthened greatly; so that the earth filled with them." God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that his descent would be numerous begins to fulfill himself while Joseph's family is established in Egypt.
Leviticus 19:18: "Thou shalt not take revenge, nor keep it will be against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord." Joseph's attitude of forgiveness of his brothers is a living example of the commandment of love his neighbor and not seeking revenge.
Deuteronomy 30:3: "Then the Lord your God will make you return from your captivity, and shake yourself from you, and will gather again among all the nations among which the Lord your God spread to you." The story of Joseph and his family gathered in Egypt is an example of God's faithfulness to fulfill his promises and gather his people back to his land.
Joshua 24:15: "But if it seems evil to you to your eyes to serve the Lord, I chose today to those who serve; if to the gods whom they served your parents, who were in the river, or to the gods of the Amorites, in whose dwelling land But I and I will serve the Lord. " Joseph's decision to serve God and act with love and forgiveness instead of revenge is an example for us how we should live our lives and treat others.
Fejezetek: