Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Yesterday we heard about how God delivered Joseph from prison and that was through the
interpretation of dreams first with the butler and the cupbearer of Pharaoh and then with
Pharaoh himself.
And after all this Pharaoh set him over all of Egypt second only to himself and how he
prepared Egypt to go through the seven years of famine.
And today we're going to hear about the reunion of Joseph and his brothers and their father
and what happens when they all meet again in Egypt.
Let's begin.
Today's readings are from Genesis 42 to 46.
Chapter 42
When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at
one another?
And he said, Indeed, I have heard there is grain in Egypt.
Go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.
So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, Lest some
calamity befall him.
And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in
the land of Canaan.
Now Joseph was governor over the land and it was he who sold to all the people of the
land, and Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth.
Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke
roughly to them.
Then he said to them, Where did you come from?
And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them,
You are spies.
You have come to see the nakedness of the land.
And they said to him, No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
We are all one man's sons.
We are honest men.
Your servants are not spies.
But he said to them, No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.
And they said, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan,
and in fact the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.
But Joseph said to them, It is as I spoke to you, saying, You are spies.
In this manner you shall be tested.
By the life of Pharaoh you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes
here.
Send one of you and let him bring your brother, and you shall be kept in prison, that your
words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you.
Or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.
So he put them all together in prison three days.
Then Joseph said to them the third day, Do this and live, for I fear God.
If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house, but you
go and carry grain for the famine of your houses, and bring your youngest brother to
me, so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.
And they did so.
Then they said to one another, We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw
the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear, therefore this
distress has come upon us.
And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the
boy, and you would not listen?
Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.
But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter,
and he turned himself away from them and wept.
Then he returned to them again and talked with them, and he took Simeon from them and
bound him before their eyes.
Then Joseph gave a command, to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man's
money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey.
Thus he did for them, so they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw
his money, and there it was in the mouth of his sack.
So he said to his brothers, My money has been restored, and there it is in my sack.
Then their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying to one another, What is this
that God has done to us?
Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, and told him all that had
happened to them, saying, The man who is the Lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and
took us for spies of the country.
But we said to him, We are honest men, we are not spies.
We are twelve brothers, sons of our father.
One is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.
Then the man, the Lord of the country, said to us, By this I will know that you are honest
men.
Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and
be gone, and bring your youngest brother to me, so I shall know that you are not spies,
but that you are honest men.
I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.
Then it happened, as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man's bundle of money
was in his sack, and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me, Joseph is no more, Simeon is
no more, and you want to take Benjamin.
All these things are against me.
Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to
you.
Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.
But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left
alone.
If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring
down my grey hair with sorrow to the grave.
Chapter 43
Now the famine was severe in the land, and it came to pass when they had eaten up the
grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go back, buy us
a little food.
But Judah spoke to him, saying, The man solemnly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face
unless your brother is with you.
If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
But if you will not send him, we will not go down.
For the man said to us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
And Israel said, Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had
still another brother?
But they said, The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, Is
your father still alive?
Have you another brother?
And we told him according to these words.
Could we possibly have known that he would say, Bring your brother down?
Then Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go,
that we may live and not die.
Both we and you and also our little ones, I myself will be surety for him.
From my hand you shall require him, if I do not bring him back to you and set him before
you, then let me bear the blame forever.
For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.
And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so, then do this.
Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for
the man, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.
Take double money in your hand and take back in your hand the money that was returned in
the mouth of your sacks.
Perhaps it was an oversight.
Take your brother also and arise, go back to the man.
And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother
and Benjamin.
If I am bereaved, I am bereaved.
So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand and
arose and went down to Egypt.
And they stood before Joseph.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Take these men
to my home and slaughter an animal and make ready, for these men will dine with me at
noon.
Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and they said,
It is because of the money which was returned in our sacks the first time that we are brought
in, so that he may make a case against us and seize us to take us as slaves with our
donkeys.
When they drew near to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at the door of
the house and said, Oh sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.
But it happened when we came to the encampment that we opened our sacks, and there, each
man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight.
So we have brought it back in our hand, and we have brought down other money in our hands
to buy food.
We do not know who put our money in our sacks.
But he said, Peace be with you.
Do not be afraid.
For God and the God of your Father has given you treasure in your sacks.
I had your money.
Then he brought Simeon out to them.
So the men brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed
their feet, and he gave their donkeys feed.
Then they made the present ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they would
eat bread there.
And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the
house and bowed down before him to the earth.
Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, Is your father well?
The old man of whom you spoke, is he still alive?
And they answered, Your servant, our father, is in good health.
He is still alive.
And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.
Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is
this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?
And he said, God be gracious to you, my son.
Now his heart yearned for his brother.
So Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep.
And he went into his chamber and wept there.
Then he washed his face and came out, and he restrained himself and said, Serve the
bread.
So they set him a place by himself and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with
him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is
an abomination to the Egyptians.
And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according
to his youth.
And the men looked in astonishment at one another, then he took servings to them from
before him.
But Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs, so they drank and were
merry with him.
Chapter 44 And he commanded the steward of his house,
saying, Fill the man's sacks with food as much as they can carry, and put each man's
money in the mouth of his sack.
Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain
money.
And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
When they had gone out of the city and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward,
Get up, follow the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you repaid evil
for good?
Is not this the one from which my Lord drinks?
And with which he indeed practices divination?
You have done evil in so doing.
So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.
And they said to him, Why does my Lord say these words?
Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.
Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the
mouth of our sacks.
How then could we steal silver or gold from your Lord's house?
With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die.
And we also will be my Lord's slaves.
And he said, Now also let it be according to your words.
He with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.
Then each man speedily led down his sack to the ground, and opened his sack.
So he searched, he began with the oldest, and left off with the youngest.
And a cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there.
And they fell before him on the ground.
And Joseph said to them, What deed is this you have done?
Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?
Then Judah said, What shall we say to my Lord?
What shall we speak?
Or how shall we clear ourselves?
God has found out the iniquity of your servants.
Here we are, my Lord's slaves, both we and he, also with whom the cup was found.
But he said, Far be it from me that I should do so.
The man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave.
And as for you, go up in peace to your father.
And Judah came near to him and said, O my Lord, please let your servant speak a word
in my Lord's hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are
even like Pharaoh.
My Lord asked his servant, saying, Have you a father or a brother?
And we said to my Lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who
is young.
His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father
loves him.
Then you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.
And we said to my Lord, The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father,
his father would die.
But you said to your servants, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you
shall see my face no more.
So it was, when we went up to your servant, my father, that we told him the words of my
Lord, and our father said, Go back and buy us a little food.
But we said, We cannot go down.
If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down.
For we may not see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.
Then your servant, my father, said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons, and
the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn to pieces, and I have not seen
him since.
But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down
my grey hair with sorrow to the grave.
Now therefore, when I come to your servant, my father, and the lad is not with us, since
his life is bound up in the lad's life, it will happen when he sees that the lad is not
with us, that he will die.
So your servant will bring down the grey hair of your servant, our father, with sorrow
to the grave.
For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I do not bring him
back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.
Now therefore please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my Lord,
and let the lad go up with his brothers.
For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me?
Lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father.
Chapter 45
Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out,
Make everyone go out from me.
So no one stood from him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph, does my father still live?
But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, Please come near to me.
So they came near.
Then he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
But now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here.
For God sent me before you to preserve life.
For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in
which there will be neither ploughing nor harvesting.
And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives
by a great deliverance.
For now it was not you who sent me here, but God.
And he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt.
Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me
Lord of all Egypt.
Come down to me, do not tarry.
You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children,
your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.
There I will provide for you, lest you and your household and all that you have come
to poverty, for there are still five years of famine.
And behold your eyes and eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks
to you.
So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen, and
you shall hurry and bring my father down here.
Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked
with him.
Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house saying Joseph's brothers have come,
so it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this, load your animals, and depart, go
to the land of Canaan, bring your father and your households and come to me.
I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.
Now you are commanded, Do this, take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones
and your wives, bring your father and come.
Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Then the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them carts according to the command of
Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.
He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three
hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.
And he sent to his father these things, ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt,
and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey.
So he sent his brothers away, and they departed, and he said to them, See that you do not become
troubled along the way.
Then they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father,
and they told him saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land
of Egypt.
And Jacob's heart stood still, because he did not believe them.
But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the
carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.
Then Israel said, It is enough, Joseph my son is still alive, I will go and see him
before I die.
Chapter 46 So Israel took his journey with all that he
had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob, and he
said, Here I am.
And he said, I am God, the God of your father, do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will
make you a great nation there.
I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again, and Joseph
will put his hand on your eyes.
Then Jacob arose from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their
little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan,
and went to Egypt.
Jacob and all his descendants with him, his sons and his sons' sons, his daughters and
his sons' daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
Now these were the names of the children of Israel.
Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt.
Reuben was Jacob's firstborn.
The sons of Reuben were Hanuk, Paloo, Hezran, and Karmie.
The sons of Simeon were Jemual, Jameen, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Chal.
The sons of a Canaanite woman.
The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Mirari.
The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah.
But Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
The sons of Perez were Hezran and Hamul.
The sons of Issachar were Tola, Povah, Job, and Shimran.
The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elan, and Jalil.
These were the sons of Leah, whom she brought to Jacob in Paddan Aram with his daughter
Dinah.
All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.
The sons of Gad were Ziphon, Haggai, Shuni, Esbon, Ari, Arodi, and Areli.
The sons of Asher were Jemna, Ishwah, Iswi, Berea, and Sarah, their sister.
And the sons of Berea were Heber and Melchial.
These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore
to Jacob, sixteen persons.
The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.
And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenad, the daughter
of Potipharah, priest of On, bore to him.
The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Bekir, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehih, Rosh, Mupim, Hupim, and
Ard.
These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob, fourteen persons in all.
The son of Dan was Hushim.
The sons of Naphtali were Jeziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shilam.
These were the sons of Bela, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these
to Jacob, seven persons in all.
All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob's son's
wives, were sixty-six persons in all.
And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two persons.
All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen.
Then he came to the land of Goshen, so Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen
to meet his father Israel.
And he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are
still alive.
Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up and tell
Pharaoh and say to him, My brothers and those of my father's house, who are in the land
of Canaan, have come to me.
And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock, and they have
brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.
So it shall be when Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation?
That you shall say, Your servant's occupation has been with livestock from our youth even
till now, both we and also our fathers.
That you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the
Egyptians.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.