Study Desk

Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him to me so that I can see him.'

We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother isn't with us, we cannot see the man.'

"So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy's life—

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, "Send everyone away from me!" No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.

But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh's household heard it.

So Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, "Don't argue on the way."

So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: "My father and my brothers, with their sheep and cattle and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen."

Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live in the land for a while because there is no grazing land for your servants' sheep, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen."

So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh's presence.

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for the horses, the herds of sheep, the herds of cattle, and the donkeys. That year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

Why should we die here in front of you—both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we with our land will become Pharaoh's slaves. Give us seed so that we can live and not die, and so that the land won't become desolate."

In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,

So Joseph made it a law, still in effect today in the land of Egypt, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests' land does not belong to Pharaoh.

And Jacob said, "Swear to me." So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.

Some time after this, Joseph was told, "Your father is weaker." So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

And Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons God has given me here." So Jacob said, "Bring them to me and I will bless them."

So he blessed them that day with these words: The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, "May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh," putting Ephraim before Manasseh.

He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer.

He will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horses' heels so that its rider falls backward.