Study Desk

"Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine."

Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, in whom there is a divine spirit?"

So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food."

Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a gift, a little balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

"And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.

So they prepared the gift for Joseph's arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there.

Joseph then hurried out, for he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep; so he entered his chamber and wept there.

And they said to him, "Why does my lord say such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

Joseph said to them, "What is this thing that you have done? Do you not know that a man who is like me can indeed practice divination?"

Then Judah approached him and said, "Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.

"My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'

"And we said to my lord, 'We have an old father and a little boy born in our father's old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.'

"And our father said, 'Go back, buy us a little food.'

"So now, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers.

"So God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

"Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Then He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared to him, Joseph threw himself on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

"At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food, and for those of your households and as food for your little ones."