Study Desk

They answered, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And again they bowed down to Joseph.

They were served food from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others. So Joseph's brothers drank with him and had a good time.

Later, Joseph told the servant in charge of his house, "Fill the men's grain sacks with as much as they can hold and put their money in the sacks. Also put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother." The servant did as he was told.

This upset the brothers so much that they began tearing their clothes in sorrow. Then they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

When Judah and his brothers got there, Joseph was still at home. So they bowed down to Joseph,

Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.

Have them bring their father and their families here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they can eat and enjoy everything that grows on it.

Joseph's brothers left Egypt, and when they arrived in Canaan,

they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them.

Jacob and his family set out from Beersheba and headed for Egypt. His sons put him in the wagon that the king had sent for him, and they put their small children and their wives in the other wagons. Jacob's whole family went to Egypt, including his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters. They took along their animals and everything else they owned.

So Joseph got in his chariot and went to meet his father. When they met, Joseph hugged his father around the neck and cried for a long time.

Joseph took five of his brothers to the king and told him, "My father and my brothers have come from Canaan. They have brought their sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else they own to the region of Goshen." Then he introduced his brothers to the king,

I will let them live anywhere they choose in the land of Egypt, but I suggest that they settle in Goshen, the best part of our land. I would also like for your finest shepherds to watch after my own sheep and goats."

Jacob answered, "I have lived only a hundred thirty years, and I have had to move from place to place. My parents and my grandparents also had to move from place to place. But they lived much longer, and their life was not as hard as mine."

From then on, they brought him their horses and donkeys and their sheep and goats in exchange for grain. Within a year Joseph had collected every animal in Egypt.

The people of Israel made their home in the land of Goshen, where they became prosperous and had large families.

Jacob was very old and almost blind. He did not recognize the two boys, and so he asked Joseph, "Who are these boys?" Joseph answered, "They are my sons. God has given them to me here in Egypt." "Bring them to me," Jacob said. "I want to give them my blessing." Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged and kissed them.

The Canaanites saw this and said, "The Egyptians are in great sorrow." Then they named the place "Egypt in Sorrow."

They took him to Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.

When Jacob went to Egypt, his son Joseph was already there. So Jacob took his eleven other sons and their families. They were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Altogether, Jacob had seventy children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who went with him.