Study Desk

Isn't this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wrong!'"

But Judah approached him and said, "Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.'

For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father."

And now don't be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.

For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.

There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute."'

You are also commanded, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives and bring your father here.

Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'"

The sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them provisions for the journey.

He sent his father the following: 10 donkeys carrying the best products of Egypt and 10 female donkeys carrying grain, food, and provisions for his father on the journey.

They said, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!" Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them.

God 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.

Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival at Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen,

Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time.

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."

And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food for their dependents.

But there was no food in that entire region, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted by the famine.

Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were purchasing, and he brought the money to Pharaoh's palace.

But Joseph said, "Give me your livestock. Since the money is gone, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock."