And they said, Thy servants were twelve brethren, sons of one man, in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

And Joseph saith unto them, 'This is that which I have spoken unto you, saying, Ye are spies,

By this ye shall be put to the proof: as Pharaoh lives, ye shall not go forth hence, unless your youngest brother come hither!

One of you must go and get your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison. In this way your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"

And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, that ye may live: I fear God.

Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

Then they said one to another, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw when he besought us, and we did not hearken; therefore this distress is come upon us.

Then Joseph gave orders [privately] that their bags be filled with grain, and that every man’s money [used to pay for the grain] be put back in his sack, and that provisions be given to them for the journey. And so this was done for them.

And he said to his brethren, My money is returned to me, and behold, it is even in my sack. And their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God has done to us?

we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest. Leave one, your brother, with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and go.

And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me--Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you would take! All of this [is] against me!

And Israel (Jacob) said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man that you had another brother?”

They replied, "The man questioned us thoroughly about ourselves and our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' So we answered him in this way. How could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

Surely if we had not hesitated by this [time] we would have returned twice."

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 take them down to the man as a gift--a little balm and honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, and pistachios and almonds.

So the men took this gift, and they took double money in their hands, and Benjamin, and they rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Then he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, the son of his mother, and said, "Is this your youngest brother of whom you told me?" And he continued, "God be gracious to you, my son."

At this, Joseph hurried out, deeply moved because of his brother, and looked for a place to weep by himself. He entered his personal quarters, wept there awhile,

Is this not that from which my master drinks? Now he himself certainly practices divination with it. You have done evil [in] what you have done.'"

And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:

If it comes to light that any of your servants has done this, let him be put to death, and we will be your lord's servants.

At this, they all tore their clothes, reloaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.

Then Joseph said to them, "What is this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man who [is] like me surely practices divination?"

"What can we say, Your Excellency?" Judah replied. "How can we explain this or justify ourselves? God has discovered the sin of your servants, and now we've become slaves to you, Your Excellency, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been discovered."

But he said, "Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found, he will become my slave. But as for you, go up in peace to your father."

“This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported your words to him.

And if you take this one also from me, and he encounters harm, you will bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol.'

At this time thy servant shall now remain for the youth, a servant to my lord; and the youth shall go up with his brethren.

At this point, Joseph could not control his emotions any longer, so he cried out to everyone who was standing nearby, "Everybody! Leave me!" As a result, none of his staff was anywhere near him when he revealed himself to his brothers.

That's because this famine has been going on for two years now in this region, and there are still five years left, during which there won't be any plowing or harvesting.

Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not wait.

And he will kiss all his brethren, and will weep upon them: and after this his brethren sake with him.

And the fame of this was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers: 'Do this--load your donkeys and go back to the land of Canaan,

And you [Joseph], are commanded [to say] this: 'Do this! Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, and bring your father and come!

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

And to his father he sent this: ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread, and food for his father by the way.

And they said to him, Joseph is living, and is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And at this word Jacob was quite overcome, for he had no faith in it.

All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob's sons.)

and Israel saith unto Joseph, 'Let me die this time, after my seeing thy face, for thou art yet alive.'

say, 'Thy servants have been occupied about cattle, from our childhood unto this time: both we and our fathers,' that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen. For an abomination unto the Egyptians are all that feed sheep."

After this, Joseph went to inform Pharaoh. "My father and brothers have come here from Canaan," he said, "and they've come with their flocks, herds, and everything else they have. I settled them in the Goshen territory!"

"Your servants are shepherds," they replied, "both we and our ancestors. We've come to live for a while in this region, since there is no pasture back in Canaan for your servants' flocks. May your servants please live in the Goshen territory?"

This land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land cause thy father and thy brethren to dwell; they shall dwell in the land of Goshen; and if thou knowest and there is among them men of strength, set them leaders of the cattle which are to me.

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,

Only the land of the priests he bought not; for to the priests a portion from Pharaoh, and they ate their portion which Pharaoh gave to them; for this they sold not their lands.

And Joseph said to the people, "Look, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Here [is] seed for you so you can sow the land.

So Joseph made it a statute unto this day concerning the land of Egypt: one fifth to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests alone did not belong to Pharaoh.

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

and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and make you numerous, and will make you a company of nations. And I will give this land to your offspring after you [as] an everlasting possession.'

And I in my coming from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way, in yet a length of land to go to Ephrath: and I shall bury her there in the way of Ephmth; this the house of bread.

And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me {all my life} unto this day,

And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; because this one [is] the firstborn. Put your right [hand] upon his head."

And his father will refuse and will say, I knew my son, I knew: this also shall be into a people, and this also shall be great: and yet his brother the small, shall be great more than he, and his seed shall be a fulness of nations.

That very day, Jacob blessed them with this blessing: "By you Israel will extend this blessing: "May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!'"

By doing this, he placed Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel told Joseph, "Pay attention! I'm about to die, but God will be with you. He'll bring you back to the land that belongs to your ancestors.

After this, Jacob called his sons together and told them, "Assemble yourselves around me so I can tell you all what is going to happen to you in the last days.

Gad, a troop, shall press upon him; and this shall press upon the heel.

This adversary will embitter him, and the lords of the arrows will lie in wait.

All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel, and this [is] what their father said to them when he blessed them, each according to their blessing.

In his last words, Jacob issued this set of instructions to them all: "I'm about to join our ancestors. Bury me alongside my ancestors in the cave in the field that used to belong to Ephron the Hittite.

The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

After concluding this set of instructions to his sons, Jacob tucked his feet up into bed, quit breathing, and was gathered to his ancestors.

After this, he issued orders to his physician servants to embalm his father. So they embalmed Israel.

Now forty days were required for this, for that is the customary number of days [of preparation] required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept and grieved for him [in public mourning as they would for royalty] for seventy days.

At the conclusion of the mourning period, Joseph addressed Pharaoh's household. "If you're satisfied with me, would you please take this message to Pharaoh for me? Tell him,

My father caused me to swear, saying, Behold I am dying: in my grave which I dug for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. And at this time will I now go up and bury my father, and I will turn back.

And when the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, saw the mourning ceremony at the threshing floor of Atad they said, "This [is] a severe mourning for the Egyptians." Therefore its name was called Abel-Mizraim, which [is] beyond the Jordan.

His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.

So they sent this message to Joseph:

‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him.

As for you, you planned evil against me, [but] God planned it for good, in order to do this--to keep many people alive--as [it is] today.

And Joseph said to his brothers, "I [am about] to die, but God will certainly visit you and bring you up from this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

So Joseph made all of Israel's other children make this promise: "Because God is certainly going to take care of you, you are to carry my bones up from here."