When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, "Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you."

When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why are you looking at each other?"

He then said, "Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us so that we may live and not die."

But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "What if some accident happens to him?"

Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, "You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!"

But Joseph told them, "It is just as I said to you: You are spies!

On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do as I say and you will live, for I fear God.

But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then your words will be verified and you will not die." They did as he said.

They said to one other, "Surely we're being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!"

Reuben said to them, "Didn't I say to you, 'Don't sin against the boy,' but you wouldn't listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!"

He said to his brothers, "My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!" They were dismayed; they turned trembling one to another and said, "What in the world has God done to us?"

But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies!

"Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for your hungry households and go.

Their father Jacob said to them, "You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me."

Then Reuben said to his father, "You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care and I will bring him back to you."

When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Return, buy us a little more food."

But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

But if you will not send him, we won't go down there because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

Israel said, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had one more brother?"

Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. Then we will live and not die -- we and you and our little ones.

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 a gift down to the man -- a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, "Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon."

The man did just as Joseph said; he brought the men into Joseph's house.

But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph's house. They said, "We are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks last time. He wants to capture us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys!"

They said, "My lord, we did indeed come down the first time to buy food.

He asked them how they were doing. Then he said, "Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?"

When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, "Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?" Then he said, "May God be gracious to you, my son."

Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said, "Set out the food."

They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting to do so.)

They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment.

He gave them portions of the food set before him, but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk.

They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, "Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil?

Joseph said to them, "What did you think you were doing? Don't you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?"

But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of you may go back to your father in peace."

Then Judah approached him and said, "My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. Please do not get angry with your servant, for you are just like Pharaoh.

We said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

We said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father will die.'

But you said to your servants, 'If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.'

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

"Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife gave me two sons.

The first disappeared and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." I have not seen him since.

Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him.

Joseph said to his brothers, "Come closer to me," so they came near. Then he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan!

So the sons of Israel did as he said. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, and he gave them provisions for the journey.

Then he sent his brothers on their way and they left. He said to them, "As you travel don't be overcome with fear."

But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob's spirit revived.

Then Israel said, "Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die."

God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" He replied, "Here I am!"

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.

Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive."

Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father's household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, 'My brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

Pharaoh said to Joseph's brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did."

Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants' flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen."

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How long have you lived?"

Jacob said to Pharaoh, "All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors."

When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?"

Then Joseph said, "If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock."

When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We cannot hide from our lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land.

Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh's slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate."

Joseph said to the people, "Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate the land.

When you gather in the crop, give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children."

The time for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,

but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place." Joseph said, "I will do as you say."

Jacob said, "Swear to me that you will do so." So Joseph gave him his word. Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.

When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has just come to you," Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed.

Jacob said to Joseph, "The sovereign God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.

He said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession.'

Joseph said to his father, "They are the sons God has given me in this place." His father said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."

Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, but now God has allowed me to see your children too."

Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked -- the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."

But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations."

Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.

Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future.

These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing.

When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's royal court, "If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh,

My father made me swear an oath. He said, "I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan." Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.'"

So Pharaoh said, "Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do."

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father.

When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a very sad occasion for the Egyptians." That is why its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay us in full for all the harm we did to him?"

Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, "Here we are; we are your slaves."

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to you and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, "God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place."

He said to his people, "Look at the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are!

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live?"

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women -- for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!"

But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile.

opened it, and saw the child -- a boy, crying! -- and she felt compassion for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the child for you?"

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes, do so." So the young girl went and got the child's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.

When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you attacking your fellow Hebrew?"

They said, "An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds, and he actually drew water for us and watered the flock!"

He said to his daughters, "So where is he? Why in the world did you leave the man? Call him, so that he may eat a meal with us."

Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

When she bore a son, Moses named him Gershom, for he said, "I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land."