Joseph Reveals His Identity

45 Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants,^[a] so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.^{(A) 2} But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.^{(B) 5} And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.^{(C) 6} For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. ⁷ God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.^{[b] 8} Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹ “Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. ¹⁰ You can settle in the land of Goshen^(D) and be near me—you, your children, and your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all you have. ¹¹ 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.”’^{(E) 12} Look! Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that I’m^[c] the one speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.”^(F)

¹⁴ Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. ¹⁵ Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept,^[d] and afterward his brothers talked with him.

The Return for Jacob

¹⁶ When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. ¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go on back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Get your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can eat from the richness of the land.’ ¹⁹ You are also commanded to tell them, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your dependents and your wives and bring your father here.^{(G) 20} Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”^(H)

²¹ The sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them provisions for the journey. ²² He gave each of the brothers changes of clothes,^(I) but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothes.^{(J) 23} He sent his father the following: ten donkeys carrying the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys carrying grain, food, and provisions for his father on the journey. ²⁴ So Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t argue^[e] on the way.”

²⁵ So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned,^[f] for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told Jacob all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸ Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go to see him before I die.”

Jacob Leaves for Egypt

46 Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba,^(K) and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² That night God spoke to Israel in a vision:^(L) “Jacob, Jacob!” he said.

And Jacob replied, “Here I am.”

³ 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.^{(M) 4} I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back.^(N) Joseph will close your eyes when you die.”^[g](O)

⁵ Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him,^(P) along with their dependents and their wives. ⁶ They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt.^{(Q) 7} His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.

Jacob’s Family

⁸ These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt^(R)—Jacob and his sons:

Jacob Arrives in Egypt

²⁸ Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival^[o] at Goshen.^(AC) When they came to the land of Goshen, ²⁹ 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.^(AD)

³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die now because I have seen your face and you are still alive!”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.^{(AE) 32} The men are shepherds; they also raise livestock. They have brought their flocks and herds and all that they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh addresses you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our ancestors, have raised livestock^[p] from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”^(AF)

Psalm 108

A Plea for Victory

A song. A psalm of David.

Paul Defends His Gospel at Jerusalem

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again^(A) to Jerusalem with Barnabas,^(B) taking Titus^(C) along also. ² I went up according to a revelation^(D) and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. ³ But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ This matter arose because some false brothers^(E) had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. ⁵ But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth^(F) of the gospel would be preserved for you.

⁶ Now from those recognized as important (what they^[a] once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism^[b](G))—they added nothing to me. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised,^(H) just as Peter^(I) was for the circumcised, ⁸ since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. ⁹ When James,^(J) Cephas,^[c](K) and John^(L)—those recognized as pillars^(M)—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They asked only that we would remember the poor,^(N) which I had made every effort to do.

Freedom from the Law

¹¹ But when Cephas^[d] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.^{[e] 12} For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. ¹³ Then the rest of the Jews^(O) joined his hypocrisy,^(P) so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas^[f] in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile^(Q) and not like a Jew,^(R) how can you compel Gentiles to live^(S) like Jews?” ^[g]

¹⁵ We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” ¹⁶ and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law^(T) but by faith in Jesus Christ,^[h] even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ^[i] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will^[j] be justified. ¹⁷ But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ,^(U) is Christ then a promoter^[k](V) of sin? Absolutely not!^{(W) 18} If I rebuild^(X) those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.^{(Y) 19} For through the law I died to the law,^(Z) so that I might live for God.^{(AA) 20} I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^(AB) The life I now live in the body,^[l] I live by faith in the Son of God,^(AC) who loved^(AD) me^(AE) and gave himself^(AF) for me.^{(AG) 21} I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law,^(AH) then Christ died^(AI) for nothing.