Genesis 44:22   (Read all of Genesis 44)

And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.'

Genesis 44:23   (Read all of Genesis 44)

But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'

Genesis 44:24   (Read all of Genesis 44)

When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.

Genesis 44:25   (Read all of Genesis 44)

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

Genesis 44:26   (Read all of Genesis 44)

But we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'

Genesis 44:27   (Read all of Genesis 44)

"Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.

Genesis 44:28   (Read all of Genesis 44)

One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since.

Genesis 44:30   (Read all of Genesis 44)

"So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life,

Genesis 44:31   (Read all of Genesis 44)

sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.

Genesis 44:32   (Read all of Genesis 44)

Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!'

Genesis 44:33   (Read all of Genesis 44)

"Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.

Genesis 44:34   (Read all of Genesis 44)

How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father."

Genesis 45:1   (Read all of Genesis 45)

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

Genesis 45:2   (Read all of Genesis 45)

And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.

Genesis 45:3   (Read all of Genesis 45)

Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Genesis 45:4   (Read all of Genesis 45)

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!

Genesis 45:5   (Read all of Genesis 45)

And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

Genesis 45:7   (Read all of Genesis 45)

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Genesis 45:8   (Read all of Genesis 45)

"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

Genesis 45:9   (Read all of Genesis 45)

Now hurry back 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; don't delay.

Genesis 45:10   (Read all of Genesis 45)

You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me-you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have.

Genesis 45:11   (Read all of Genesis 45)

I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.'

Genesis 45:12   (Read all of Genesis 45)

"You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you.

Genesis 45:13   (Read all of Genesis 45)

Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly."