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Today's Bible Reading :: Genesis 43 - 45 (ESV)

Genesis 43Listen to the passage

Genesis 44Listen to the passage

Genesis 45Listen to the passage

Genesis 43

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:1 - Now the famine was severe in the land.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:2 - And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:3 - But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:4 - If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:5 - But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:6 - Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:7 - They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:8 - And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:9 - I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:10 - If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:11 - Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:12 - Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:13 - Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:14 - May God Almighty[fn] grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:15 - So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:16 - When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:17 - The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:18 - And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:19 - So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the door of the house,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:20 - and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:21 - And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:22 - and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:23 - He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:24 - And when the man had brought the men into Joseph’s house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:25 - they prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:26 - When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:27 - And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:28 - They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:29

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:29 - And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:30

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:30 - Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:31

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:31 - Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:32

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:32 - They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:33

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:33 - And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 43:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 43:34 - Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry[fn] with him.
ESV Footnotes
Hebrew El Shaddai
Hebrew and became intoxicated

Genesis 44

Joseph Tests His Brothers

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:1 - Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:2 - and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:3 - As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:4 - They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:5 - Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:6 - When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:7 - They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:8 - Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:9 - Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:10 - He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:11 - Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:12 - And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:13 - Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:14 - When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:15 - Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:16 - And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:17 - But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:18 - Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:19 - My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:20 - And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:21 - Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:22 - We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:23 - Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:24 - “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:25 - And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:26 - we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:27 - Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:28 - One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:29

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:29 - If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:30

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:30 - “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:31

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:31 - as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:32

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:32 - For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:33

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:33 - Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 44:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 44:34 - For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”
ESV Footnotes
Septuagint (compare Vulgate) adds Why have you stolen my silver cup?

Genesis 45

Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:1 - Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:2 - And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:3 - And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:4 - So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:5 - And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:6 - For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:7 - And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:8 - So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:9 - Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:10 - You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:11 - There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:12 - And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:13 - You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:14 - Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:15 - And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:16 - When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:17 - And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:18 - and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:19 - And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:20 - Have no concern for[fn] your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:21 - The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:22 - To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels[fn] of silver and five changes of clothes.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:23 - To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:24 - Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:25 - So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:26 - And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:27 - But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 45:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 45:28 - And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
See the ESV Preface
ESV Footnotes
Hebrew Let your eye not pity
A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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