One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 88
January 22
my slave. The rest of you may go back to your
father in peace.”
18 Then Ju
dah stepped forward and said,
“Please, my lord, let your servant say just one
word to you. Please, do not be angry with me,
even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh
himself.
19 “My lord, previously you asked us, your
servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
20 And we responded, ‘Yes, my lord, we have a
father who is an old man, and his youngest
son is a child of his old age. His full brother is
dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’
21 “And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I
can see him with my own eyes.’ 22 But we said
to you, ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’ 23 But you told
us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with
you, you will never see my face again.’
24 “So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said. 25 Later,
when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more
food,’ 26 we replied, ‘We can’t go unless you let
our youngest brother go with us. We’ll never
get to see the man’s face unless our youngest
brother is with us.’
27 “Then my father said to us, ‘As you know,
my wife had two sons, 28 and one of them
went away and never returned. Doubtless he
was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have
never seen him since. 29 Now if you take his
brother away from me, and any harm c omes
to him, you will send this grieving, white-
haired man to his grave.*’
30 “And now, my lord, I cannot go back to
my father without the boy. Our father’s life
is bound up in the boy’s life. 31 If he sees that
the boy is not with us, our father will die. We,
your servants, will indeed be responsible for
sending that grieving, w
hite-haired man to
his grave. 32 My lord, I guaranteed to my father
that I would take care of the boy. I told him, ‘If
I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the
blame forever.’
33 “So please, my lord, let me stay here as a
slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return
with his brothers. 34 For how can I return to
my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t
bear to see the anguish this would cause my
father!”
45:1 Joseph could stand it no longer. There were
many people in the room, and he said to his
attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone
with his brothers when he told them who
he was. 2 Then he broke down and wept. He
wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him,
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and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s
palace.
3 “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is
my father still alive?” But his brothers were
speechless! They were stunned to realize that
Joseph was standing there in front of them.
4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they
came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph,
your brother, whom you sold into slavery in
Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and d
on’t be angry
with yourselves for selling me to this place. It
was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 This famine that has ravaged
the land for two years will last five more years,
and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you
and your families alive and to preserve many
survivors.* 8 So it was God who sent me here,
not you! And he is the one who made me an
adviser* to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
9 “Now hurry back to my father and tell him,
‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has
made me master over all the land of Egypt.
So come down to me immediately! 10 You can
live in the region of Goshen, where you can
be near me with all your children and grand
children, your flocks and herds, and every
thing you own. 11 I will take care of you there,
for there are still five years of famine ahead
of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all
your animals will starve.’”
12 Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for
yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin,
that I really am Joseph! 13 Go tell my father of
my honored position here in Egypt. Describe
for him everything you have seen, and then
bring my father here quickly.” 14 Weeping with
joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did
the same. 15 Then Joseph kissed each of his
brothers and wept over them, and after that
they began talking freely with him.
16 The news soon reached Pharaoh’s palace:
“Joseph’s brothers have arrived!” Pharaoh and
his officials were all delighted to hear this.
17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is what you must do: Load your pack
animals, and hurry back to the land of Canaan.
18 Then get your father and all of your families,
and return here to me. I will give you the very
best land in Egypt, and you will eat from the
best that the land produces.’”
19 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your
brothers, ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt
to carry your little children and your wives,
and bring your father here. 20 Don’t worry
about your personal belongings, for the best
of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
