Genesis 45

¹Joseph myyte no lengere absteyne hym silf, while many men stoden bifore; wherfor he comaundide that alle men schulden go out, and that noon alien were present in the knowyng of Joseph and hise britheren.

²And Joseph reiside the vois with wepyng, which Egipcians herden, and al the hows of Farao.

³And he seide to hise britheren, Y am Joseph; lyueth my fadir yit? The brithren myyten not answere, and weren agast bi ful myche drede.

⁴To whiche he seide mekeli, Neiye ye to me. And whanne thei hadden neiyed nyy, he seide, Y am Joseph youre brother, whom ye selden in to Egipt;

⁵nyle ye drede, nether seme it to be hard to you, that ye seelden me in to these cuntreis; for God hath sent me bifore you in to Egipt for youre helthe.

⁶For it is twei yeer that hungur bigan `to be in the lond, yit fyue yeer suen, in whiche me schal not mow ere, nether repe;

⁷and God bifor sente me, that ye be reserued on erthe, and moun haue metis to lyue.

⁸Y was sent hidur not bi youre counsel, but bi Goddis wille, which made me as the fadir of Farao, and the lord of al his hows, and prince in al the lond of Egipt.

⁹Haste ye, and `stie ye to my fadir, and ye schulen seie to hym, Thi sone Joseph sendith these thingis; God hath maad me lord of al the lond of Egipt; come doun to me, and tarie not, and dwelle in the lond of Gessen;

¹⁰and thou schalt be bisidis me, thou, and thi sones, and the sones of thi sones, thi scheep, and thi grete beestis, and alle thingis whiche thou weldist,

¹¹and there Y schal fede thee; for yit fyue yeer of hungur ben residue, lest bothe thou perische, and thin hows, and alle thingis whiche thou weldist.

¹²Lo! youre iyen, and the iyen of my brother Beniamyn seen, that my mouth spekith to you;

¹³telle ye to my fadir al my glorie, and alle thingis whiche ye sien in Egipt; haste ye, and brynge ye hym to me.

¹⁴And whanne he hadde biclippid, and hadde feld in to the necke of Beniamyn, his brother, he wepte, the while also Benjamin wepte in lijk maner on the necke of Joseph.

¹⁵And Joseph kisside alle hise britheren, and wepte on alle; aftir whiche thingis thei weren hardi to speke to hym.

¹⁶And it was herd, and pupplischid bi famouse word in the halle of the kyng, The britheren of Joseph ben comun. And Farao ioiede, and al his meynee;

¹⁷and Farao seide to Joseph, that he schulde comaunde hise britheren, and `seie, Charge youre beestis, and go ye in to the lond of Canaan,

¹⁸and take ye fro thennus youre fadir, and kynrede, and come ye to me; and Y schal yyue to you alle the goodis of Egipt, that ye ete the merow of the lond.

¹⁹Comaunde thou also, that thei take waynes of the lond of Egipt to the cariage of her litle children, and wyues, and seie thou, `Take ye youre fadir, and haste ye comynge soone,

²⁰nether leeue ye ony thing of the purtenaunce of youre hows, for alle the richessis of Egipt schulen be youre.

²¹The sones of Israel diden, as it was comaundid to hem; to whiche Joseph yaf waynes, bi the comaundement of Farao, and metis in the weie;

²²and he comaundide twei stoolis to be brouyt forth to ech; forsothe he yaf to Beniamyn thre hundrid platis of siluer, with fyue the beste stoolis;

²³and sente to his fadir so myche of siluer, and of cloothis, and he addide to hem ten male assis, that schulden bere of alle richessis of Egipt, and so many femal assis, berynge wheete and looues in the weie.

²⁴Therfor he lefte hise britheren, and seide to hem goynge forth, Be ye not wrooth in the weie.

²⁵Whiche stieden fro Egipt, and camen in to the lond of Canaan, to her fadir Jacob;

²⁶and telden to hym, and seiden, Joseph, thi sone, lyueth, and he is lord in al the lond of Egipt. And whanne this was herd, Jacob wakide as of a greuouse sleep; netheles he bileuyde not to hem.

²⁷Thei telden ayenward al the ordre of the thing; and whanne Jacob hadde seyn the waynes, and alle thingis whiche Joseph hadde sent, his spirit lyuede ayen,

²⁸and he seide, It suffisith to me, if Joseph my sone lyueth yit, Y schal go and `Y schal se hym bifore that Y die.

Genesis 45

¹Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

²And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

³And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

⁴And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

⁵Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

⁶For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

⁷And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

¹⁰And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

¹¹And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

¹²And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

¹³And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.

¹⁴And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

¹⁵Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

¹⁶And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

¹⁷And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

¹⁸And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

¹⁹Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

²⁰Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

²¹And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

²²To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

²³And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

²⁴So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

²⁵And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,

²⁶And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.

²⁷And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:

²⁸And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.