(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Vayigash
Judah Pleads
44:18. Then Judah came near to him and said, “Oh my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord’s ears and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are even as Pharaoh. 19. My lord asked his servants saying, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20. And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one, and his brother is dead and he alone is left of his mother and his father loves him.’ 21. And you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so I can set my eyes on him.’ 22. And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23. And you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face any more.’
44:24. “And it happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25. And our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’ 26. And we said, ‘We cannot go down unless our youngest brother is with us, then will we go down. For we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27. And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28. And the one went away from me and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since. 29. And if you also take this one from me and disaster befalls him, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave in evil.”
44:30. “Now therefore when I come to your servant my father and the lad is not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life, 31. it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die, and your servants will bring the gray hairs of your servant our father down to the grave with sorrow. 32. For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him to you, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.’ 33. Now, therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the lad as a bondman to my lord and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34. For how will I go up to my father and the lad is not with me? And I shall see the evil that will come on my father.”
Joseph Reveals Himself
45.1. Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him and he cried, “Make every man go out from me.” And no man stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
45:2. And he wept aloud and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” And his brothers could not answer him, for they were startled at his presence. 4. And Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5. So now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6. The famine has been in the land for these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7. And God sent me before you to preserve you for a heritage in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God. And He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of his entire house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9. Hurry! 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 stand around! 10. And you will dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me; you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11. And there I shall take care of you, for there are still five years of famine, lest you and your household and all that you have come to poverty. 12. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you, 13. and you will tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. And you will hasten and bring my father down here.” 14. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.15. Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them and after that his brothers talked with him.
45:16. And the report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” And it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. 17. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this! Load your beasts and go, get to the land of Canaan. 18. And take your father and your households and come to me, and I shall give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land. 19. Now you are commanded, ‘Do this! Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come. 20. Also, Do not regret leaving your household stuff! For the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
45:21. And the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provision for the way. 22. To all of them he gave each man changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23. And he sent to his father after this manner; ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt and ten she-donkeys loaded with grain and bread and produce for his father for the trip. 24. So he sent his brothers away and they left and he said to them, “See that you do not fall by the way.” 25. And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father 26. and told him saying, “Joseph is still alive and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them. 27. And they told him all the instructions of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. 28. And Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I shall go and see him before I die.”
The LORD* Instructs Jacob
46.1. And Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-Sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2. And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said, “Jacob. Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” 3. And He said, “I AM God, the God of your father. Do not be in awe to go down to Egypt! For there I shall make a great nation of you. 4. I AM going down with you into Egypt and I AM shall also surely bring you up again, and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.”
46:5. And Jacob rose up from Beer-Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6. And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him: 7. his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him into Egypt.
46:8. And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. 9. And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Fallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
46:10. And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
46:11. And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Morari.
46:12. And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
46:13. And the sons of Issachar: Tola, Fuvah, Job, and Shimron.
46:14. And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
46:15. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan-Aram, with his daughter Dinah; all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
46:16. And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
46:17. And the sons of Asher: Jimnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
46:18. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls.
46:19. The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20. And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti Phera priest of On bore to him.
46:21. And the sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22. These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen.
46:23. And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
46:24. And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
46:25. These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob; all the souls were seven.
46:26. All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six. 27. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls; all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy.
46:28. And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to make things ready in Goshen ahead of the rest, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29. And Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet Israel his father and presented himself to him, and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30. And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are yet alive.” 31. And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s house, “I shall go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32. And the men are shepherds, for their trade has been to feed cattle. And they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.’ 33. And it will be that when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34. That you will say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers.’ That way you may live in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Meeting Pharaoh
47.1. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks, their herds, and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” 2. And he took some of his brothers, five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. 3. And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” 4. They said moreover to Pharaoh, “For we have come to live in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks since the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants stay in the land of Goshen.”
47:5. And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6. The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and brothers to dwell in the best of the land, they will dwell in the land of Goshen and if you know men of ability among them, then make them masters over my cattle.” 7. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” 9. And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred thirty years: few and bad have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” (Heb. 11:13) 10. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.
47:11. And Joseph placed his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses as Pharaoh had commanded. 12. And Joseph fed his father and his brothers and his father’s entire household with bread according to their families.
47:13. And there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15. And when money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has been spent.” 16. And Joseph said, “Give your cattle and I shall give you grain for your cattle, if money fails.” 17. And they brought their cattle to Joseph and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses and for the flocks and for the cattle of the herds and for the donkeys, and he fed them with bread for all their livestock for that year. 18. When that year was ended they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent. My lord also has our herds of cattle, there is not anything left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands. 19. Why will we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh, and give us seed so we may live and not die, so that the land would not be desolate.” 20. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold each man’s field because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s. 21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end of it. 22. Only he did not buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion assigned them by Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them, so they did not sell their lands.
47:23. Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have purchased you and your land for Pharaoh this day, so here is seed for you and you will sow the land. 24. And it will be with the increase that you will give the fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for those of your households, and for food for your little ones.” 25. And they said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find favor in the sight of my lord and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
47:27. And Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen and they had obtained possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.
Next week’s Torah readings: Vay’khi