Proper 15 (20)

1Verse 1. Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2Verse 2. But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it. 3Verse 3. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence. 4Verse 4. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! 5Verse 5. And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you. 6Verse 6. For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7Verse 7. God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8Verse 8. Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh — lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Verse 9. Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10Verse 10. You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me— you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. 11Verse 11. And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’ 12Verse 12. Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you. 13Verse 13. Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.” 14Verse 14. Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced. 15Verse 15. Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him.

1Verse 1. This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed. 6Verse 6. And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants — all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— 7Verse 7. I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” 8Verse 8. Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”