Joseph reveals his true identity
(Genesis 45:1-15)
Narr: Finally, Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer.
Wanting to be alone with his brothers when he revealed his true identity,
he said to all of his attendants:
Joseph: “Out, all of you! Everyone leave!”
Narr: Then he broke down and wept.
He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him,
and word of it quickly reached Pharaoh’s palace.
Joseph said to his brothers:
Joseph: I am your brother, Joseph!
Is my father really still alive?
Narr: His brothers couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing—
they couldn’t believe that it really was Joseph
standing there in front of them after all these years.
Joseph said to them:
Joseph: Please, come closer.
Narr: So they came closer.
And again he said:
Joseph: I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt.
But don’t be upset,
and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place.
You see, the famine that has ravaged the land for two years
will last five more years,
and during that time there will be no plowing or planting or harvesting.
But God sent me here ahead of you to keep you and your families alive
and countless others alive during this famine.
So it was really God who sent me here, not you!
And God is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—
the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
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—
you and all your children and grandchildren,
your flocks and herds, and everything you own!
You can live nearby in the region of Goshen.
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.’
Narr: Joseph paused for a moment, and then continued:
Joseph: Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin—
I really am Joseph!
Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt.
Describe for him everything you have seen,
and then bring him here quickly.
Narr: And weeping with joy, he embraced his brother Benjamin.
Benjamin embraced him back.
Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers in turn, and wept over them.
Only then were they able to talk freely together.
