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Joseph is reunited with his family

Joseph is reunited with his brothers and his father Jacob.
Contributed by Sue Bentley
Story also available on our translated websites: Portuguese, German, Hindi
1
When Jacob and his family had eaten all the grain they brought from Egypt, they were hungry once more. Judah told his father they could return to Egypt and buy more food but Benjamin must return with them. Jacob did not want to let the young man go but in the end, with a sad heart, he said goodbye to him and his other sons. – Slide 1
2
When the brothers arrived in Egypt they went to present themselves before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin his brother, he ordered his steward to take all the men to his house and prepare a meal for them. They would all eat together at noon. – Slide 2
3
The brothers were afraid when they were taken to Joseph’s house. They thought they would be arrested because of the silver found in the bags but when they showed the coins to the steward he replied God had provided them with the money and they did not have to repay anything. Then Simeon was released from prison. – Slide 3
4
All of the men were seated with Joseph and ate a great meal in his house. He put them in order of their ages and they were all amazed at this. He also gave Benjamin five times more food than the rest of them. They enjoyed themselves very much eating and drinking but none of them realised it was their brother Joseph who was with them. – Slide 4
5
Later, Joseph told his steward to fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they could carry and put back the money they had given for the grain. Then he told him to put his silver cup into Benjamin’s sack. The steward did all that Joseph told him to do. – Slide 5
6
Early that morning as the brothers travelled home Joseph sent the steward after them. When he caught up with them he searched all their sacks and quickly found the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. He said the youngest brother must become the slave of Joseph but all of the men agreed to travel back to Egypt to try and explain that he had done nothing wrong. – Slide 6
7
When the brothers came before Joseph they bowed face down before him. He pretended to be angry and said Benjamin must be his slave but the rest were free to go. At this Judah began to beg for his young brother’s life. He offered to take his place and be Joseph’s slave forever. – Slide 7
8
Suddenly Joseph could stand it no longer. He made all his servants leave until only he and his brothers remained. Then he cried and cried and said loudly ‘I am Joseph your brother!’ The men could not believe it. ‘It is true. Do not worry about what you did to me,’ Joseph continued, ‘God has used it to save us from the famine that is happening all over the world. Now all of us and our father will be saved.’ – Slide 8
9
Then Joseph turned to Benjamin and threw his arms around him and both of them cried and cried. Then Joseph hugged all his brothers and told them to return to their father and tell him to come back to Egypt where he would give them all a place to live and be happy. – Slide 9
10
So all of the brothers returned home and at first Jacob could not believe any of it was true but eventually he did believe them and made his way toward Egypt. On the way Joseph arrived in his chariot and seeing his father ran to him and threw his arms around him and cried and cried. ‘You are alive,’ his father gasped. Then all of Joseph’s family lived safely in an Egyptian place called Goshen. God had made everything work together for good. – Slide 10
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Slide 11