One day there was a knock at Joseph’s door. And when he answered it, his eleven brothers were standing there!
They bowed down before him. They kissed his feet. And they begged, “Kind sir, we have come to Egypt all the way from the land of Canaan. We have no food. We are starving. May we please buy some from you?”
Joseph said nothing. He just stared at his brothers. He knew who they were, but they did not recognize him.
“All right,” said Joseph, in his sternest voice. “I will sell you food.”
And he ordered his servants to load his brothers’ animals. But that wasn’t all he told them to do.
“Take one of my silver cups,” he said, “and hide it in the sack of food tied to the youngest lad’s donkey.” Joseph had a plan. He wanted to see if his brothers had changed.
When Joseph’s brothers reached the edge of the city, his servants stopped them and searched through their sacks. What did they find? The silver cup, of course!
“We don’t know how it got there!” the brothers explained to Joseph.
“Your brother stole it, that’s how,” Joseph answered. “So he must stay here in Egypt and be my slave.”
“No, please,” begged the brothers. “That would break our father’s heart. Keep one of us, instead.”
When Joseph heard that, he knew his brothers had changed. So he told them who he was, right then and there.
“I am Joseph,” he announced, “your long-lost brother.”
This news did not make his brothers feel any better. They were so frightened, in fact, that they could hardly speak.
“Don’t be afraid,” said Joseph, “I forgive you. You meant to hurt me, but God used what you did to save us all from this terrible famine. Now, go. Fetch my father and the rest of our family to come and live in Egypt with me.”
The brothers looked up. The brothers grinned. The brothers cheered!
And after a lot of hugging and hello-ing and hand shaking, they set off for Canaan to tell Jacob the good news.
And Joseph? Joseph just sat back on his throne and smiled. And thanked God for making his dreams come true.
Read more about this story in Genesis 42-45.
Taken from The Lion’s Storyteller Bible by Bob Hartman.
Copyright © 2008 Bob Hartman and Lion Hudson.