The brothers, of course, vehemently objected and, agreeing to be searched, declared: "Whosoever of thy servants hath found [the cup], to him shall be death, and we shall be servants to our master" (Gen. 44:9). But the steward replied that he would take only the thief to prison, who would become the slave of the master, and all the rest would be free. What was the surprise of the brothers when the silver cup was taken out of Benjamin's bag! The sons of Jacob in despair tore their clothes and wept over their unfortunate fate. They decided not to leave Benjamin in trouble and returned with him to Joseph's palace. When they saw Joseph, they fell at his feet and begged him to leave them in slavery with Benjamin. But the Egyptian commander would not accept their sacrifice and insisted that Benjamin alone should be punished. Then Judas stepped forward and, turning to Joseph, made a touching speech, in which he began to depict the mortal sorrow of the soul of their father Jacob at the loss of the last son of his beloved wife Rachel. In conclusion, he said: "Let me, therefore, your servant, remain a servant of my master instead of a child, and let the child go with his brethren" (Gen. 44:33).

Seeing that his half-brothers were worthy, Joseph could no longer conceal his feelings. He removed all the Egyptians from the room and revealed to his brothers who he was. "I am Joseph, is my father still alive?" He said to his brothers, weeping loudly. The brothers were troubled, they were seized with terror, and Joseph continued: "Come to me, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt; but now grieve not, nor be sorry that ye have sold me hither, for God hath sent me before you to preserve your life" (Gen. 45:35). He kissed each brother tenderly, but with a particularly warm feeling he embraced Benjamin, his beloved brother. Then, when he had wiped away his tears of joy, he said to his brothers, "Go quickly to my father and tell him, 'Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord over all Egypt; come to me, do not delay; you will dwell in the land of Goshen; And thou shalt be near me, thou, and thy sons, and the sons of thy sons, and thy flocks and herds, and all that is thine; and I will feed thee there, for the famine shall be five years more, lest thou impoverish thy house, and all that is thine" (Gen. 45:911).

The news of Joseph's extraordinary meeting with his brothers quickly reached the royal palace. Pharaoh allowed Joseph to bring all his relatives from Canaan and send chariots for them so that it would be easier for them to move. Joseph did as Pharaoh commanded him. In addition, he generously gave gifts to his entire family and gave them a lot of bread for the journey. When the sons arrived in Canaan and told their father what an adventure had happened to them in Pharaoh's palace, he did not believe it at first, and was convinced only when he saw the gifts and the king's chariots. Weeping for joy, he said: "My son Joseph is still alive, I will go and see him until I die" (Gen. 45:28).

Chapter IV: The Period of the Sojourn of the Jews in Egypt Israel's Migration to Egypt

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His father's loving heart longed for the companionship of his beloved Joseph, but Jacob's faith was stronger than his father's. He did not want to leave the land that God had given him and his descendants without God's blessing. After the sacrifice, the Lord appeared to him and said: "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation; I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring you back. Joseph shall shut thy eyes with his hand" (Gen. 46:34). The tribe of Israel, seventy-five in number, went to Egypt and stopped in the land of Goshen, near the delta of the Nile. When Joseph was notified of his father's arrival, he rushed in a chariot to meet him and threw himself on his neck weeping. The agitated elder said to Joseph:

"I will die now when I see your face, for you are still alive" (Gen. 46:30). Then Joseph led his father and five of his brothers to the palace and presented them to Pharaoh. In response to the brothers' request, Pharaoh allowed them to settle in the land of Goshen. Turning to Jacob, he asked, "How many years of thy life?" - "The days of my wandering are one hundred and thirty years, the days of my life are small and miserable," the elder answered and blessed Pharaoh (Gen. 47:89).

The Death of Jacob and Joseph

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The pastures in Goshen were rich and plentiful. The Israeli settlers quickly settled into the new places.

Jacob lived another seventeen years, and when he felt death approaching, he asked Joseph to bury him in the tomb of Machpelah, next to Abraham and Isaac. Before his death, Jacob adopted Manasseh and Ephraim. Blessing them, he predicted that the younger brother would be larger than the elder. Then, having gathered all his sons, he blessed them and foretold to each of them the fate of their descendants. From them must come twelve tribes, which will return to the promised land and receive their inheritances there. Jacob deprived his firstborn son Reuben of his birthright because he "raged like water" and defiled his father's bed. Simeon and Levi were also not worthy of the birthright for their hardness of heart and deceit. Jacob predicted that their descendants would be scattered among the people of Israel. Jacob transferred the birthright to his fourth son, Judah, pronouncing the prophetic words about the birth of the Savior from the tribe of Judah: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from his loins, until the Mediator comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the nations" (Gen. 49:10). The meaning of these words is this: The tribe of Judah will rule over the people of God until the promise of the Lord is fulfilled.

After blessing his sons, Jacob lay down on his bed and died, His remains were embalmed according to Egyptian custom, the funeral rite lasted forty days, after which the whole of it. Egypt mourned for him for seventy days. Then the body of Jacob was solemnly transferred to the promised land and buried in the family tomb of Machpelah, where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah were already buried.

After the death of their father, the brothers were very afraid that Joseph would take revenge on them for the evil they had done him. When Joseph learned of this, he invited his brothers to him, forgave them their sin, and weeping, he said: "Do not be afraid, for I fear God; behold, you have plotted evil against me; but God has turned it into good" (Gen. 50:1920).

Little is reported in the biblical narrative about Joseph's subsequent life. It is only said that he waited for more grandchildren and died when he was one hundred and ten years old. Before his death, he expressed a fervent wish: when the Jewish people return to Canaan with God's help, they should take their remains with them. Joseph was also embalmed and placed in a coffin according to the old Egyptian custom. The life of Patriarch Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, sold by his brothers, who endured much and without complaint in slavery, who set an example of moral purity and became the savior of his people, prefigures the earthly life of the beloved son of God the Father, sent to earth, who humbled Himself by taking the "form of a servant" betrayed by Judas, who suffered "unto death on the cross" (Phil. 2:78) and became the Savior of mankind.