Genesis 43

1 Now the famine was still severe in the land.

Now the land was in bitter need of food.

2 So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.

3 But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.

4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food:

5 But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you.

6 “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”

And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

7 They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother?

8 And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.

Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.

9 I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.

Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.

10 If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”

Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now.

11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:

12 Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

And take twice as much money with you; that is to say, take back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been an error;

13 Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.

And take your brother and go back to the man:

14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man, so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If my children are to be taken from me; there is no help for it.

15 So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”

And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant, Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they will take food with me in the middle of the day.

17 The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.

And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house.

18 But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money which was put back in our bags the first time; he is looking for something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us and our asses for his use.

19 So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house,

20 “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.

And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food;

21 But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.

And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, all our money in full weight: and we have it with us to give it back;

22 We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”

As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no idea who put our money in our bags.

23 “It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Then the servant said, Peace be with you: have no fear: your God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags for you: I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them.

24 And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys.

And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food.

25 Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.

And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in the middle of the day: for word was given to them that they were to have a meal there.

26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.

And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.

27 He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

And he said, How are you? is your father well, the old man of whom you were talking to me? is he still living?

28 “Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.

And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him.

29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you gave me word? And he said, God be good to you, my son.

30 Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.

Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.

31 Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”

Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us.

32 They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.

And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by themselves; because the Egyptians may not take food with the Hebrews, for that would make them unclean.

33 They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were looking at one another in wonder.

34 When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.

And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took wine freely with him.