Genesis 43

1 Now the famine was still severe in the land.

The famine in Canaan got worse.

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.”

Finally, when Jacob and his family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go back to Egypt and buy some more grain for us!”

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

But Judah said to him, “The man who sold us the grain warned us sternly, ‘I will not let you see me [SYN] again if you come and your younger brother is not with you.’

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

So, if you will send our younger brother with us, we will go down to Egypt and buy some grain for you.

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 there, because that man said to us, ‘I will not let you see me again if your younger 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?”

Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me to have this trouble by telling the man that you had a younger 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’?”

One of them replied, “The man asked about us and about our family. He said, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. (We could not know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’/How could we know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’)” [RHQ]

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 his father Jacob, “Send the boy with me, and we will go immediately, in order that we and you and our children may get grain and not die from hunger.

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.

I myself will guarantee that he will return. You can require me to do what I am promising [IDM]. If I do not bring him back to you safely, you can say forever that (I am to blame/it was my fault [that he did not return to you)].

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

If we had not (wasted so much time/waited so long), by now we could have gone there and returned two times!”

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 Jacob said to them, “If there is no other way, do this: Put in your sacks some of the best things that are grown in this land, and take them down to the man as a gift. Take some balm/perfume and honey and spices and myrrh/ointment, some pistachio nuts, and almonds.

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.

Take twice as much money as you took the previous time, because you must return the silver that someone put in the tops of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake that it was put in your sacks.

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

Take your younger brother and go back to that 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.”

I will pray that God Almighty will cause that man to act mercifully toward you, so that he will let your other brother, as well as Benjamin, come back here with you. But as for me, if my sons are taken from me, then I will not have my sons!”

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 the men took the gifts that Jacob said that they should take, and twice the amount of money that the grain would cost, and they also took Benjamin. They went down quickly to Egypt, and they stood in front of 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.”

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the man who (was in charge of/supervised) things in his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, because I want them to eat with me at noon.” [And he told him in what order they were to be seated].

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

The man did as Joseph said. And he took them to 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.”

But they were afraid because he was taking them to Joseph’s house. They were thinking, “He is taking us here because of the silver that was put in our sacks the first time that we came here. While we are eating, he will have his servants attack us and seize us and cause us to become his slaves, and also take our donkeys.”

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

They went with the man who was in charge of things in Joseph’s house. When they arrived at the entrance of the house,

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

one of them said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me. We came down here previously and bought some grain.

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.

But at the place where we stopped for the night as we were returning home, we opened our sacks. We were astonished to see that in the top of each of our sacks was the exact amount of silver that we had paid for the grain! So we have brought it back with us.

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

We have also brought more silver with us to buy more grain. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.”

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.

The man replied, [“Relax]! Do not worry about it! I received the silver that you brought. Your God, the God your father worships, must have put it in your sacks.” And then he brought Simeon to them from the prison.

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

Then he took them into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet and gave them food for the donkeys.

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.

He told them that they were going to eat with Joseph at noon. So the men prepared their gifts to give to Joseph when he arrived.

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

When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts that they had brought into the house. Then they bowed down to the ground in front of 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?”

He asked them if they were (well/in good health), and then he asked, “How is the health of your old father, the one that you told me about? Is he still living?”

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

One of them replied, “Yes, our father, [who is willing to be] your servant, is still alive, and he is well.” Then again they bowed down in front of 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 he saw his [younger] brother Benjamin, his own mother’s other son. He asked them, “Is this your youngest brother, the one whom you told me about?” After they said “Yes,” he said to Benjamin, “Young man, I pray that God will act kindly toward you.”

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

Joseph quickly left the room. He realized that he was about to cry because he (was full of emotion about his younger brother/loved his younger brother so much). He went into his private room and cried there.

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

Then, after he washed the tears from his face, he came out, and controlling his emotions, he said to the servants, “Serve the food!”

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.

The people of Egypt considered that it was disgraceful for them to eat with Hebrews, so the servants served food to Joseph by himself, and served the other people of Egypt who ate with him by themselves, and they served Joseph’s older brothers and younger brother by themselves.

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.

His brothers were astonished to see that their seats were arranged according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest!

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 when their portions of food were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s portion! So they ate food and drank wine with Joseph and became very cheerful.