Genesis 43

1 And the famine was sore in the land.

Now the land was in bitter need of food.

2 And it came to pass, when they had completely eaten up the provisions which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little 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 And Judah said unto him, thus, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be 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 thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;

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

5 But if thou sendest him not, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be 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 And Israel said, Wherefore have ye dealt so ill with me, as to tell the man that ye have yet another brother?

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

7 And they said, The man inquired particularly concerning us, and our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we possibly know that he would say, Bring down your brother?

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 unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, as also our little ones.

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 be surety for him; from my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then shall I have sinned against thee all the days.

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 For, if we had not lingered, surely we had now returned the second time.

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

11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this: take of the best products of the land in your vessels, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and lotus, pistachio-nuts 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 And twofold money take in your hand; and the money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks, you must carry back in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight;

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 Also your brother take along, and arise, go again unto the man.

And take your brother and go back to the man:

14 And may God the Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away to you your other brother, and Benjamin. And I, if I am to be bereaved, let me be 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 And the men took that present; and twofold money they took in their hand, as also Benjamin; and they rose up, and went 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 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the superintendent of his house, Bring these men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for with me shall these men dine 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 And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

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

18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house: and they said, Because of the money that came back in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, together with our asses.

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 And they came near to the man who was appointed over Joseph's house, and they spoke with him at the door of the house.

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

20 And they said, Pardon, my lord, we came down at the first time to buy food:

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

21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in its full weight; and we have brought it back in our hand.

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 And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food; we know not who hath put our money 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 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not; your God, and the God of your father, hath given you a treasure in your sacks; your money hath come to me. And he brought Simeon out unto 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 man brought the men into Joseph's house; and he gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave provender to their asses.

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

25 And they made ready the present before Joseph came home at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

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 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

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

27 And he asked them after their welfare, and said, Is your old father well, of whom ye spoke? is he yet 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 And they answered, Thy servant, our father, is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and prostrated themselves.

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

29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spoke unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, 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 And Joseph hastened away, for his affection toward his brother became enkindled, and he sought to weep; and he entered into his chamber and wept there.

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

31 And he washed his face, and came out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on the bread.

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

32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves; and for the Egyptians, who did eat with him, by themselves; because the Egyptians may not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

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 And they sat before him, the first-born according to his prior birth, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marveled one at the other.

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 And he sent portions unto them from before him; but Benjamin's portion exceeded the portions of all of them fivefold. And they drank, and were merry with him.

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.