Genesis 43
1 And the famine [is] severe in the land;
Meanwhile, the famine pressed heavily on all the land.
2 and it comes to pass, when they have finished eating the grain which they brought from Egypt, that their father says to them, “Return, buy for us a little food.”
And having consumed the provisions that they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Return and buy us a little food.”
3 And Judah speaks to him, saying, “The man protesting protested to us, saying, You do not see my face without your brother [being] with you;
Judah answered: “The man himself declared to us, under the attestation of an oath, saying: ‘You will not see my face, unless you bring your youngest brother with you.’
4 if you are sending our brother with us, we go down, and buy for you food,
If therefore you are willing to send him with us, we will travel together, and we will buy necessities for you.
5 and if you are not sending—we do not go down, for the man said to us, You do not see my face without your brother [being] with you.”
But if you are not willing, we will not go. For the man, as we have often said, declared to us, saying: ‘You will not see my face without your youngest brother.’”
6 And Israel says, “Why did you do evil to me, by declaring to the man that you had yet a brother?”
Israel said to them, “You have done this for my misery, in that you revealed to him that you also had another brother.”
7 And they say, “The man asked diligently concerning us, and concerning our family, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have you a brother? And we declare to him according to the tenor of these things; do we certainly know that he will say, Bring down your brother?”
But they responded: “The man questioned us in order, concerning our family: whether our father lived, if we had a brother. And we answered him respectively, according to what he demanded. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother with you?’”
8 And Judah says to his father Israel, “Send the youth with me, and we arise, and go, and live, and do not die, both we, and you, and our infants.
Likewise, Judah said to his father: “Send the boy with me, so that we may set out and be able to live, lest we and our little ones should die.
9 I am guarantor [for] him, from my hand you require him; if I have not brought him to you, and set him before you—then I have sinned against you all the days;
I accept the boy; require him at my hand. Unless I lead him back and restore him to you, I will be guilty of a sin against you for all time.
10 for if we had not lingered, surely now we had returned these two times.”
If a delay had not intervened, by now we would have returned here a second time.”
11 And their father Israel says to them, “If so, now, do this: take of the praised thing of the land in your vessels, and take down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds;
Therefore, their father Israel said to them: “If it is necessary to do so, then do what you will. Take, in your vessels, from the best fruits of the land, and carry down gifts to the man: a little resin, and honey, and storax ointment, oil of myrrh, turpentine, and almonds.
12 and double money take in your hand, even the money which is brought back in the mouth of your bags, you take back in your hand, it may be it [is] an oversight.
Also, take with you double the money, and carry back what you found in your sacks, lest perhaps it was done in error.
13 And take your brother, and rise, return to the man;
But also take your brother, and go to the man.
14 and God Almighty give to you mercies before the man, so that he has sent to you your other brother and Benjamin; and I, when I am bereaved—I am bereaved.”
Then may my Almighty God cause him to be pleased by you. And send your brother, whom he holds, back with you, along with this one, Benjamin. But as for me, without my children, I will be like one who is bereaved.”
15 And the men take this present, double money also they have taken in their hand, and Benjamin; and they rise, and go down to Egypt, and stand before Joseph;
Therefore, the men took the gifts, and double the money, and Benjamin. And they went down into Egypt, and they stood in the presence of Joseph.
16 and Joseph sees Benjamin with them and says to him who [is] over his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal, and make ready, for the men eat with me at noon.”
And when he had seen them and Benjamin together, he instructed the steward of his house, saying: “Lead the men into the house, and kill victims, and prepare a feast, because they will be eating with me at midday.”
17 And the man does as Joseph has said, and the man brings in the men into the house of Joseph,
He did what he had been ordered to do, and he brought the men into the house.
18 and the men are afraid because they have been brought into the house of Joseph, and they say, “For the matter of the money which was put back in our bags at the commencement are we brought in—to roll himself on us, and to throw himself on us, and to take us for servants—our donkeys also.”
And there, being terrified, they said one to another: “Because of the money, which we carried back the first time in our sacks, we have been brought in, so that he may unleash a false accusation against us, and by violence subjugate both us and our donkeys into servitude.”
19 And they come near to the man who [is] over the house of Joseph, and speak to him at the opening of the house,
For this reason, approaching the steward of the house at his door,
20 and say, “O my lord, we really come down at the commencement to buy food;
they said: “We beg you, lord, to hear us. We came down once before to buy food.
21 and it comes to pass, when we have come to the lodging-place, and open our bags, that behold, each one’s money [is] in the mouth of his bag, our money in its weight, and we bring it back in our hand;
And having bought it, when we arrived at the inn, we opened our sacks and found the money in the mouths of the sacks, which we now have carried back in the same amount.
22 and other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food; we have not known who put our money in our bags.”
But we have also brought other silver, so that we may buy those things that are necessary for us. It is not on our conscience who had placed it in our bags.”
23 And he says, “Peace to you, do not fear: your God and the God of your father has given to you hidden treasure in your bags, your money came to me”; and he brings out Simeon to them.
But he responded: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you the treasure in your sacks. As for the money that you gave to me, I held it as a test.” And he led Simeon out to them.
24 And the man brings in the men into Joseph’s house, and gives water, and they wash their feet; and he gives provender for their donkeys,
And having led them into the house, he brought water, and they washed their feet, and he gave fodder to their donkeys.
25 and they prepare the present until the coming of Joseph at noon, for they have heard that there they eat bread.
But they also prepared the gifts, until Joseph entered at midday. For they had heard that they would eat bread there.
26 And Joseph comes into the house, and they bring to him the present which [is] in their hand, into the house, and bow themselves to him, to the earth;
And so Joseph entered his house, and they offered him the gifts, holding them in their hands. And they reverenced prone on the ground.
27 and he asks of them of peace and says, “Is your father well? The aged man of whom you have spoken, is he yet alive?”
But he, gently greeting them again, questioned them, saying: “Is your father, the old man about whom you spoke to me, in good health? Is he still alive?”
28 And they say, “Your servant our father [is] well, he is yet alive”; and they bow, and pay respect.
And they answered: “Your servant, our father, is safe; he is still alive.” And bowing, they reverenced him.
29 And he lifts up his eyes and sees his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and says, “Is this your young brother, of whom you have spoken to me?” And he says, “God favor you, my son.”
Then Joseph, lifting up his eyes, saw Benjamin, his brother of the same womb, and he said, “Is this your little brother, about whom you spoke to me?” And again, he said, “May God be compassionate to you, my son.”
30 And Joseph hurries, for his bowels have been moved for his brother, and he seeks to weep, and enters the inner chamber, and weeps there;
And he hurried out, because his heart had been moved over his brother, and tears gushed out. And going into his chamber, he wept.
31 and he washes his face, and goes out, and refrains himself, and says, “Place bread.”
And when he had washed his face, coming out again, he composed himself, and he said, “Set out bread.”
32 And they place for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who are eating with him by themselves: for the Egyptians are unable to eat bread with the Hebrews, for it [is] an abomination to the Egyptians.
And when it was set out, separately for Joseph, and separately for his brothers, likewise separately for the Egyptians, who ate at the same time, (for it is unlawful for Egyptians to eat with Hebrews, and they consider feasting in this way to be profane)
33 And they sit before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the young one according to his youth, and the men wonder one at another;
they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his state of life. And they wondered exceedingly,
34 and he lifts up gifts from before him to them, and the gift of Benjamin is five hands more than the gifts of all of them; and they drink, indeed, they drink abundantly with him.
taking the portions that they received from him. And the greater portion went to Benjamin, so much so that it exceeded five parts. And they drank and became inebriated along with him.
