Genesis 43

1 And the famine [is] severe in the land;

Now the famine was severe in 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.”

So it came about when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more 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;

But Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man strictly warned us, saying, 'You may not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

4 if you are sending our brother with us, we go down, and buy for you food,

If you'll send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy you food,

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 will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You may not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

6 And Israel says, “Why did you do evil to me, by declaring to the man that you had yet a brother?”

Then Israel said, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man that you 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?”

They said, "The man kept asking about ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' So we just answered his questions. How were we to know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down?'"

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.

Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me and we'll get up and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.

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 will be collateral for him. You can hold me responsible for him. If I fail to bring him to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,

10 for if we had not lingered, surely now we had returned these two times.”

for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now."

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;

Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your bags and bring a gift for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts 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.

Take twice as much silver in your hand, and take back the silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

13 And take your brother, and rise, return to the man;

Take your brother also, and get up, go back 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.”

And may El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am deprived of my children, then I am deprived."

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;

The men took this gift, and they took twice as much silver with them, and Benjamin. Then they got up and went down to Egypt, and presented themselves before 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.”

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and prepare it; for the men will eat with me at noon."

17 And the man does as Joseph has said, and the man brings in the men into the house of Joseph,

The man did as Joseph had said, and the man brought the men to Joseph's 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.”

But the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, "It is because of the silver that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are brought here; so that he may capture us, and make us slaves, and take our donkeys."

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,

So they came near to the man of Joseph's house and they spoke to him at the entrance of the house,

20 and say, “O my lord, we really come down at the commencement to buy food;

and said, "My lord, we indeed came down the first time 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;

But when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and look, every man's silver was in the mouth of his sack, our silver in full weight. So we have brought it back in our hand.

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.”

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

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.

He said, "Peace to you. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your silver." Then he brought 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,

The man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys food.

25 and they prepare the present until the coming of Joseph at noon, for they have heard that there they eat bread.

They prepared the gift for Joseph's arrival at noon, for they heard that they would eat a meal 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;

When Joseph came home, they prepared the gift they had brought with them into the house, and bowed themselves down to him with their face to 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?”

Then he asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? 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 well. He is still alive." Then he said, "Blessed be that man by God." And they bowed and prostrated themselves.

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.”

And he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you told me about?" Then he said, "God be gracious 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;

Then Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome with emotion because of his brother, and he was at the point of tears. So he entered into his chamber and wept there.

31 and he washes his face, and goes out, and refrains himself, and says, “Place bread.”

Then he washed his face and came out. And he controlled himself and said, "Serve the food."

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.

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is disgraceful to the Egyptians.

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;

And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at each other with amazement.

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.

Then he gave portions to them in front of him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank until they all became drunk.