Genesis 43
1 And the famine [is] severe in the land;
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.”
It came about when they had eaten the grain that they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again; buy us some 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 told him, “The man solemnly warned us, 'You will 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 send our brother with us, we will 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 do not send him, we will not go down. For the man said to us, 'You will 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?”
Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly 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 asked details about us and our family. He said, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' We answered him according to these questions. How could we have known 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.
Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me. We will rise and go that we may live and not die, both we, you, and also our children.
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 a guarantee for him. You will hold me responsible. If I do not bring him back 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 had not delayed, surely by now we would have come back 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;
Their father Israel said to them, “If it be so, now do this. Take some of the best products of the land in your bags. Carry down to the man a gift—some balm and 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 double money in your hand. The money that was returned in the opening of your sacks, carry again in your hand. Perhaps it was a mistake.
13 And take your brother, and rise, return to the man;
Take also your brother. Rise and go again 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.”
May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, so that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am 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;
The men took this gift, and in their hand they took double the amount of money, along with Benjamin. They got up and went down to Egypt and stood 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 steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, 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 steward did as Joseph said. He 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.”
The men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house. They said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time we were brought in, that he may seek an opportunity against us. He might arrest us and take us as 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,
They approached the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
20 and say, “O my lord, we really come down at the commencement to buy food;
saying, “My master, we 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;
It came about, when we reached the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the opening of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hands.
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.”
Other money we have also brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money 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.
The steward said, “Peace be to you, do not fear. Your God and the God of your father must have put your money in your sacks. I received your money.” The steward then 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 steward took the men into Joseph's house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave feed 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.
They prepared the gifts for Joseph's coming at noon, for they had heard that they would eat 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 brought the gifts which were in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him 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?”
He asked them about 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.
They said, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” They prostrated themselves and bowed down.
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.”
When he lifted up his eyes he saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and he said, “Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?” Then he said, “May 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;
Joseph hurried to go out of the room, for he was deeply moved about his brother. He sought somewhere to weep. He went to his room and wept there.
31 and he washes his face, and goes out, and refrains himself, and says, “Place bread.”
He washed his face and came out. He controlled himself, saying, “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.
The servants served Joseph by himself and the brothers by themselves. The Egyptians there ate with him by themselves because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is detestable 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;
The brothers sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. The men were astonished together.
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.
Joseph sent portions to them from the food in front of him. But Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of his brothers. They drank and were merry with him.
