Genesis 43
1 The famine in Canaan got worse.
The famine continued to be really bad in Canaan,
2 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!”
so once they had finished the grain they'd brought from Egypt, their father told them, “You have to go back and buy some more grain for us.”
3 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.’
But Judah responded, “The man was adamant when he warned us, ‘I won't even see you unless your brother is with you.’
4 So, if you will send our younger brother with us, we will go down to Egypt and buy some grain for you.
If you send our brother Benjamin with us then we'll go and buy food for you.
5 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.’”
But if you won't send him, then we won't go, because the man was very clear, ‘I won't even see you unless your brother is with you.’”
6 Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me to have this trouble by telling the man that you had a younger brother?”
“Why have you made things so bad for me by telling the man you had another brother?” Israel asked.
7 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]
“The man kept on asking direct questions about us and our family like ‘Is your father still alive?’ and ‘Do you have another brother?’” they replied. “We just answered his questions. How were we to know he'd say, ‘Bring your brother here!’?”
8 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.
Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy in my care, and we'll leave immediately, so that we can stay alive and not die—and that includes you and us and our children!
9 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)].
I promise to take care of him—I'll be personally responsible for bringing him back to you. If I don't, then I will always carry the blame!
10 If we had not (wasted so much time/waited so long), by now we could have gone there and returned two times!”
Now let's go, because if we hadn't hesitated, we could have gone there and come back twice by now.”
11 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.
“If it has to be, then this is what you'll do,” Israel replied. “Take with you the best our country produces. Pack your bags with gifts for the man—balm, a little honey, spices, myrrh, pistachios, and almonds.
12 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.
Take double the money that was returned to you in your sacks—maybe it was a mistake.
13 Take your younger brother and go back to that man.
Take your brother and go back to the man right away.
14 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!”
May God Almighty make the man treat you kindly so when you come before him he'll release your other brother and send Benjamin back. As for me, if I am to lose all my children, then so be it.”
15 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.
So they packed the gifts, took double the money, and set off, accompanied by Benjamin. They arrived in Egypt and went to have an audience with Joseph.
16 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].
When Joseph saw Benjamin was with them, he told his household supervisor, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and make a meal, for they are going to eat with me at noon.”
17 The man did as Joseph said. And he took them to Joseph’s house.
The man did as Joseph ordered and took them to Joseph's house.
18 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.”
They were really worried that they were being taken to Joseph's house. “It's because of the money that was put in our sacks the first time we came,” they said to each other. “That's why we're being brought in—so he can accuse us and attack us! He'll make us his slaves and take our donkeys!”
19 They went with the man who was in charge of things in Joseph’s house. When they arrived at the entrance of the house,
So they went and spoke to Joseph's household supervisor at the entrance to the house.
20 one of them said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me. We came down here previously and bought some grain.
“Please excuse us, my lord,” they said. “We came down the first time to buy food,
21 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.
and when we stopped for the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found our money—the exact amount—at the top of our sacks. So we've brought it back with us.
22 We have also brought more silver with us to buy more grain. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.”
We've also brought more money to buy food. We've no idea who put our money in our sacks!”
23 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.
“Everything's fine!” he told them. “Don't worry! Your God, the God of your father, must have given you the treasure hidden in your sacks. I got your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to meet them.
24 Then he took them into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet and gave them food for the donkeys.
The steward took them inside Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet, and supplied food for their donkeys.
25 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.
They got their gifts ready for when Joseph would come at noon, because they had found out that they were going to eat there.
26 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.
When Joseph arrived at the house they gave him the gifts they had brought for him, and bowed low to the ground before him.
27 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?”
He asked how they were, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father doing that you spoke of? Is he still alive?”
28 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.
“Yes, your servant our father is still alive, and is well,” they replied and bowed low in respect.
29 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.”
Then Joseph looked over at his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother. “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” he asked. “God be gracious to you, my son,” he said.
30 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.
Joseph had to run out quickly because he was becoming so emotional at seeing his brother. He looked for a place to cry, and went to his room to weep there.
31 Then, after he washed the tears from his face, he came out, and controlling his emotions, he said to the servants, “Serve the food!”
Then he washed his face, got his emotions under control, and went back out. “Serve the food,” he ordered.
32 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.
Joseph was served at a table by himself, and his brothers were served at a separate table. The Egyptians were also served at another table, because Egyptians cannot eat with Hebrews because they find this repulsive.
33 His brothers were astonished to see that their seats were arranged according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest!
The brothers had been seated in front of him in order by age, from the firstborn, the oldest, down to the youngest, and they looked at each other in complete surprise.
34 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.
The food was served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin received five times as much as anyone else. So they ate and drank plenty with him.
