Genesis 43

1 The famine in Canaan got worse.

And the famine [is] severe in the land;

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!”

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.”

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.’

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;

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

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.’”

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.”

6 Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me to have this trouble by telling the man that you had a younger brother?”

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

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]

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?”

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.

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.

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 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;

10 If we had not (wasted so much time/waited so long), by now we could have gone there and returned two times!”

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

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.

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;

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.

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.

13 Take your younger brother and go back to that man.

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

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!”

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.”

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.

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;

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].

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.”

17 The man did as Joseph said. And he took them to Joseph’s house.

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

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.”

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.”

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,

And they come near to the man who [is] over the house of Joseph, and speak to him at the opening of the house,

20 one of them said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me. We came down here previously and bought some grain.

and say, “O my lord, we really come down at the commencement 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 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;

22 We have also brought more silver with us to buy more grain. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.”

and other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food; we have not known who put our money in our bags.”

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.

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.

24 Then he took them into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet and gave them food for the donkeys.

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,

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.

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

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.

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;

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?”

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?”

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.

And they say, “Your servant our father [is] well, he is yet alive”; and they bow, and pay 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.”

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.”

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.

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;

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!”

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

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.

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.

33 His brothers were astonished to see that their seats were arranged according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest!

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;

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.

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.