Genesis 43

1 In the meene tyme hungur oppresside greetli al the lond;

Now the land was in bitter need of food.

2 and whanne the meetis weren wastid, whiche thei brouyten fro Egipt, Jacob seide to hise sones, Turne ye ayen, and bie ye a litil of meetis to vs.

And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.

3 Judas answeride, The ilke man denounside to vs vndir witnessyng of an ooth, and seide, Ye schulen not se my face, if ye schulen not brynge with you youre leeste brother;

And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.

4 therfor if thou wolt sende hym with vs, we schulen go to gidere, and we schulen bie necessaries to thee;

If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food:

5 ellis if thou wolt not, we schulen not go; for as we seiden ofte, the man denounside to vs, and seide, Ye schulen not se my face with out youre leeste brother.

But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you.

6 Forsothe Israel seide to hem, Ye diden this in to my wretchidnesse, that ye schewiden to hym, that ye hadden also another brother.

And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

7 And thei answeriden, The man axide vs bi ordre oure generacioun, if the fadir lyuede, if we hadden a brother; and we answeriden suyngli to hym, bi that that he axide; whether we myyten wite that he wolde seie, Brynge ye youre brothir with you?

And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother?

8 And Judas seide to his fadir, Sende the child with me, that we go, and moun lyue, lest we dien, and oure litle children;

Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.

9 Y take the child, require thou hym of myn hoond; if Y schal not brynge ayen, and bitake hym to thee, Y schal be gilti of synne ayens thee in al tyme;

Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.

10 if delai hadde not be, we hadden come now anothir tyme.

Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now.

11 Therfor Israel, `the fadir of hem, seide to hem, If it is nede so, do ye that that ye wolen; `take ye of the beste fruytis of the lond in youre vesselis, and `bere ye yiftis to the man, a litil of gumme, and of hony, and of storax, and of mirre, and of therebynte, and of alemaundis;

Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:

12 and `bere ye with you double money, and `bere ye ayen that money which ye founden in baggis, lest perauenture it be doon bi errour;

And take twice as much money with you; that is to say, take back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been an error;

13 but also take ye youre brother, and go ye to the man;

And take your brother and go back to the man:

14 forsothe my God Almyyti mak him pesible to you, and sende he ayen youre brother, whom he holdith in boondis, and this Beniamyn; forsothe Y schal be as maad bare without sones.

And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man, so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If my children are to be taken from me; there is no help for it.

15 Therfor the men token yiftis, and double monei, and Beniamyn; and thei yeden doun in to Egipt, and stoden bifore Joseph.

So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.

16 And whanne he hadde seyn `hem and Beniamyn togidere, he comaundide the dispendere of his hows, and seide, Lede these men in to the hous, and sle beestis, and make a feeste; for thei schulen ete with me to dai.

And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant, Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they will take food with me in the middle of the day.

17 He dide as it was comaundid, and ledde the men in to the hows;

And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house.

18 and there thei weren aferd, and seiden to gidere, We ben brouyt in for the monei which we baren ayen bifore in oure sackis, that he putte chalenge `in to vs, and make suget bi violence to seruage bothe vs and oure assis.

Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money which was put back in our bags the first time; he is looking for something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us and our asses for his use.

19 Wherfor thei neiyeden in the `yatis, and spaken to the dispendere,

So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house,

20 Lord, we preien that thou here vs; we camen doun now bifore that we schulden bie metis;

And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food;

21 whanne tho weren bouyt, whanne we camen to the ynne, we openeden oure baggis, and we founden money in the mouth of sackis, which money we han brouyt ayen now in the same weiyte;

And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, all our money in full weight: and we have it with us to give it back;

22 but also we han brouyt other siluer, that we bie tho thingis that ben nedeful to vs; it is not in oure conscience, who puttide the money in oure pursis.

As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no idea who put our money in our bags.

23 And he answerde, Pees be to you, nyle ye drede; youre God and God of youre fadir yaf to you tresouris in youre baggis; for I haue the monei preued, which ye yauen to me. And he ledde out Symeon to hem;

Then the servant said, Peace be with you: have no fear: your God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags for you: I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them.

24 and whanne thei weren brouyt in to the hows, he brouyte watir, and thei waischiden her feet, and he yaf `meetis to her assis.

And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food.

25 Sotheli thei maden redi yiftis til Joseph entride at myd day, for thei hadden herd that thei schulden ete breed there.

And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in the middle of the day: for word was given to them that they were to have a meal there.

26 Therfor Joseph entride in to his hows, and thei offriden yiftis to hym, and helden in the hondis, and worschipiden lowe to erthe.

And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.

27 And he grette hem ayen mekeli; and he axide hem, and seide, Whether youre fadir, the elde man, is saaf, of whom ye seiden to me? lyueth he yit?

And he said, How are you? is your father well, the old man of whom you were talking to me? is he still living?

28 Whiche answeriden, He is hool, thi seruaunt oure fadir lyueth yit; and thei weren bowid, and worschipiden hym.

And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him.

29 Forsothe Joseph reyside hise iyen, and siy Beniamyn his brother of the same wombe, and seide, Is this youre litil brother, of whom ye seiden to me? And eft Joseph seide, My sone, God haue merci of thee.

Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you gave me word? And he said, God be good to you, my son.

30 And Joseph hastide in to the hous, for his entrailis weren moued on his brother, and teeris brasten out, and he entride into a closet, and wepte.

Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.

31 And eft whanne the face was waischun, he yede out, and refreynede hym silf, and seide, Sette ye looues.

Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us.

32 `And whanne tho weren set to Joseph by hym silf, and to the britheren bi hem silf, and to Egipcyans that eeten to gidre by hem silf; for it is vnleueful to Egipcians to ete with Ebrewis, and thei gessen sich a feeste vnhooli.

And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by themselves; because the Egyptians may not take food with the Hebrews, for that would make them unclean.

33 Therfor thei saten bifore hym, the firste gendrid bi the rite of his firste gendryng, and the leeste bi his age; and thei wondriden greetli,

And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were looking at one another in wonder.

34 whanne the partis weren takun whiche thei hadden resseyued of him, and the more part cam to Beniamyn, so that it passide in fyue partis; and thei drunken, and weren fillid with him.

And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took wine freely with him.