Genesis 43

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

But the famine prevailed in the land.

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 it came to pass, when they had finished eating the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again; buy 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 Judas spoke to him, saying, The man, the lord of the country, positively testified to us, saying, You shall not see my face, unless your younger brother be with you.

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

If, then, you send our brother with us, we will go down, and buy you 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 send not our brother with us, we will not go: for the man spoke to us, saying, You shall not see my face, unless your younger brother be 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 did you harm me, inasmuch as you told the man 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 closely questioned us about our family also, saying, Does your father yet live, and have you a brother? and we answered him according to this question: did we know that he would say to us, Bring 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;

And Judas said to his father Israel, Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you, and our store.

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;

And I engage for him; at my hand do you require him; if I bring him not to you, and place him before you, I shall be guilty towards you for ever.

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

For if we had not tarried, we should now have returned twice.

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;

And Israel, their father, said to them, If it be so, do this; take of the fruits of the earth in your vessels, and carry down to the man presents of gum and honey, and frankincense, and stacte, and turpentine, and walnuts.

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 double money in your hands, and the money that was returned in your sacks, carry back with you, lest perhaps it is a mistake.

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

And take your brother; and arise, go down 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 my God give you favour in the sight of the man, and send away your other brother, and Benjamin, for I accordingly as I have been bereaved, am bereaved.

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

And the men having taken these presents, and the double money, took in their hands also Benjamin; and they rose up and went down to Egypt, and stood 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 Joseph saw them and his brother Benjamin, born of the same mother; and he said to the steward of his household, Bring the men into the house, and kill beasts and make ready, for the men are to eat bread with me at noon.

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

And the man did as Joseph said; and he brought the men into the house of Joseph.

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.

And the men, when they perceived that they were brought into the house of Joseph, said, We are brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first; even in order to inform against us, and lay it to our charge; to take us for servants, and our asses.

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

And having approached the man who was over the house of Joseph, they spoke to him in the porch of the house,

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

saying, We pray [you], Sir; we came down at first to buy 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 it came to pass, when we came to unlade, and opened our sacks, [there was] also this money of each in his sack; we have now brought back our money by weight in our hands.

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.

And we have brought other money with us to buy food; we know not who put the money into our sacks.

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;

And he said to them, [God deal] mercifully with you; be not afraid; your God, and the God of your fathers, has given you treasures in your sacks, and I have enough of your good money. And he brought Symeon 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 he brought water to wash their feet; and gave provender to their asses.

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

And they prepared their gifts, until Joseph came at noon, for they heard that he was going to dine 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 Joseph entered into the house, and they brought him the gifts which they had in their hands, into the house; and they did him reverence with their face to the ground.

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 asked them, How are you? and he said to them, Is your father, the old man of whom you spoke, well? Does he yet live?

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 yet alive. And he said, Blessed be that man by God; —and they bowed, and did him reverence.

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.

And Joseph lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, born of the same mother; and he said, Is this your younger brother, whom you spoke of bringing to me? and he said, God have mercy on 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.

And Joseph was troubled, for his bowels yearned over his brother, and he sought to weep; and he went into his chamber, and wept there.

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

And he washed his face and came out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

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 set on [bread] for him alone, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians feasting with him by themselves, for the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination to the Egyptians.

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 sat before him, the firstborn according to his seniority, and the younger according to his youth; and the men looked with amazement every one at his brother.

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 they took their portions from him to themselves; but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as the portions of [the others]. And they drank and were filled with drink with him.