Genesis 43

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

Now great famine was 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 when they had eaten vp the vitaile, which they had brought from Egypt, their father sayd vnto them, Turne againe, and bye vs a little foode.

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 Iudah answered him, saying, The man charged vs by an othe, saying, Neuer see my face, except your 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 thou wilt sende our brother with vs, we will goe downe, and bye thee foode:

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 thou wilt not send him, we wil not go downe: for the man said vnto vs, Looke me not in the face, except your 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 sayd, Wherefore delt ye so euill with me, as to tell the man, whether ye had yet a brother or no?

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 answered, The man asked straitly of our selues and of our kinred, saying, Is your father yet aliue? haue ye any brother? And wee tolde him according to these wordes: could we knowe certainely that he would say, Bring your brother downe?

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 sayde Iudah to Israel his father, Send the boy with mee, that we may rise and goe, and that we may liue and not dye, both we, and thou, and our children.

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;

I wil be suertie for him: of mine hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, then let me beare the blame for euer.

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

For except we had made this tarying, doutlesse by this we had returned the second time.

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 sayd vnto them, If it must needes be so now, do thus: take of the best fruites of the lande in your vessels, and bring the man a present, a little rosen, and a little hony, spices and myrrhe, nuttes, and almondes:

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 hande, and the money, that was brought againe in your sackes mouthes: cary it againe in your hand, lest it were some ouersight.

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

Take also your brother and arise, and go againe 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 God almightie giue you mercie in the sight of the man, that hee may deliuer you your other brother, and Beniamin: but I shall be robbed of my childe, as I haue bene.

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

Thus the men tooke this present, and tooke twise so much money in their hande with Beniamin, and rose vp, and went downe to Egypt and stoode before Ioseph.

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 whe Ioseph saw Beniamin with them, he sayde to his stewarde, Bring these men home and kill meate, and make ready: for the men shall eate with me at noone.

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

And the man did as Ioseph bad, and brought the men vnto Iosephs 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.

Nowe when the men were brought into Iosephs house, they were afrayd, and sayd, Because of the money, that came in our sackes mouthes at the first time, are we brought, that hee may picke a quarrell against vs, and lay some thing to our charge, and bring vs in bondage and our asses.

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

Therefore came they to Iosephs stewarde, and communed with him at the doore of ye house.

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

And said, Oh syr, we came in deede down hither at the first time to bye foode,

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 as wee came to an ynne and opened our sackes, behold, euery mans money was in his sackes mouth, euen our money in full weight, but we haue brought it againe in our handes.

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.

Also other money haue we brought in our handes to bye foode, but we cannot tell, who put our money in our sackes.

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, Peace be vnto you, feare not: your God and the God of your father hath giuen you that treasure in your sackes, I had your money: and he brought forth Simeon 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.

So the man led them into Iosephs house, and gaue them water to wash their feete, and gaue their asses prouender.

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

And they made ready their present against Ioseph came at noone, (for they heard say, that they should eate bread 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.

When Ioseph came home, they brought the present into the house to him, which was in their handes, and bowed downe to the grounde 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 asked them of their prosperitie, and sayd, Is your father the olde man, of whome ye tolde me, in good health? is he yet aliue?

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

Who answered, Thy seruant our father is in good health, he is yet aliue: and they bowed downe, and made obeysance.

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 he lifting vp his eyes, beheld his brother Beniamin his mothers sonne, and sayde, Is this your yonger brother, of whome ye tolde me? And he said, God be merciful vnto thee, my sone.

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 Ioseph made haste (for his affection was inflamed towarde his brother, and sought where to weepe) and entred 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.

Afterward he washed his face, and came out, and refrained himselfe, and sayd, Set on meate.

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 prepared for him by himselfe, and for them by themselues, and for the Egyptians, which did eate with him, by themselues, because the Egyptians might not eate bread with the Ebrewes: for that was an abomination vnto 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,

So they sate before him: the eldest according vnto his age, and the yongest according vnto his youth. and the men marueiled among themselues.

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 tooke meases from before him, and sent to them: but Beniamins mease was fiue times so much as any of theirs: and they drunke, and had of the best drinke with him.