Genesis 43

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

Now the famine was severe 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.

So it came about when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more 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;

But Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man strictly warned us, saying, 'You may not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

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

If you'll send our brother with us, we'll 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 will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You may not see my face unless your brother is 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.

Then Israel said, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man that you had another 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?

They said, "The man kept asking about ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' So we just answered his questions. How were we to know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down?'"

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 his father Israel, "Send the boy with me and we'll get up and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.

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 will be collateral for him. You can hold me responsible for him. If I fail to bring him to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,

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

for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time 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 must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your bags and bring a gift for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

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;

Take twice as much silver in your hand, and take back the silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

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

Take your brother also, and get up, 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 El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am deprived of my children, then I am deprived."

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

The men took this gift, and they took twice as much silver with them, and Benjamin. Then they got up and went down to Egypt, and presented themselves 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.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and prepare it; for the men will eat with me at noon."

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

The man did as Joseph had said, and the man brought the men to 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.

But the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, "It is because of the silver that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are brought here; so that he may capture us, and make us slaves, and take our donkeys."

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

So they came near to the man of Joseph's house and they spoke to him at the entrance of the house,

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

and said, "My lord, we indeed came down the first time 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;

But when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and look, every man's silver was in the mouth of his sack, our silver in full weight. So we have brought it back in our hand.

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.

We have brought down additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in 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;

He said, "Peace to you. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon 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.

The man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys food.

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

They prepared the gift for Joseph's arrival at noon, for they heard that they would eat 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.

When Joseph came home, they prepared the gift they had brought with them into the house, and bowed themselves down to him 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?

Then he asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"

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

And they answered, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." Then he said, "Blessed be that man by God." And they bowed and prostrated themselves.

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 looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you told me about?" Then he said, "God be gracious 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 hurried out, for he was overcome with emotion because of his brother, and he was at the point of tears. So he entered 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.

Then he washed his face and came out. And he controlled himself and said, "Serve the food."

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.

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is disgraceful 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 birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at each other with amazement.

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.

Then he gave portions to them in front of him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank until they all became drunk.