Genesis 43

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

But 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 to pass when they had made an end of eating the corn which they had brought in out of Egypt, that their father said unto them, —Return buy for 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;

Then spake Judah unto him saying, —The man, did protest, to us saying—Ye shall not see my face, except, 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 thou art sending our brother with us, we will certainly go down, and buy for thee 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 thou art not sending him, we will not go down, for the man, said unto us Ye shall not see my face, except, 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.

And Israel said, Wherefore did ye ill to me, —to tell the man, there yet remained to you 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, did ask, concerning ourselves and concerning our kindred saying—Is your father yet alive? Have ye a brother? So we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we, at all know, that he would say, Bring down 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 said Judah unto Israel his father—Come! send thou down the young man with me that we may arise and go our way, —and live and not die, both we and thou and 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 surety for him, at my hand, shalt thou require him, —as surely as I bring him not in unto thee, and set him down before thee, so surely will I be counted a sinner against thee all the days,

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

For, if we had not lingered, surely now, had we come back here a 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 Israel their father said unto them—If so, then do this, —Take of the song of the land in your vessels, and carry down to the man a present, —A little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth gum and cistus gum, 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;

And double silver, take in your hand, —also the silver that was put back in the mouth of your sacks, carry ye back in your hand, peradventure it was an error,

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

Your brother also, take ye, —and arise go again unto 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 Almighty, give you compassion before the man, so shall he send with you, your other brother, and Benjamin. But, as for me, when I am bereaved, I am bereaved!

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

So the men took this present, double silver also, took they in their hand and Benjamin, —and arose and went down into 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—with them—Benjamin, so he said to him that was over his house Bring the men into the house, —and slay meat and make ready, for with me, shall the men eat at noon.

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

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

Then were the men afraid because they had been brought into the house of Joseph, and they said—For the matter of the silver that came back in our sacks at the beginning, have, we, been brought in, —that he may turn round upon us and fall upon us, and take us for servants and our asses.

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

So they drew near unto the man that was over Joseph’s house, —and spake unto 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, May it please my lord! We, did indeed come down, at the beginning 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 had entered into the inn, that we opened our sacks, and lo! the silver of each man, in the mouth of his sack, —our silver in its full weight, —so we have bought 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.

And, more silver, have we brought down in our hand, to buy food, —we know not 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;

And he said—Peace to you do not fear! Your God, and the God of your father, hath given you secret treasure, in your sacks, as for your silver, it came in unto me. And he brought forth unto them Simeon.

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 brought the men into Joseph’s house, —and gave them water and they bathed their feet, and he gave them provender for 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 made ready the present, against the coming in of Joseph at noon, —for they heard that it was there they should eat bread.

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

So when Joseph came into the house, they brought in to him the present which was in their hand into the house, —and bowed themselves down to him to the earth.

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 asked he after their welfare, and said—Is it well with your aged father, of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?

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

And they said—It is well with thy servant our father, he is yet alive. And they bent their heads and bowed them-selves down.

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 lifted he up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother son of his mother, and said—Is, this, your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God, grant thee favour 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 made haste for his compassions towards his brother were pent up, and he sought to weep, —so he went into the inner 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 bathed he his face and came forth, —and restrained 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.

So they set on for him—by himself, and for them—by themselves, —and for the Egyptians that were eating with him—by themselves, for the Egyptians might not eat, bread, with the Hebrews for an abomination, had that been to 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 took their seats before him, the firstborn, according to his birthright and the youngest, according to his youth, —and the men looked with amazement, each one at his companion.

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 he sent portions from before him unto them, and the portion of Benjamin exceeded the portions of them all, five-fold. And they drank and made merry with him.