Genesis 43
1 In the meene tyme hungur oppresside greetli al the lond;
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.
It came about when they had eaten the grain that they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again; buy us some 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;
Judah told him, “The man solemnly warned us, 'You will 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 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 do not send him, we will not go down. For the man said to us, 'You will 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.
Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly 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 asked details about us and our family. He said, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' We answered him according to these questions. How could we have known 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;
Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me. We will rise and go that we may live and not die, both we, you, and also 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 will be a guarantee for him. You will hold me responsible. If I do not bring him back 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 had not delayed, surely by now we would have 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;
Their father Israel said to them, “If it be so, now do this. Take some of the best products of the land in your bags. Carry down to the man a gift—some balm and 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 double money in your hand. The money that was returned in the opening of your sacks, carry again in your hand. Perhaps it was a mistake.
13 but also take ye youre brother, and go ye to the man;
Take also your brother. Rise and go again 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.
May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, so that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, 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.
The men took this gift, and in their hand they took double the amount of money, along with Benjamin. They got 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.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, 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 steward did as Joseph said. He 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.
The men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house. They said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time we were brought in, that he may seek an opportunity against us. He might arrest us and take us as slaves, and take our donkeys.”
19 Wherfor thei neiyeden in the `yatis, and spaken to the dispendere,
They approached the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
20 Lord, we preien that thou here vs; we camen doun now bifore that we schulden bie metis;
saying, “My master, we 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;
It came about, when we reached the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the opening of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back 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.
Other money we have also brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money 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;
The steward said, “Peace be to you, do not fear. Your God and the God of your father must have put your money in your sacks. I received your money.” The steward then 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 steward took the men into Joseph's house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave feed to their donkeys.
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 gifts for Joseph's coming at noon, for they had heard that they would eat 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 brought the gifts which were in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him 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?
He asked them about 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.
They said, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” They prostrated themselves and bowed 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.
When he lifted up his eyes he saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and he said, “Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?” Then he said, “May 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.
Joseph hurried to go out of the room, for he was deeply moved about his brother. He sought somewhere to weep. He went to his room and wept there.
31 And eft whanne the face was waischun, he yede out, and refreynede hym silf, and seide, Sette ye looues.
He washed his face and came out. He controlled himself, saying, “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.
The servants served Joseph by himself and the brothers by themselves. The Egyptians there ate with him by themselves because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is detestable 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,
The brothers sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. The men were astonished together.
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.
Joseph sent portions to them from the food in front of him. But Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of his brothers. They drank and were merry with him.
