Genesis 43

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

And the famine [is] 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.

and it cometh to pass, when they have finished eating the corn which they brought from Egypt, that their father saith unto them, 'Turn back, 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;

And Judah speaketh unto him, saying, 'The man protesting protested to us, saying, Ye do not see my face without your brother [being] 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 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.

and if thou art not sending — we do not go down, for the man said unto us, Ye do not see my face without your brother [being] 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 saith, 'Why did ye evil to me, by declaring to the man that ye had yet 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 say, 'The man asked diligently concerning us, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? and we declare to him according to the tenor of these things; do we certainly know that he will 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;

And Judah saith unto Israel his father, 'Send the youth with me, and we arise, and go, and live, and do not die, both we, and thou, and our infants.

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 — I am surety [for] him, from my hand thou dost require him; if I have not brought him in unto thee, and set him before thee — then I have sinned 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 we had returned these two times.'

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 saith unto them, 'If so, now, this do: take of the praised thing of the land in your vessels, and take down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, 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 money take in your hand, even the money which is brought back in the mouth of your bags, ye take back in your hand, it may be it [is] an oversight.

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

'And take your brother, and rise, turn back 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 to you mercies before the man, so that he hath sent to you your other brother and Benjamin; and I, 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.

And the men take this present, double money also they have taken in their hand, and Benjamin; and they rise, and go down to Egypt, and stand 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 seeth Benjamin with them, and saith to him who [is] over his house, 'Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal, and make ready, for with me do the men eat at noon.'

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

And the man doth as Joseph hath said, and the man bringeth in 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 are afraid because they have been brought into the house of Joseph, and they say, 'For the matter of the money which was put back in our bags at the commencement are we brought in — to roll himself upon us, and to throw himself on us, and to take us for servants — our asses also.'

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

And they come nigh unto the man who [is] over the house of Joseph, and speak unto him at the opening of the house,

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

and say, 'O, my lord, we really come down at the commencement 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 cometh to pass, when we have come in unto the lodging-place, and open our bags, that lo, each one's money [is] in the mouth of his bag, our money in its weight, and we bring 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 other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food; we have not known who put our money in our bags.'

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 saith, 'Peace to you, fear not: your God and the God of your father hath given to you hidden treasure in your bags, your money came unto me;' and he bringeth out Simeon unto 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 the man bringeth in the men into Joseph's house, and giveth water, and they wash their feet; and he giveth 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 prepare the present until the coming of Joseph at noon, for they have heard that there they do 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.

And Joseph cometh into the house, and they bring to him the present which [is] in their hand, into the house, and bow themselves 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?

and he asketh of them of peace, and saith, 'Is your father well? the aged man of whom ye have spoken, 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 say, 'Thy servant our father [is] well, he is yet alive;' and they bow, and do obeisance.

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 lifteth up his eyes, and seeth Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and saith, 'Is this your young brother, of whom ye have spoken unto me?' and he saith, 'God favour thee, 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 hasteth, for his bowels have been moved for his brother, and he seeketh to weep, and entereth the inner chamber, and weepeth there;

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

and he washeth his face, and goeth out, and refraineth himself, and saith, 'Place 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 place for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who are eating with him by themselves: for the Egyptians are unable to 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 sit before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the young one according to his youth, and the men wonder one at another;

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 lifteth up gifts from before him unto them, and the gift of Benjamin is five hands more than the gifts of all of them; and they drink, yea, they drink abundantly with him.