Genesis 43

1And the famine was grievous in the land.

1Now the land was in bitter need of food.

2And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.

2And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.

3And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.

3And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.

4If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;

4If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food:

5but if thou do not send [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.

5But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you.

6And Israel said, Why did ye deal [so] ill with me [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

6And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

7And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

7And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother?

8And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones.

8Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.

9I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.

9Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.

10For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.

10Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now.

11And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.

11Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:

12And take other money in your hand, and the money that was returned to you in the mouth of your sacks, carry back in your hand: perhaps it is an oversight.

12And take twice as much money with you; that is to say, take back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been an error;

13And take your brother, and arise, go again to the man.

13And take your brother and go back to the man:

14And the AlmightyGod give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.

14And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man, so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If my children are to be taken from me; there is no help for it.

15And the men took that gift, and took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and came before Joseph.

15So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.

16And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the [man] who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.

16And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant, Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they will take food with me in the middle of the day.

17And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

17And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house.

18And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and said, Because of the money that was returned to us in our sacks at the beginning are we brought in, that he may turn against us, and fall upon us and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

18Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money which was put back in our bags the first time; he is looking for something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us and our asses for his use.

19And they came up to the man that was over Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,

19So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house,

20and said, Ah! my lord, we came indeed down at the first to buy food.

20And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food;

21And it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, [every] man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money according to its weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.

21And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, all our money in full weight: and we have it with us to give it back;

22And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.

22As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no idea who put our money in our bags.

23And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: yourGod, and theGod of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them.

23Then the servant said, Peace be with you: have no fear: your God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags for you: I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them.

24And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food.

24And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food.

25And they made ready the gift for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

25And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in the middle of the day: for word was given to them that they were to have a meal there.

26When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift that was in their hand, into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

26And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.

27And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well — the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?

27And he said, How are you? is your father well, the old man of whom you were talking to me? is he still living?

28And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And they bowed, and made obeisance.

28And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him.

29And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke to me? And he said,God be gracious to thee, my son!

29Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you gave me word? And he said, God be good to you, my son.

30And Joseph made haste, for his bowels burned for his brother; and he sought [a place] to weep, and he went into the chamber, and wept there.

30Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.

31And he washed his face, and came out, and controlled himself, and said, Set on bread.

31Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us.

32And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

32And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by themselves; because the Egyptians may not take food with the Hebrews, for that would make them unclean.

33And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another.

33And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were looking at one another in wonder.

34And he had portions carried to them from before him. And Benjamin's portion was five times greater than the portions of them all. And they drank, and made merry with him.

34And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took wine freely with him.