The First Book of Moses: Genesis

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 43 -

And the famine [is] severe in the land;

and it comes to pass, when they have finished eating the grain which they brought from Egypt, that their father says to them, “Return, buy for us a little food.”

And Judah speaks to him, saying, “The man protesting protested to us, saying, You do not see my face without your brother [being] with you;

if you are sending our brother with us, we go down, and buy for you food,

and if you are not sending—we do not go down, for the man said to us, You do not see my face without your brother [being] with you.”

And Israel says, “Why did you do evil to me, by declaring to the man that you had yet a brother?”

And they say, “The man asked diligently concerning us, and concerning our family, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have you 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?”

And Judah says to his father Israel, “Send the youth with me, and we arise, and go, and live, and do not die, both we, and you, and our infants.

I am guarantor [for] him, from my hand you require him; if I have not brought him to you, and set him before you—then I have sinned against you all the days;

for if we had not lingered, surely now we had returned these two times.”

And their father Israel says to them, “If so, now, do this: 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;

and double money take in your hand, even the money which is brought back in the mouth of your bags, you take back in your hand, it may be it [is] an oversight.

And take your brother, and rise, return to the man;

and God Almighty give to you mercies before the man, so that he has sent to you your other brother and Benjamin; and I, when I am bereaved—I am bereaved.”

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;

Joseph’s Hospitality to His Brothers

and Joseph sees Benjamin with them and says to him who [is] over his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal, and make ready, for the men eat with me at noon.”

And the man does as Joseph has said, and the man brings in the men into the house of Joseph,

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 on us, and to throw himself on us, and to take us for servants—our donkeys also.”

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

and say, “O my lord, we really come down at the commencement to buy food;

and it comes to pass, when we have come to the lodging-place, and open our bags, that behold, each one’s money [is] in the mouth of his bag, our money in its weight, and we bring it back in our hand;

and other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food; we have not known who put our money in our bags.”

And he says, “Peace to you, do not fear: your God and the God of your father has given to you hidden treasure in your bags, your money came to me”; and he brings out Simeon to them.

And the man brings in the men into Joseph’s house, and gives water, and they wash their feet; and he gives provender for their donkeys,

and they prepare the present until the coming of Joseph at noon, for they have heard that there they eat bread.

And Joseph comes 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;

and he asks of them of peace and says, “Is your father well? The aged man of whom you have spoken, is he yet alive?”

And they say, “Your servant our father [is] well, he is yet alive”; and they bow, and pay respect.

And he lifts up his eyes and sees his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and says, “Is this your young brother, of whom you have spoken to me?” And he says, “God favor you, my son.”

And Joseph hurries, for his bowels have been moved for his brother, and he seeks to weep, and enters the inner chamber, and weeps there;

and he washes his face, and goes out, and refrains himself, and says, “Place bread.”

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.

And they sit before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the young one according to his youth, and the men wonder one at another;

and he lifts up gifts from before him to them, and the gift of Benjamin is five hands more than the gifts of all of them; and they drink, indeed, they drink abundantly with him.

The famine was severe in the land.

When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.”

Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’

If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food;

but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”

Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”

They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

Judah said to Israel, his father, “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.

I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever;

for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.”

Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;

and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man.

May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Joseph’s Hospitality to His Brothers

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.”

The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house.

The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,

and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.

When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand.

We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”

He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them.

The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder.

They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to the earth before him.

He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?”

They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly.

He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”

Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there.

He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled with one another.

He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.