Genesis 42:19-43:15

Complete Jewish Bible

(v) ¹⁹ If you are upright men, let one of your brothers remain incarcerated in the prison you’re being kept in, while you go and carry grain back to relieve the famine in your homes. ²⁰ But bring your youngest brother to me. In this way your statements will be verified, and you won’t die.”

So they did it. ²¹ They said to each other, “We are in fact guilty concerning our brother. He was in distress and pleaded with us; we saw it and wouldn’t listen. That’s why this distress has come upon us now.” ²² Re’uven answered them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t wrong the boy’? But you wouldn’t hear of it. Now comes the reckoning for his blood!” ²³ They had no idea that Yosef understood them, since an interpreter was translating for them. ²⁴ Yosef turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. He took Shim‘on from among them and put him in prison before their eyes. ²⁵ Next he ordered that their containers be filled with grain, that every man’s money be put back in his pack and that they be given provisions for the journey. When these things had been done for them, ²⁶ they loaded their grain on their donkeys and departed.

²⁷ But at camp that night, as one of them opened his pack to give fodder to his donkey, he noticed his money — there it was, just inside his pack. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money has been restored — there it is, right in my pack!” At that, their hearts sank; they turned, trembling, to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ They returned to Ya‘akov their father in the land of Kena‘an and told him all that had happened to them. ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us. He took us for spies in his country. ³¹ We said to him, ‘We are upright men, we’re not spies; ³² we are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is gone, and the youngest stayed with our father in the land of Kena‘an.’ ³³ But the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘Here is how I will know that you are upright men: leave one of your brothers with me, take grain to relieve the famine in your homes, and go on your way; ³⁴ but bring your youngest brother to me. By this I will know that you aren’t spies, but are upright men; then I will return your brother to you; and you will do business in the land.’”

³⁵ Next, as they emptied their packs, there was each man’s bag of money in his pack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they became afraid. ³⁶ Ya‘akov their father said to them, “You have robbed me of my children! Yosef is gone, Shim‘on is gone, now you’re taking Binyamin away — it all falls on me!” ³⁷ Re’uven said to his father, “If I don’t bring him back to you, you can kill my own two sons! Put him in my care; I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But he replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead, and he alone is left. If anything were to happen to him while traveling with you, you would bring my gray hair down to Sh’ol with grief.”

43 But the famine was severe in the land; ² so 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 food.” ³ Y’hudah said to him, “The man expressly warned us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; ⁵ but if you will 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 Isra’el said, “Why did you bring such trouble my way by telling the man you had another brother?” ⁷ They answered, “The man kept questioning us about ourselves and about our kinsmen. He asked, ‘Is your father still alive?’ ‘Do you have another brother?’ and we answered according to the literal meaning of his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ Y’hudah said to Isra’el his father, “Send the boy with me; and we will make preparations and leave; so that we may stay alive and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones. ⁹ I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me responsible. If I fail to bring him to you and present him to your face, let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰ Except for our lengthy delay, we would have been there again by now.”

¹¹ Their father Isra’el answered them, “If that’s how it is, do this: take in your containers some of the land’s best products, and bring the man a gift — some healing resin, a little honey, aromatic gum, opium, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Take twice the amount of money with you; and return the money that came back with you in your packs — it could have been an oversight. ¹³ Yes, and take your brother too; and get ready; and go again to the man. ¹⁴ May El Shaddai give you favor in the man’s sight, so that he will release to you your other brother as well as Binyamin. As for me, if I must lose my children, lose them I will.” ¹⁵ The men took that gift, and they took twice the money with them, and Binyamin; then they prepared, went down to Egypt and stood before Yosef.