Genesis 43
Legacy Standard Bible
The Brothers Return to Egypt
43 (A)Now the famine was heavy in the land. 2 And it happened when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” 3 Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “(B)The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 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 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly [a]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” 7 But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our kin, saying, ‘(C)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we told him concerning these things. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, (D)that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. 9 (E)I myself will be the guarantee for him; from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then [b]I shall bear the sin before you all my days. 10 For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your [c]bags, and bring them down to the man (F)as a present, a little [d](G)balm and a little honey, [e]aromatic gum and [f]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Now take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand (H)the money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. 13 And take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; 14 and may [g](I)God Almighty (J)grant you compassion before the man, so that he will release to you (K)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, (L)if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” 15 So the men took (M)this present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Joseph Sees Benjamin
16 Then Joseph saw Benjamin with them and said to his (N)house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and prepare it; for the men are to eat with me at noon.” 17 So the man did as Joseph said and [h]brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may [i]seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves with our donkeys.” 19 So they came near to Joseph’s house steward and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, 20 and they said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, 21 and it happened when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, (O)each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in [j]full. So (P)we have brought it back in our hand. 22 We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23 And he said, “[k]Be well, do not be afraid. (Q)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money has come to me.” Then (R)he brought Simeon out to them. 24 Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and (S)gave them water, and they (T)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder. 25 So they prepared (U)the present [l]for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat [m]a meal there.
26 Then Joseph came home, and they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and (V)bowed to the ground before him. 27 And he asked them about their [n]well-being and said, “(W)Is your old father [o]well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” (X)They bowed down and prostrated themselves. 29 Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. And he said, “Is this (Y)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “(Z)May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 And Joseph hurried out for [p](AA)he was deeply stirred with compassion over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and (AB)wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out; and he (AC)restrained himself and said, “Set the [q]meal.” 32 So they set the meal for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is (AD)an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they [r]were seated before him, (AE)the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. 34 And he took portions to them from [s]his own table, (AF)but Benjamin’s portion was five times greater than any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 43:6 Lit to tell
- Genesis 43:9 Lit I shall have sinned before you all the days
- Genesis 43:11 Or vessels
- Genesis 43:11 Or mastic
- Genesis 43:11 Or ladanum spice
- Genesis 43:11 Or resinous bark
- Genesis 43:14 Heb El Shaddai
- Genesis 43:17 Lit the man brought
- Genesis 43:18 Lit roll himself upon us
- Genesis 43:21 Lit its weight
- Genesis 43:23 Lit Peace be to you
- Genesis 43:25 Lit until
- Genesis 43:25 Lit bread
- Genesis 43:27 Lit peace, cf. 43:23
- Genesis 43:27 Lit peace, cf. 43:23
- Genesis 43:30 Lit his compassion grew warm
- Genesis 43:31 Lit bread
- Genesis 43:33 Lit sat
- Genesis 43:34 Lit his face
Genesis 43
Common English Bible
Joseph’s brothers return with Benjamin
43 The famine was severe in the land, 2 and when they had eaten all the grain that they brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”
3 Judah said to him, “The man was absolutely serious when he said, ‘You may not see me again without your brother with you.’ 4 If you agree to send our brother with us, then we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you don’t agree to send him, then we can’t go down because the man said to us, ‘You may not see me again without your brother with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why have you caused me such pain by telling the man you had another brother?”
7 They said, “The man asked us pointedly about our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother?’ So we told him just what we’ve said. How were we to know he’d say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”
8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the young man with me. Let’s get ready to leave so that we can stay alive and not die—we, you, and our children. 9 I will guarantee his safety; you can hold me responsible. If I don’t bring him back to you and place him here in front of you, it will be my fault forever. 10 If we hadn’t waited so long, we would’ve returned twice by now.”
11 Their father Israel said to them, “If it has to be, then do this. Take in your bags some of the land’s choice produce, and bring it down to the man as a gift: a little medicinal resin, a little honey, gum, resin, pistachios, and almonds. 12 Take twice as much silver with you, and take back the silver returned in the top of your sacks. It might have been a mistake. 13 And take your brother, get ready, and go back to the man. 14 May God Almighty[a] make the man compassionate toward you so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin with you. But me, if I’m left childless, then I’m left childless.”
15 So the men took this gift. They took twice as much silver with them, together with Benjamin. They left, traveled down to Egypt, and received an audience with Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager of his household, “Bring the men to the house and slaughter an animal and prepare it because the men will have dinner with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.
18 When they were brought to Joseph’s house, the men were frightened and said, “We’ve been brought here because of the silver put back in our sacks on our first trip so he can overpower us, capture us, make slaves of us, and take our donkeys.”
19 They approached the man who was Joseph’s household manager and spoke to him at the house’s entrance: 20 “Please, Master, we came down the first time just to buy food, 21 but when we stopped to spend the night and opened our sacks, there was the exact amount of each man’s silver at the top of his sack. We’ve brought it back with us, 22 and we’ve brought down with us additional silver to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”
23 He said, “You are fine. Don’t be afraid. Your God and your father’s God must have hidden a treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
24 The manager brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet and feed for their donkeys. 25 They prepared the gift, anticipating Joseph’s arrival at noon, since they had heard that they would have a meal there. 26 When Joseph came into the house, they presented him the gift they had brought with them into the house, and they bowed low in front of him. 27 He asked them how they were and said, “How is your elderly father, about whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”
28 They said, “Your servant our father is fine. He’s still alive.” And they bowed down again with deep respect.
29 Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, and he said, “Is this your youngest brother whom you told me about? God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Joseph’s feelings for his brother were so strong he was about to weep, so he rushed to another room and wept there. 31 He washed his face, came back, pulled himself together, and said, “Set out the dinner.” 32 So they set out his food by himself, their food by themselves, and the Egyptians’ who ate with him by themselves because Egyptians don’t allow themselves to eat with Hebrews; the Egyptians think it beneath their dignity. 33 They were seated in front of him from the oldest to the youngest in their exact birth order, and the men looked at each other with amazement. 34 Portions of food from Joseph’s table were brought to them, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as large as theirs. So they drank together and were at ease.
Footnotes
- Genesis 43:14 Heb El Shaddai or God of the Mountain
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