The Return to Egypt

43 ^(A)Now the famine was severe in the land. ² So it came about, 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 sternly warned ^[a]us, ‘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, ^[b]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘^(C)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ^[c]answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(D)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (E)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^[d]me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^[e]you can let me take the blame forever. 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 ^[f]bags, and carry down to the man ^(F)as a gift, a little ^(G)balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and ^[g]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(H)the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴ and may ^[h](I)God Almighty ^(J)grant you compassion in the sight of 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 sons, I am bereaved!” ¹⁵ So the men took ^(M)this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his ^(N)house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said, and ^[i]brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ Now 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, so that he may ^[j]attack us and ^[k]overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they approached Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹ and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(O)each man’s money was in the opening of his sack, our money in ^[l]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 But he said, “Peace be to you, do not be afraid. ^(Q)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your ^[m]money was in my possession.” 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 feed. ²⁵ So they prepared ^(U)the gift ^[n]for Joseph’s arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^[o]a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the gift which was in their hand, and they ^(V)bowed down to the ground before him. ²⁷ Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, “^(W)Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” Then ^(X)they bowed down again ^[p]in homage. ²⁹ And as he raised his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this ^(Y)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” Then he said, “^(Z)May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph then hurried out, for ^[q](AA)he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep; so he entered his chamber and ^(AB)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^(AC)controlled himself and said, “^[r]Serve the meal.” ³² Then they served him by himself, and ^[s]Joseph’s brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an ^(AD)abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ Now they ^[t]were seated before him, from ^(AE)the firstborn according to his birthright to the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴ Then he took portions to them from ^[u]his own table, ^(AF)but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.