Genesis 42:29-43:14

New King James Version

²⁹ Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: ³⁰ “The man who is lord of the land ^(A)spoke ^[a]roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ^(B)‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. ³⁴ And bring your ^(C)youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may ^(D)trade in the land.’ ”

³⁵ Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly ^(E)each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, “You have ^(F)bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take ^(G)Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for ^(H)his brother is dead, and he is left alone. ^(I)If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would ^(J)bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

Joseph’s Brothers Return with Benjamin

43 Now the famine was ^(K)severe in the land. ² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go ^(L)back, buy us a little food.”

³ But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your ^(M)brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you 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 shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶ And Israel said, “Why did you deal so ^[b]wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?”

⁷ But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may ^(N)live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. ^(O)If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.”

¹¹ And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and ^(P)carry down a present for the man—a little ^(Q)balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money ^(R)that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. ¹⁴ And may God ^(S)Almighty ^(T)give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. ^(U)If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”