Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin

43 The famine in Canaan got worse, ² until finally, Jacob's family had eaten all the grain they had bought in Egypt. So Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy some more grain.”

^3-5 Judah replied, “The governor strictly warned us that we would not be allowed to see him unless we brought our youngest brother with us. If you let us take Benjamin along, we will go and buy grain. But we won't go without him!”

⁶ Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the governor you had another brother?”

⁷ They answered, “He asked a lot of questions about us and our family. He wanted to know if you were still alive and if we had any more brothers. All we could do was answer his questions. How could we know he would tell us to bring along our brother?”

⁸ Then Judah said to his father, “Let Benjamin go with me, and we will leave at once, so that none of us will starve to death. ⁹ I promise to bring him back safely, and if I don't, you can blame me as long as I live. ¹⁰ If we had not wasted all this time, we could already have been there and back twice.”

¹¹ Their father said:

If Benjamin must go with you, take the governor a gift of some of the best things from our own country, such as perfume, honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds.^{[a] 12} Also take along twice the amount of money for the grain, because there must have been some mistake when the money was put back in your sacks. ¹³ Take Benjamin with you and leave at once.

¹⁴ When you go in to see the governor, I pray that God All-Powerful will be good to you and that the governor will let your other brother and Benjamin come back home with you. But if I must lose my children, I suppose I must.

¹⁵ The brothers took the gifts, twice the amount of money, and Benjamin. Then they hurried off to Egypt. When they stood in front of Joseph, ¹⁶ he saw Benjamin and told the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and cook it, so they can eat with me at noon.”

¹⁷ The servant did as he was told and took the brothers to Joseph's house. ¹⁸ But on the way they got worried and started thinking, “We are being taken there because of the money that was put back in our sacks last time. He will arrest us, make us his slaves, and take our donkeys.”

¹⁹ So when they arrived at Joseph's house, they said to the servant in charge, ²⁰ “Sir, we came to Egypt once before to buy grain. ²¹ But when we stopped for the night, we each found in our grain sacks the exact amount we had paid. We have brought that money back, ²² together with enough money to buy more grain. We don't know who put the money in our sacks.”

²³ “It's all right,” the servant replied. “Don't worry. The God you and your father worship must have put the money there, because I received your payment in full.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The servant took them into Joseph's house and gave them water to wash their feet. He also tended their donkeys. ²⁵ The brothers got their gifts ready to give to Joseph at noon, since they had heard they were going to eat there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts they had brought, and they bowed down to him. ²⁷ After Joseph had asked how they were, he said, “What about your elderly father? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ They answered, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And again they bowed down to Joseph.

²⁹ When Joseph looked around and saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “This must be your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.”

³⁰ Then, because of his love for Benjamin, he rushed off to his room and cried. ³¹ After washing his face and returning, he was able to control himself and said, “Serve the meal!”

³² Joseph was served at a table by himself, and his brothers were served at another. The Egyptians sat at yet another table, because Egyptians felt it was disgusting to eat with Hebrews. ³³ To the surprise of Joseph's brothers, they were seated in front of him according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest. ³⁴ They were served food from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others. So Joseph's brothers ate and drank with him and had a good time.

The Missing Cup

44 ^1-2 Later, Joseph told the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men's grain sacks with as much as they can hold and put their money in the sacks. Also put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother.” The servant did as he was told.

³ Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. ⁴ But they had not gone far from the city when Joseph told the servant, “Go after those men! When you catch them, say, ‘My master has been good to you. So why have you stolen his silver cup? ⁵ Not only does he drink from his cup, but he also uses it to learn about the future. You have done a terrible thing.’ ”

⁶ When the servant caught up with them, he said exactly what Joseph had told him to say. ⁷ But they replied, “Sir, why do you say such things? We would never do anything like that! ⁸ We even returned the money we found in our grain sacks when we got back to Canaan. So why would we want to steal any silver or gold from your master's house? ⁹ If you find that one of us has the cup, then kill him, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”

¹⁰ “Good!” the man replied, “I'll do what you have said. But only the one who has the cup will become my slave. The rest of you can go free.”

¹¹ Each of the brothers quickly put his sack on the ground and opened it. ¹² Joseph's servant started searching the sacks, beginning with the one that belonged to the oldest brother. When he came to Benjamin's sack, he found the cup. ¹³ This upset the brothers so much that they began tearing their clothes in sorrow. Then they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers got there, Joseph was still at home. So they bowed down to Joseph, ¹⁵ who asked them, “What have you done? Didn't you know I could find out?”

¹⁶ “Sir, what can we say?” Judah replied. “How can we say we are innocent, when God has shown we are guilty? And now all of us are your slaves, especially the one who had the cup.”

¹⁷ Joseph told them, “I would never punish all of you. Only the one who was caught with the cup will become my slave. The rest of you are free to go home to your father.”

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

¹⁸ Judah went over to Joseph and said:

Sir, you have as much power as the king^[a] himself, and I am only your slave. Please don't get angry if I speak. ¹⁹ You asked us if our father was still alive and if we had any more brothers. ²⁰ So we told you, “Our father is a very old man. In fact, he was already old when Benjamin was born. Benjamin's brother is dead. Now Benjamin is the only one of the two brothers who is still alive, and our father loves him very much.”

²¹ You ordered us to bring him here, so you could see him for yourself. ²² We told you that our father would die if Benjamin left him. ²³ But you warned us that we could never see you again, unless our youngest brother came with us. ²⁴ So we returned to our father and reported what you had said.

²⁵ Later our father sent us back here to buy more grain. ²⁶ But we told him, “We can't go back to Egypt without our youngest brother. We will never be let in to see the governor, unless he is with us.”

²⁷ Sir, our father then reminded us that his favorite wife had given birth to two sons. ²⁸ One of them was already missing and had not been seen for a long time. My father thinks the boy was torn to pieces by some wild animal, ²⁹ and he said, “I am an old man. If you take Benjamin from me, and something happens to him, I will die of a broken heart.”

³⁰ That's why Benjamin must be with us when I go back to my father. He loves him so much ³¹ that he will die if Benjamin doesn't come back with me. ³² I promised my father that I would bring him safely home. If I don't, I told my father he could blame me the rest of my life.

³³ Sir, I am your slave. Please let me stay here in place of Benjamin and let him return home with his brothers. ³⁴ How can I face my father if Benjamin isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father in such sorrow.

Judging Others

(Luke 6.37,38,41,42)

7 Don't condemn others, and God won't condemn you. ^2 (A) God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.

³ You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye. ⁴ How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don't see the log in your own eye? ⁵ You're nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend's eye.

⁶ Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.

Ask, Search, Knock

(Luke 11.9-13)

^7 (B) Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.

⁹ Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? ¹⁰ Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? ¹¹ As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.

^12 (C) Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets^[a] are all about.

The Narrow Gate

(Luke 13.24)

^13 (D) Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. ¹⁴ But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

(Luke 6.43-45)

¹⁵ Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. ^16 (E) You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. ^19 (F) Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. ^20 (G) You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.

A Warning

(Luke 13.26,27)

²¹ Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. ²² On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” ^23 (H) But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!”

Two Builders

(Luke 6.47-49)

²⁴ Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it was built on solid rock, and so it did not fall.

²⁶ Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand. ²⁷ Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash.

^28 (I) When Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were surprised at his teaching. ²⁹ He taught them like someone with authority, and not like their teachers of the Law of Moses.