Genesis 43
Darby Translation
43 And the famine was grievous in the land.
2 And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.
3 And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.
4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;
5 but if thou do not send [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.
6 And Israel said, Why did ye deal [so] ill with me [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
7 And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
8 And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones.
9 I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.
10 For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.
11 And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.
12 And take other money in your hand, and the money that was returned to you in the mouth of your sacks, carry back in your hand: perhaps it is an oversight.
13 And take your brother, and arise, go again to the man.
14 And the Almighty God give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.
15 And the men took that gift, and took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and came before Joseph.
16 And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the [man] who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.
17 And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18 And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and said, Because of the money that was returned to us in our sacks at the beginning are we brought in, that he may turn against us, and fall upon us and take us for bondmen, and our asses.
19 And they came up to the man that was over Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
20 and said, Ah! my lord, we came indeed down at the first to buy food.
21 And it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, [every] man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money according to its weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.
22 And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.
23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them.
24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food.
25 And they made ready the gift for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.
26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift that was in their hand, into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.
27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well—the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?
28 And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And they bowed, and made obeisance.
29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son!
30 And Joseph made haste, for his bowels burned for his brother; and he sought [a place] to weep, and he went into the chamber, and wept there.
31 And he washed his face, and came out, and controlled himself, and said, Set on bread.
32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another.
34 And he had portions carried to them from before him. And Benjamin's portion was five times greater than the portions of them all. And they drank, and made merry with him.
Genesis 43
New Life Version
Jacob’s Brothers Go to Egypt the Second Time
43 The time of no food was hard in the land. 2 When they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again and buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah told him, “The man said to us with sharp words, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you send our brother with us, we will go to Egypt and buy you food. 5 But if you do not send him, we will not go. For the man said, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why did you do me such a wrong by telling the man that you had another brother?” 7 And they said, “The man asked questions about us and our family. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. And we will get up and go, so we and you and our children may live and not die. 9 I will put myself as trust for him. You may put him in my care. If I do not return him to you and set him in front of you, then let the blame be on me forever. 10 For if we had not waited, we would have returned twice by now.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best things of the land in your bags. Carry them to the man as a gift. Give him perfume and honey and spices and special things to eat. 12 Take twice as much money with you to take the place of the money that was returned in your bags. It may be that it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also. Get up, and return to the man. 14 May the All-powerful God give you such favor with the man that he may let your other brother and Benjamin return. If my children are taken from me, I am filled with sorrow.”
15 So the men took the gift, and twice as much money, and Benjamin. They got up and went to Egypt, and stood in front of Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the man who took care of his house, “Bring the men into the house. And kill an animal and make it ready. For the men will eat with me at noon.” 17 So the man did what Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 The men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our bags the first time we came. He is looking for something against us. He will come down on us and take us for servants with our donkeys.” 19 So they came near the man who took care of Joseph’s house, and spoke to him at the door of the house. 20 They said, “O, my lord, we came here the first time to buy food. 21 When we came to the place where we stayed the night, we opened our bags. And we found that the full weight of each man’s money was at the top of the bag. So we have brought it again with us. 22 We have brought other money with us also to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our bags.”
23 But he answered, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you riches in your bags. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet. And he fed their donkeys. 25 So they made the gift ready to give to Joseph when he came at noon. For they had heard that they were to eat there.
26 When Joseph came home, they gave him the gift they had brought with them. They bowed to the ground in front of him. 27 Then Joseph asked them about their well-being. He said, “Is your father well, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 28 And they said, “Your servant, our father is well. He is still alive.” Then they bowed their heads low in honor to Joseph.
29 As he looked up, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. He said, “Is this your youngest brother whom you told me about? May God show you loving-favor, my son.” 30 Then Joseph went out in a hurry. For he had much feeling for his brother. He went in his room and cried. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. Hiding his feelings, he said, “Bring the food.”
32 So they brought food to Joseph by himself, and to them by themselves, and to the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves. The Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews because they thought it would be sinful. 33 Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him by the way they were born, from the oldest to the youngest. And the men looked at each other in wonder. 34 Joseph took food to them from his own table. But Benjamin’s food was five times as much as any of theirs. And they were free in eating and drinking with him.
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