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43 The famine in the land was severe, 2 so when they had eaten all the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy a little more food for us.”
3 Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned 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 food for you, 5 but if you do not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man that you had another brother?”
7 They said, “The man interrogated us about ourselves and about our relatives. He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”
8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will get up and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will serve as a guarantee for him. You can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him in front of you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 Look, if we had not delayed, we certainly could have returned for a second time by now.”
11 Their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then this is what you should do: Put some of the best products of the land into your containers and take a gift for the man: a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 12 Also take double the amount of silver with you. Take back the silver that was returned into the mouths of your bags. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Also take your brother. Get going and return to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. But if I am deprived of my children, I am deprived.”
15 The men took that present, and they took double the amount of silver with them. They also took Benjamin. They got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager[a] of his house, “Bring the men into the house. Butcher an animal and prepare it, for the men will dine with me at noon.”
17 The manager did as Joseph commanded and brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 The brothers were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “Because of the money that was returned into our bags the first time, we are being brought in, so that he may find a pretext against us, pounce on us, seize us as slaves, and take our donkeys.”
19 They approached the manager of Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the door of the house. 20 They said, “Please, my lord, we really did come down the first time to buy food. 21 When we came to the lodging place, we opened our bags, and to our surprise each man’s silver was in the mouth of his bag, the full amount of our money.[b] We have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought down with us additional money to buy food. We do not know who put our money into our bags.”
23 He said, “There is no problem. Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your bags. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. 24 The man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, so they could wash their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. 25 They prepared the gift for Joseph, who was coming at noon, because they heard that they would be eating bread there.
26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gift that they had brought to the house, and they bowed down to the ground in front of him. 27 He asked them about their welfare: “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”
28 They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.”[c] They bowed down and prostrated themselves.
29 Joseph looked up and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Joseph hurried out, because he was overcome by his emotions over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep. He went into his room and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. After he regained control of himself, he said, “Serve the meal.”
32 They served Joseph by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians do not eat with Hebrews, for that is repulsive to the Egyptians. 33 The brothers were seated in front of him. They were lined up in order, starting with the firstborn based on his birthright down to the youngest based on his youth, and the men expressed their amazement to each other. 34 He sent servings to them from his table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They were drinking and they were feeling the effects.[d]
44 Joseph commanded the manager of his house, “Fill the men’s bags with food, as much as they can carry. Put each man’s money into the mouth of his bag. 2 Put my cup, the silver cup, into the mouth of the bag of the youngest, along with his money for the grain.” The manager did exactly what Joseph told him to do.
3 As soon as it became light in the morning, the men were sent on their way, with their donkeys. 4 When they had left the city and still were not very far away, Joseph said to his manager, “Get up. Pursue those men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? 5 Isn’t this the cup that my lord drinks from and that he uses for divination? By doing this you have done evil.’” 6 The steward caught up to them and spoke those words to them.
7 They replied to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Your servants would never do such a thing! 8 That money, which we found in the mouths of our bags—we brought it back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house? 9 If your cup is found with any of your servants, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
10 He said, “Fine, it will be just as you have said. If it is found with anyone, he will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless.”
11 Then each man quickly lowered his bag to the ground, and each man opened his bag. 12 The manager searched, beginning with the oldest and finishing with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag. 13 Then they tore their clothing, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. 15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? Didn’t you know that a man like me can discover things by divination?”
16 Judah said, “What can we tell my lord? What can we say? How can we clear ourselves? God has exposed the guilt of your servants. Here we are. We are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose hand the cup was found.”
17 Joseph said, “I would never do that. The man in whose hand the cup was found will be my slave, but as for the rest of you, go up in peace to your father.”
18 Then Judah approached him and said, “O my lord, please let your servant speak to my lord directly. Do not let your anger burn against your servant, because you are just like Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child from his old age, a young one. His brother is dead, and he alone is left from his mother, and his father loves him.’ 21 You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may see him with my own eyes.’ 22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he were to leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will never see my face again.’ 24 And so it was that when we came to your servant, my father, we told him about the words of my lord. 25 Our father said, ‘Go again. Buy us a little food.’ 26 We said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down, because we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave birth to two sons for me. 28 The one has departed from me and I said, “I am sure he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since. 29 If you take this one away from me as well, and mishap comes upon him, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave with sorrow.’ 30 So now when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, since my father’s life is bound up in the boy’s life, 31 when he sees that the boy is no more, he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, to the grave with sorrow. 32 For your servant became a guarantee for the boy to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 So please let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? How could I stand to see the evil that will come on my father?”
45 Joseph was unable to control himself in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone out from my presence!” When no one else was left with him, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. 2 He wept out loud. The Egyptians heard him, and the house of Pharaoh heard about it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”
His brothers could not answer him, because they were terrified by his presence. 4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me, please.”
They came closer. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 Now do not be upset or angry with yourselves for selling me to this place, since God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For two years now the famine has been in the land, and there are still five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 God sent me ahead of you to preserve you as survivors on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great act of deliverance. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord over his entire household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. 9 Hurry, go up to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not delay. 10 You shall live in the land of Goshen, where you will be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 I will take care of you here, for there are still five years of famine. Otherwise you will come to ruin, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ 12 Pay attention. Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 You shall tell my father all about my position of honor in Egypt and about everything that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”
14 He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15 He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers talked with him.
16 This report was heard in Pharaoh’s house: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” This pleased Pharaoh and his officials.
17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Load your animals. Travel quickly to the land of Canaan. 18 Get your father and your households, and return to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the rich food of the land. 19 Now I command you to do this: Take carts[e] from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, and bring your father here. 20 Also, do not worry about your belongings, for the best of the whole land of Egypt is yours.’”
21 So that is what the sons of Israel did. Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them supplies for the journey. 22 He gave each one of them a change of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23 He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and supplies for his father on the journey. 24 So he dismissed his brothers, and they departed. He said to them, “See to it that you do not quarrel on the way.”
25 They went up from Egypt and came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned[f] because he did not believe them. 27 They told Jacob every word that Joseph had said to them. When he saw the carts that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
28 Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.