Beginning
43 ¶ And the famine was sore in the land.
2 And it came to pass when they had eaten up the wheat which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
3 And Judah spoke unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
6 And Israel said, Why did ye such evil unto me as to tell the man that ye had another brother?
7 And they said, The man asked us expressly of our state and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
8 Then Judah said unto 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 also our little ones.
9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I do not bring him unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the sin for ever;
10 for if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.
11 ¶ Then their father Israel answered them, If it must be so now, do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and take the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, aromas, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds.
12 And take double money in your hands and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks; carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight.
13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man.
14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may let your other brother go, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved.
15 ¶ Then the men took the present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home and slay an animal and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.
17 And the man did as Joseph bade, 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 they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time we are brought in here that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves and our asses.
19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke with him at the door of the house
20 and said, my lord, we came indeed down the first time to buy food;
21 and it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.
22 And we brought down other money in our hands to buy food; we cannot tell 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; I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.
24 And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their asses fodder.
25 And they made ready the present waiting until Joseph came at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.
26 ¶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which they had in their hand in 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 answered, Thy slave our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads 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 unto me? And he said, God be merciful unto thee, my son.
30 Then Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother; and he sought where to weep, and he entered into his chamber and wept there.
31 And he washed his face and went out and refrained himself and said, Serve bread.
32 And they served for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, who ate with him, by themselves; because the Egyptians may 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 took and sent portions unto them from before him; but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were drunk with him.
44 ¶ And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill these men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth;
2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with the money of his wheat. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Rise up, follow after those men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good?
5 Is this not the one in which my lord drinks and in which indeed he divines? Ye have done evil in so doing.
6 When he overtook them, he spoke unto them these same words.
7 And they said unto him, Why saith my lord these words? In no wise should thy slaves do according to this thing.
8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
9 With whoever of thy slaves it is found, both let him die and we also will be my lord’s bond slaves.
10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and ye shall be blameless.
11 Then they made haste, and each one took his sack down to the ground, and each one opened his sack.
12 And he searched and began at the eldest and finished at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
13 Then they rent their clothes, and each one laded his ass, and they returned to the city.
14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house, for he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground.
15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? Know ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
16 Then Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy slaves; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup is found.
17 And he said, in no wise should I do so; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my slave; and as for you, go up in peace unto your father.
18 ¶ Then Judah came near unto him and said, Oh my lord, let thy slave, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy slave; for thou art even as Pharaoh.
19 My lord asked his slaves, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?
20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a young man of his old age, yet a lad; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.
21 And thou didst say unto thy slaves, Bring him down unto me that I may set my eyes upon him.
22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
23 And thou didst say unto thy slaves, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy slave my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25 And our father said, Go again and buy us a little food.
26 And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.
27 Then thy slave my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons;
28 and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since;
29 and if ye take this one also from me and some disaster should befall him, ye shall bring my gray hairs with sorrow down to Sheol.
30 Now therefore when I come to thy slave my father, and the lad is not with us, seeing that his soul is bound up in the lad’s soul,
31 it shall come to pass when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy slaves shall bring the gray hairs of thy slave our father down with sorrow to Sheol.
32 For thy slave became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the sin before my father for ever.
33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy slave remain instead of the lad as a bond slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren.
34 For how shall I go up to my father and the lad not be with me? I cannot go lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.
45 ¶ Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all those that stood by him, and he cried, Cause everyone to go out from me. And no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2 And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said unto his brethren, Now come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me here, for God sent me before you for life.
6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be plowing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you that you might remain in the earth and that you might be given life by great liberty.
8 So now it was not you that sent me here, but God; and he has made me as a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 Make haste and go up to my father and say unto him: Thus saith thy son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not.
10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy sons and thy sons’ sons and thy herds and thy cows and all that thou hast.
11 And there I will nourish thee, for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast perish of poverty.
12 And, behold, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin that it is my mouth that speaks unto you.
13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father here.
14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them, and after that his brethren talked with him.
16 ¶ And the fame of this was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren have come; and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his slaves.
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, Do this: lade your beasts and go, return unto the land of Canaan
18 and take your father and your households and come unto me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
19 Now thou art commanded, do this: take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come.
20 Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
21 And the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the way.
22 To each one of them all he gave changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
23 And to his father he sent after this manner: ten asses laden with the best of Egypt and ten she asses laden with wheat and bread and food for his father on the way.
24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed. And he said unto them, See that ye do not fight along the way.
25 ¶ And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob, their father,
26 and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is lord over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them.
27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived:
28 Then Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.
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