Genesis
43
- Now the famine was still severe in the land.
- So when they had eaten all the grain they
had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us
a little more food."
- But Judah said to him, "The man warned
us solemnly, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'
- If you will send our brother along with
us, we will go down and buy food for you.
- But if you will not send him, we will not
go down, because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face again unless
your brother is with you.'"
- Israel asked, "Why did you bring this
trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother ?"
- They replied, "The man questioned us
closely about ourselves and our family. 'Is your father still living?' he
asked us. 'Do you have another brother?' We simply answered his questions.
How were we to know he would say, 'Bring your brother down here' ?"
- Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send
the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children
may live and not die.
- I myself will guarantee his safety; you
can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to
you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.
- As it is, if we had not delayed, we could
have gone and returned twice."
- Then their father Israel said to them, "If
it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your
bags and take them down to the man as a gift -- a little balm and a
little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.
- Take double the amount of silver with you,
for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks.
Perhaps it was a mistake.
- Take your brother also and go back to the
man at once.
- And may God Almighty grant you mercy before
the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with
you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."
- So the men took the gifts and double the
amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented
themselves to Joseph.
- When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said
to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an
animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon."
- The man did as Joseph told him and took
the men to Joseph's house.
- Now the men were frightened when they were
taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the
silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack
us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys."
- So they went up to Joseph's steward and
spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
- "Please, sir," they said, "we
came down here the first time to buy food.
- But at the place where we stopped for the
night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver -- the exact weight--in
the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us.
- We have also brought additional silver with
us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks."
- "It's all right," he said. "Don't
be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your
sacks; I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them.
- The steward took the men into Joseph's house,
gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys.
- They prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival
at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.
- When Joseph came home, they presented to
him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before
him to the ground.
- He asked them how they were, and then he
said, "How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living
?"
- They replied, "Your servant our father
is still alive and well." And they bowed low to pay him honor.
- As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin,
his own mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one
you told me about?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son."
- Deeply moved at the sight of his brother,
Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private
room and wept there.
- After he had washed his face, he came out
and, controlling himself, said, "Serve the food."
- They served him by himself, the brothers
by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians
could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians.
- The men had been seated before him in the
order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at
each other in astonishment.
- When portions were served to them from Joseph's
table, Benjamin's portion was five times as much as anyone else's. So they
feasted and drank freely with him.
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