Genesis 43

CHAPTER 43

The Brothers Return to Egypt

^1aNow the famine was heavy in the land.

²And it happened when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

³Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^aThe man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘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 you food.

⁵“But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly ¹by telling the man whether you still had another brother?”

⁷But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our kin, saying, ‘^aIs your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we told him concerning these things. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, ^athat we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.

⁹“^aI myself will be the guarantee for him; from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then ¹I shall bear the sin before you all my days.

¹⁰“For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ¹bags, and bring them down to the man ^aas a present, a little ^2bbalm and a little honey, ³aromatic gum and ⁴myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

¹²“Now take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^athe money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.

¹³“And take your brother also, and arise, return to the man;

¹⁴and may ^1aGod Almighty ^bgrant you compassion before the man, so that he will release to you ^cyour other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^dif I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵So the men took ^athis present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶Then Joseph saw Benjamin with them and said to his ^ahouse steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and prepare it; for the men are to eat with me at noon.”

¹⁷So the man did as Joseph said and ¹brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may ¹seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves with our donkeys.”

¹⁹So they came near to Joseph’s house steward and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,

²⁰and they said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

²¹and it happened when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^aeach man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in ¹full. So ^bwe have brought it back in our hand.

²²“We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³And he said, “¹Be well, do not be afraid. ^aYour God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money has come to me.” Then ^bhe brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^agave them water, and they ^bwashed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder.

²⁵So they prepared ^athe present ¹for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ²a meal there.

²⁶Then Joseph came home, and they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and ^abowed to the ground before him.

²⁷And he asked them about their ¹well-being and said, “^aIs your old father ²well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” ^aThey bowed down and prostrated themselves.

²⁹Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. And he said, “Is this ^ayour youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “^bMay God be gracious to you, my son.”

³⁰And Joseph hurried out for ^1ahe was deeply stirred with compassion over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and ^bwept there.

³¹Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^arestrained himself and said, “Set the ¹meal.”

³²So they set the meal for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians.

³³And they ¹were seated before him, ^athe firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

³⁴And he took portions to them from ¹his own table, ^abut Benjamin’s portion was five times greater than any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.