Genesis 43

Joseph’s Brothers Return with Benjamin

43Now the famine was ^asevere in the land. ²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go ^bback, buy us a little food.”

³But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your ^cbrother is with you.’ ⁴If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶And Israel said, “Why did you deal so ¹wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?”

⁷But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may ^dlive and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. ^eIf I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.”

¹¹And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and ^fcarry down a present for the man—a little ^gbalm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹²Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money ^hthat was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. ¹⁴And may God ⁱAlmighty ^jgive you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. ^kIf I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”

¹⁵So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went ^ldown to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph. ¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ^msteward of his house, “Take these men to my home, and slaughter ²an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

¹⁸Now the men were ⁿafraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may ³make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.”

¹⁹When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, “O sir, ^owe indeed came down the first time to buy food; ²¹but ^pit happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand. ²²And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought ^qSimeon out to them.

²⁴So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^rgave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.

²⁶And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and ^sbowed down before him to the earth. ²⁷Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your father well, the old man ^tof whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” ^uAnd they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.

²⁹Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, ^vhis mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother ^wof whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰Now ^xhis heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and ^ywept there. ³¹Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the ^zbread.”

³²So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the ^aHebrews, for that is ^ban abomination to the Egyptians. ³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his ^cbirthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. ³⁴Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was ^dfive times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.