GenesisChapter 43
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1Now the famine was still very bad in the land. 2Jacob's sons ate up all the grain they had brought from Egypt. So their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little more food." 3But Judah said, "The man gave us a strong warning. He said, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.' 4If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you won't send him, we won't go. The man told us, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'" 6Israel asked, "Why did you bring this trouble on me? Why did you tell the man you had another brother?" 7They answered, "The man asked us lots of questions about ourselves and our family. He asked, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' We just answered his questions. How could we know he would say, 'Bring your brother here'?" 8Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me. We will go right away. Then we will live and not die. That goes for us, for you, and for our children.a 9I promise to keep him safe. You can hold me to it. If I don't bring him back and stand him in front of you, let the blame be on me for the rest of my life. 10If we hadn't waited so long, we could have gone there and back twice by now." 11Then their father Israel said, "If it has to be this way, then do this. Put some of the best things from our land in your bags. Take them down to the man as a gift. Take a little balm and a little honey. Take spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.b 12Take twice as much silver with you. Give back the silver that was put back in the tops of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake. 13Take your brother too. Go back to the man right away. 14May God Almighty make the man kind to you. May he let your other brother go, and Benjamin too. As for me, if I lose my children, then I lose them." 15So the men took the gifts and twice as much silver. They took Benjamin too. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood in front of Joseph. 16Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers. He said to the man in charge of his house, "Take these men to my house. Kill an animal and cook it. They will eat with me at noon." 17The man did what Joseph told him. He took the brothers to Joseph's house. 18But the brothers were scared because they were taken to Joseph's house. They said, "We were brought here because of the silver. It was put back in our bags the first time. They plan to jump on us and make us slaves. They'll take our donkeys too." 19So they went up to the man in charge of Joseph's house. They talked to him at the door of the house. 20"Please, sir," they said, "we really did come down here the first time to buy food. 21But we stopped at a place to spend the night. We opened our sacks, and each of us found his silver in the top of his sack! It was all of our silver. We have brought it back with us. 22We have also brought more silver to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks." 23"It's all right," the man said. "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you that treasure in your sacks. I got your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24The man took them into Joseph's house. He gave them water to wash their feet. He gave food to their donkeys. 25The brothers had been told they would eat a meal there. So they got their gift ready for when Joseph came at noon. 26Joseph came home. They gave him the gifts they had brought. Then they bowed down to the ground in front of him. 27He asked how they were. Then he asked, "How is your old father you told me about? Is he still alive?" 28They answered, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." And they bowed low to honor him. 29Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin. Benjamin was his own mother's son. Joseph asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" Then he said, "May God be kind to you, my son." 30Joseph hurried out. He was so moved by seeing his brother that he was about to cry. He went into a room by himself and wept. 31Then he washed his face and came back out. He got hold of himself and said, "Serve the meal." 32They served Joseph by himself. They served his brothers by themselves. They served the Egyptians by themselves too. They ate apart because Egyptians would not eat with Hebrews. That was hateful to them. 33The brothers were seated in front of Joseph in order of age. The oldest sat first and the youngest last. The men looked at each other in amazement. 34Food was brought to them from Joseph's table. Benjamin got five times more than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.