Bereshis 43
43
1And the ra'av (famine) was kaved (heavy, severe) in the land.
2And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the shever (grain) which they had brought out of Mitzrayim, then Avihem said unto them, Shuvu (return)! Buy for us a little ochel.
3And Yehudah spoke unto him, saying, The ish did solemnly warn us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless achichem be with you.
4If thou wilt send achinu (our brother) with us, we will go down and buy thee ochel;
5But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the ish said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, unless achichem be with you.
6And Yisroel said, Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the ish whether ye had yet another ach (brother)?
7And they said, The ish asked in detail about us and about our moledet (kindred), saying, Is Avichem yet alive? Have ye another ach? And we declared to him according to these words of [his inquiry]; could we certainly know that he would say, Bring down achichem?
8And Yehudah said unto Yisroel Aviv, Send na'ar with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.
9I will be surety for him; of my yad shalt thou require an accounting for him; if I bring him not back unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame kol hayamim;
10For if we had not delayed, surely now we had returned zeh pa'amayim (this second time).
11And Yisroel Avihem said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of mizimerat HaAretz (the best fruits of the land) in your kelim (vessels), and carry down to the ish a minchah (present), a little balm, and a little devash (honey), nekhot (spices), loht (myrrh), batenim (pistachio nuts), and shekedim (almonds):
12And take kesef mishneh (double money) in your yad; and the kesef that was returned in the mouth of your sacks, carry it back in your yad; perhaps it was mishgeh (mistake);
13Take also achichem, and arise, shuvu (return) unto the ish;
14And El Shaddai give you rachamim before the ish, that he may send away achichem acher (your other brother), and Binyamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
15And the anashim took that minchah, and they took mishneh kesef (double money) in their yad and Binyamin; and rose up, and went down to Mitzrayim, and stood before Yosef.
16And when Yosef saw Binyamin with them, he said to the ish over Bais Yosef, Bring these anashim home, and slaughter the tevach, and make ready; for these anashim shall dine with me at tzahorayim (noon).
17And the ish did as Yosef said; and the ish brought the anashim to the house of Yosef.
18And the anashim were afraid, because they were brought into Bais Yosef; and they said, Because of the kesef that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and seize us for avadim, and chamoreinu (our donkeys).
19And they came near to the ish over Bais Yosef, and they spoke with him at the petach habayit,
20And said, O adoni, we came indeed down at the first time to buy ochel:
21And it came to pass, when we came to the malon, that we opened our sacks, and, hinei, kesef ish (every manʼs money) was in the mouth of his sack, our kesef in full weight; and we have brought it back again in our yad.
22And kesef acher (other money) have we brought down in our hands to buy ochel; we cannot tell who put our kesef in our sacks.
23And he said, Shalom lachem, fear not; Eloheichem, and Elohei Avichem, hath given you matmon (treasure) in your sacks; I had your kesef. And he brought Shim'on out unto them.
24And the ish brought the anashim into the house of Yosef, and gave them mayim, and they washed their raglayim; and he gave their chamorim mispo (fodder).
25And they made ready the minchah for bo Yosef (coming of Yosef) at tzahorayim; for they heard that they would eat lechem there.
26And when Yosef came home, they presented him the minchah which was in their yad in the house, and prostrated themselves to the ground before him.
27And he asked them l'shalom (about their welfare), and said, Is there shalom with avichem, the zaken of whom ye spoke? Is he still alive?
28And they answered, There is shalom with thy eved avinu; he is still alive. And they bowed their heads, and prostrated themselves.
29And he lifted up his eyes, and saw achiv Binyamin, ben immo, and said, Is this achichem hakaton (your younger brother), of whom ye spoke unto me? And he said, Elohim be gracious unto thee, beni.
30And Yosef made haste; for his compassion was stirred upon achiv (his brother); and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his cheder, and wept there.
31And he washed his face, and went out, and controlled himself, and said, Serve lechem.
32And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Mitzrim (Egyptians), which did eat with him, by themselves; because Mitzrim could not eat lechem with the Ivrim; for that is a to'evah (abomination) unto the Mitzrim.
33And they sat before him, the bechor according to his bechorah (birthright), and the youngest according to his youth; and the anashim marvelled one with another.
34And he took and sent masot (portions) unto them from before him; but masat Binyamin was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and feasted with him.
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Bereshis 43: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 43
43
Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin
1The famine in Canaan got worse, 2and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the corn which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy a little food for us.”
3Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us that we would not be admitted to his presence unless we had our brother with us. 4If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you. 5If you are not willing, we will not go, because the man told us we would not be admitted to his presence unless our brother was with us.”
6Jacob said, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another brother?”
7They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family, ‘Is your father still living? Have you got another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother with us?”
8Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will leave at once. Then none of us will starve to death. 9I will pledge my own life, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you safe and sound, I will always bear the blame. 10If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now.”
11Their father said to them, “If that is how it has to be, then take the best products of the land in your packs as a present for the governor: a little resin, a little honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake. 13Take your brother and return at once. 14May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your other brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them.”
15So the brothers took the gifts and twice as much money, and set out for Egypt with Benjamin. There they presented themselves to Joseph. 16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. They are going to eat with me at noon, so kill an animal and prepare it.” 17The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to Joseph's house.
18As they were being brought to the house, they were afraid and thought, “We are being brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time. They will suddenly attack us, take our donkeys, and make us his slaves.” 19So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge, 20“If you please, sir, we came here once before to buy food. 21When we set up camp on the way home, we opened our sacks, and each man found his money in the top of his sack — every bit of it. We have brought it back to you. 22We have also brought some more money with us to buy more food. We do not know who put our money back in our sacks.”
23The servant said, “Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks for you. I received your payment.” Then he brought Simeon to them.
24The servant took the brothers into the house. He gave them water so that they could wash their feet, and he fed their donkeys. 25They got their gifts ready to present to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had been told that they were to eat with him. 26When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him. 27He asked about their health and then said, “You told me about your old father — how is he? Is he still alive and well?”
28They answered, “Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well.” And they knelt and bowed down before him.
29When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “So this is your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.” 30Then Joseph left suddenly, because his heart was full of tender feelings for his brother. He was about to break down, so he went to his room and cried. 31After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served. 32Joseph was served at one table and his brothers at another. The Egyptians who were eating there were served separately, because they considered it beneath their dignity to eat with Hebrews. 33The brothers had been seated at table, facing Joseph, in the order of their age from the eldest to the youngest. When they saw how they had been seated, they looked at one another in amazement. 34Food was served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was served five times as much as the rest of them. So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.