Genesis 43
43
1Now great famine was in the land. 2And when they had eaten vp the vitaile, which they had brought from Egypt, their father sayd vnto them, Turne againe, and bye vs a little foode. 3And Iudah answered him, saying, The man charged vs by an othe, saying, Neuer see my face, except your brother be with you. 4If thou wilt sende our brother with vs, we will goe downe, and bye thee foode: 5But if thou wilt not send him, we wil not go downe: for the man said vnto vs, Looke me not in the face, except your brother be with you. 6And Israel sayd, Wherefore delt ye so euill with me, as to tell the man, whether ye had yet a brother or no? 7And they answered, The man asked straitly of our selues and of our kinred, saying, Is your father yet aliue? haue ye any brother? And wee tolde him according to these wordes: could we knowe certainely that he would say, Bring your brother downe? 8Then sayde Iudah to Israel his father, Send the boy with mee, that we may rise and goe, and that we may liue and not dye, both we, and thou, and our children. 9I wil be suertie for him: of mine hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, then let me beare the blame for euer. 10For except we had made this tarying, doutlesse by this we had returned the second time. 11Then their father Israel sayd vnto them, If it must needes be so now, do thus: take of the best fruites of the lande in your vessels, and bring the man a present, a little rosen, and a little hony, spices and myrrhe, nuttes, and almondes: 12And take double money in your hande, and the money, that was brought againe in your sackes mouthes: cary it againe in your hand, lest it were some ouersight. 13Take also your brother and arise, and go againe to the man. 14And God almightie giue you mercie in the sight of the man, that hee may deliuer you your other brother, and Beniamin: but I shall be robbed of my childe, as I haue bene. 15Thus the men tooke this present, and tooke twise so much money in their hande with Beniamin, and rose vp, and went downe to Egypt and stoode before Ioseph. 16And whe Ioseph saw Beniamin with them, he sayde to his stewarde, Bring these men home and kill meate, and make ready: for the men shall eate with me at noone. 17And the man did as Ioseph bad, and brought the men vnto Iosephs house. 18Nowe when the men were brought into Iosephs house, they were afrayd, and sayd, Because of the money, that came in our sackes mouthes at the first time, are we brought, that hee may picke a quarrell against vs, and lay some thing to our charge, and bring vs in bondage and our asses. 19Therefore came they to Iosephs stewarde, and communed with him at the doore of ye house. 20And said, Oh syr, we came in deede down hither at the first time to bye foode, 21And as wee came to an ynne and opened our sackes, behold, euery mans money was in his sackes mouth, euen our money in full weight, but we haue brought it againe in our handes. 22Also other money haue we brought in our handes to bye foode, but we cannot tell, who put our money in our sackes. 23And he said, Peace be vnto you, feare not: your God and the God of your father hath giuen you that treasure in your sackes, I had your money: and he brought forth Simeon to them. 24So the man led them into Iosephs house, and gaue them water to wash their feete, and gaue their asses prouender. 25And they made ready their present against Ioseph came at noone, (for they heard say, that they should eate bread there) 26When Ioseph came home, they brought the present into the house to him, which was in their handes, and bowed downe to the grounde before him. 27And he asked them of their prosperitie, and sayd, Is your father the olde man, of whome ye tolde me, in good health? is he yet aliue? 28Who answered, Thy seruant our father is in good health, he is yet aliue: and they bowed downe, and made obeysance. 29And he lifting vp his eyes, beheld his brother Beniamin his mothers sonne, and sayde, Is this your yonger brother, of whome ye tolde me? And he said, God be merciful vnto thee, my sone. 30And Ioseph made haste (for his affection was inflamed towarde his brother, and sought where to weepe) and entred into his chamber, and wept there. 31Afterward he washed his face, and came out, and refrained himselfe, and sayd, Set on meate. 32And they prepared for him by himselfe, and for them by themselues, and for the Egyptians, which did eate with him, by themselues, because the Egyptians might not eate bread with the Ebrewes: for that was an abomination vnto the Egyptians. 33So they sate before him: the eldest according vnto his age, and the yongest according vnto his youth. and the men marueiled among themselues. 34And they tooke meases from before him, and sent to them: but Beniamins mease was fiue times so much as any of theirs: and they drunke, and had of the best drinke with him.
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Genesis 43: GNV
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PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 43
43
The second journey to Egypt
1Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2So 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.’
3But Judah said to him, ‘The man warned us solemnly, “You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.” 4If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But 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.” ’
6Israel asked, ‘Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?’
7They 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”?’
8Then 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. 9I 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. 10As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.’
11Then 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. 12Take 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. 13Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 14And may God Almighty#43:14 Hebrew El-Shaddai 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.’
15So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, ‘Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.’
17The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. 18Now 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.’
19So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20‘We beg your pardon, our lord,’ they said, ‘we came down here the first time to buy food. 21But 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. 22We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.’
23‘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.
24The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.
26When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27He asked them how they were, and then he said, ‘How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?’
28They replied, ‘Your servant our father is still alive and well.’ And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.
29As 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.’ 30Deeply 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.
31After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, ‘Serve the food.’
32They 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. 33The 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. 34When 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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