Genesis 43

CHAPTER 43

1In the meantime hunger oppressed greatly all the land,

2and when the meats were wasted or consumed, which they [had] brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Turn ye again, and buy ye a little of meats to us.

3Judah answered, That man announced to us, under witnessing of an oath, and said, Ye shall not see my face, if ye shall not bring with you your least brother;

4therefore if thou wilt send him with us, we shall go down together, and we shall buy necessaries to thee;

5else if thou wilt not, we shall not go down; for as we said oft, the man announced to us, and said, Ye shall not see my face without your least brother.

6Forsooth Israel said to them, Ye did this into my wretchedness, that ye showed to him, that ye had also another brother.

7And they answered, The man asked us by order our generation, if our father lived, if we had another brother; and we answered pursuingly to him, by that that he asked; whether we might know that he would say, Bring ye your brother with you?

8And Judah said to his father, Send the child with me#43:8 Benjamin would have been over 30 years old at this time., that we go, and may live, lest we die, and thou, and our little children;

9I shall take the child, require thou him again of mine hand; if I shall not bring him again, and betake him to thee, I shall be guilty of sin against thee in all time;

10if this delay, or tarrying, had not been, we had come thence now another time.

11Therefore Israel, their father, said to them, If it is need so to be, do ye that that ye will; take ye of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and bear ye gifts to the man, a little of gum, and of honey, and of storax, that is, a precious gum, and of myrrh, that is, a bitter gum, and of terebinth, that is, best resins, and of almonds;

12and bear ye with you double money, and bear ye again that money which ye found in [the] bags, lest peradventure it be done by error, or unwittingly, or by negligence;

13but also take ye your brother, and go ye to the man;

14forsooth my God Almighty make him peaceable or pleasable, or queme-ful, to you, and send he again your brother, whom he holdeth in bonds, and also this Benjamin; forsooth I shall be now as made bare without sons.

15Therefore the men took gifts, and double money, and Benjamin; and they went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

16And when he had seen them and Benjamin together, he commanded the dispenser of his house, and said, Lead these men into the house, and slay some beasts, and make a feast; for they shall eat with me today.

17He did as it was commanded or as it was bidden to him, and he led the men into the house;

18and there they were afeared, and they said together, We be brought in for the money which we bare again before in our sacks, that he put challenge against us, and make subject by violence to servage both us and our asses.

19Wherefore they nighed in the gates, and spake to the dispenser,

20Lord, we pray, that thou hear us; we came down now before that we should buy meats;

21when those were bought, and we headed home, when we came to the inn, we opened our bags, and we found the money in the mouths of our sacks, which money we have brought again now in the same weight;

22but also we have brought other silver, that we can buy those things that be needful to us; it is not in our knowing who put the money in our purses.

23And he answered, Peace be to you, do not ye dread; your God, and [the] God of your father, gave to you treasures in your bags; for I have the money proved, which ye gave to me. And he led out Simeon to them;

24and when they were brought into the house, he brought water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their asses meats.

25Soothly they made ready their gifts till Joseph entered at midday, for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

26Therefore Joseph entered into his house, and they offered gifts to him, and held them in their hands, and worshipped low to the earth.

27And he greeted them again meekly; and he asked them, and said, Whether your father, the eld [or old] man, is safe, of whom ye said to me? liveth he yet?

28Which answered, He is whole, thy servant our father liveth yet; and they were bowed, and worshipped him.

29Forsooth Joseph raised [up] his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother of the same womb, and he said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye said to me? And again Joseph said, My son, God have mercy on thee.

30And Joseph hasted into another part of the house, for his entrails were moved on his brother, and tears burst out, and he entered into a closet, and wept.

31And again when his face was washed, he went out, and refrained himself from weeping, and said, Set ye forth loaves.

32Which were set forth to Joseph by himself, and to his brethren by themselves, and to the Egyptians that ate together by themselves; for it is unleaveful to Egyptians to eat with Hebrews, and they guess such a feast unholy.

33Therefore they sat before him, the first begotten by right of the first begotten, and so on down to the youngest by his age; and they wondered greatly,

34when the parts were taken which they had received of him, and the more part came to Benjamin, so that it passed the others in five parts; and they drank, and were [ful] filled with him.

Berĕshith (Genesis) 43

1But the scarcity of food was severe in the land.

2And it came to be, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Mitsrayim, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

3But Yehuḏah spoke to him, saying, “The man vehemently warned us, saying, ‘You do not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

4“If you let our brother go with us, we go down and buy you food.

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

6And Yisra’ĕl said, “Why did you do evil to me to inform the man that you still had another brother?”

7And they said, “The man kept asking about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we informed him according to these words. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

8And Yehuḏah said to Yisra’ĕl his father, “Send the boy with me, and let us arise and go, and live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.

9“I myself shall stand guaranty for him – from my hand you are to require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

10“For if we had not delayed, truly by now we could have returned this second time.”

11And their father Yisra’ĕl said to them, “If so, then do this: Take some of the best fruit of the land in your vessels and bring a present down for the man, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.

12“And take double silver in your hand, and take back in your hand the silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. It could have been a mistake.

13“And take your brother, and arise, go back to the man.

14And Ěl Shaddai give to you compassion before the man, so that he shall release your other brother and Binyamin. And I, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved!

15And the men took that present and Binyamin, and they took double the amount of silver in their hand, and arose and went down to Mitsrayim, and stood before Yosĕph.

16And Yosĕph saw Binyamin with them, and said to the one over his house, “Bring the men home, and make a great slaughter, and prepare, for these men are to eat with me at noon.”

17And the man did as Yosĕph said, and the man brought the men into Yosĕph’s house.

18And the men were afraid because they were brought into Yosĕph’s house. And they said, “It is because of the silver, which was put back into our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, to throw himself upon us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves, our donkeys too.”

19So they came near to the man over the house of Yosĕph, and spoke to him at the door of the house,

20and said, “O my master, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

21but it came to be, when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks and saw each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack, our silver in its weight. And we have brought it back in our hand.

22And we have brought down other silver in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.

23But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your sacks – your silver had come to me!” And he brought Shim‛on out to them.

24And the man brought the men into Yosĕph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. And he gave their donkeys fodder.

25And they made the present ready for Yosĕph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they were to eat there.

26And when Yosĕph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand, into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.

27And he asked them about their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

28And they said, “Your servant our father is in good health, he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads down and did obeisance.

29And he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Binyamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “Elohim show favour to you, my son.”

30And Yosĕph hurried, for his emotions were deeply moved towards his brother, and he looked for a place to weep, and went into his room and wept there.

31Then he washed his face and came out, and controlled himself, and said, “Serve the food.”

32And they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Mitsrites who ate with him by themselves, for the Mitsrites could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Mitsrites.

33And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at each other in astonishment.

34And he took portions to them from before him, but Binyamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they feasted and they drank with him.

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Genesis 43

Berĕshith (Genesis) 43