Genesis 43

¹Meanwhile the famine lay heavy on the land. ²Once the grain they had brought back from Egypt was all eaten, their father told them, “Go back again and get us a little food.” ³Judah answered him, “The man warned us in the strongest terms, ‘Do not show yourselves before me unless your brother comes with you.’ ⁴Let our brother come with us, and we will go down and get food for you. ⁵But if you refuse to send him, we will not go, for the man’s words to us were, ‘Unless your brother is with you, you will not see my face.’” ⁶Israel said, “Why did you do me such harm? Why did you have to tell the man there was another brother?” ⁷They said, “The man pressed us with questions about ourselves and our relatives: ‘Is your father still alive? Have you a brother?’ All we did was answer what he asked. How could we have guessed he would tell us, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us set out now. Then we will stay alive and not die, all of us: we, you and our little ones. ⁹I pledge myself for him. Demand him back from me. If I fail to bring him home and stand him before your eyes, the guilt will be mine before you as long as I live. ¹⁰If we had not wasted all this time, we could have been there and back twice by now.” ¹¹Their father Israel told them, “Since there is no other way, here is what you must do. Pack some of the choicest things our land produces and take them down to the man as a gift: a little balm and a little honey, gum and resin, pistachios and almonds. ¹²Carry twice the money with you, and give back the money you found at the top of your sacks; it may have been an oversight. ¹³Take your brother as well. Get up and return to the man. ¹⁴May God Almighty stir the man’s heart to mercy toward you, so that he releases your other brother to you, and Benjamin too. As for me, if I must lose my children, then I lose them.” ¹⁵The men took the gift, took twice the money, and took Benjamin. Then they set off down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶As soon as Joseph saw Benjamin among them, he told the man in charge of his household, “Bring these men into the house. Have an animal butchered and a meal made ready; they will be dining with me at noon.” ¹⁷The steward carried out Joseph’s orders and led the brothers into Joseph’s house. ¹⁸Being taken into Joseph’s house terrified the men. They said to themselves, “This is about the money that turned up in our sacks last time. He has brought us in here to turn on us and fall on us, make us his slaves, and take our donkeys.” ¹⁹At the doorway of the house they came up to the man in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him. ²⁰“Excuse us, my lord,” they said. “We really did come down here before, just to buy food. ²¹When we reached our night’s lodging and opened our sacks, there was each man’s money at the top of his sack, the full weight of it. Here it is; we have brought it back. ²²We have brought other money besides, to pay for food this time. Who put our money back in our sacks, we cannot tell.” ²³“All is well,” he replied. “Put away your fear. It was your God, the God of your father, who hid treasure in your sacks for you. Your money reached me.” And he led Simeon out to join them. ²⁴The steward led them inside Joseph’s house. He brought water so they could wash their feet, and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵Then they set out their gift, ready for when Joseph would come at noon, because they had been told they would be eating a meal there. ²⁶Joseph came home, and they carried the gift they had with them into the house and presented it to him, bowing low to the ground. ²⁷Joseph asked after their health. “And your father, the old man you spoke of,” he said, “is he well? Is he still alive?” ²⁸“Your servant our father is in good health,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and knelt low. ²⁹Then Joseph raised his eyes and caught sight of Benjamin, his brother, born of his own mother. “Is this the youngest brother you spoke to me about?” he asked. And he said, “May God show you favor, my son.” ³⁰Joseph had to leave quickly; his heart was so stirred for his brother that he was close to tears. He went into an inner room, and there he wept. ³¹Then he washed his face and came out again. Holding his feelings in check, he gave the order: “Bring in the food.” ³²Food was set out for Joseph by himself, for the brothers by themselves, and for the Egyptians who dined with him by themselves. Egyptians would not share a meal with Hebrews, since they found that abhorrent. ³³They were seated facing him, the eldest in the place his birthright gave him and the youngest in the place that fit his youth, and the men stared at one another in amazement. ³⁴Dishes were sent to them from the food in front of Joseph, and Benjamin got five times as much as any of the others. They drank with him until they were merry.