Genesis, 43

1. And the famine [was] sore in the land.

1. Now the lack of food was severe in the land,

2. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

2. and when they had eaten the grain they brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go down again and buy us a little food."

3. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you.

3. But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us that our brother had to come with us.

4. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

4. If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you;

5. But if thou wilt not send [him], we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you.

5. but if you don't send him, we will not go, for the man said: You will not be admitted to my presence if your brother is not with you."

6. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye [so] ill with me, [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

6. Israel then said, "Why did you bring this misery on me by letting the man know you have another brother?"

7. And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, [Is] your father yet alive? have ye [another] brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

7. They replied, "The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kinsfolk saying: 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' And so we answered these questions. Could we have known that he would tell us to bring our brother?"

8. And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, [and] also our little ones.

8. Judah then said to Israel his father, "Send the boy with me. Let us go so that we, you and our children may live and not die.

9. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

9. I will guarantee his safety. If I do not bring him back and set him here before you, I will bear the blame forever.

10. For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

10. If we hadn't delayed for so long we could have been there and back twice over."

11. And their father Israel said unto them, If [it must be] so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

11. Israel their father said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some choice products of the land in your bags and a gift for the man - some balm, a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

12. And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry [it] again in your hand; peradventure it [was] an oversight:

12. Take double the money with you and you will repay what was put in your sacks; it may have been a mistake.

13. Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

13. Take your brother and go back to the man.

14. And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved [of my children], I am bereaved.

14. May God Almighty grant you mercy in his presence, so that he will allow you to bring back your other brother and Benjamin. As for myself if I am bereaved of my children, then bereaved I shall have to be."

15. And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

15. The men took the gift and the double amount of money as well. And, taking Benjamin, they set off and went down to Egypt and were admitted to the presence of Joseph.

16. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring [these] men home, and slay, and make ready; for [these] men shall dine with me at noon.

16. When Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, he said to his steward, "Bring these men to my house. Have an animal slaughtered and a meal prepared, for these men will eat with me at noon."

17. And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

17. The steward did as Joseph directed and brought the men to Joseph's house.

18. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money 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 take us for bondmen, and our asses.

18. They were afraid and said to each other, "It's because of the money that was placed in our sacks the last time, that we are brought in. He wants to attack and overpower us and have us as slaves and take our donkeys."

19. And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

19. So they approached Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the door of the house,

20. And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:

20. "By your leave, sir, we came down here the first time to buy food,

21. And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, [every] man's money [was] in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

21. and when we reached a lodging place and opened our sacks, we found in the mouth of the sacks each one's money to the full weight. We have brought it back with us

22. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

22. as well as additional money to buy food. We don't know who put the money in our sacks."

23. And he said, Peace [be] to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

23. The steward said, "Be at peace! Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, put a treasure in your grain sacks. Your money reached me safely." He then brought Simeon out to them.

24. And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave [them] water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

24. The steward took them into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and fodder for their donkeys.

25. And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

25. They prepared their present and waited for Joseph's arrival at midday, for they heard they were to dine there.

26. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which [was] in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

26. When Joseph came into the house, they offered him the gift they had with them and bowed to the ground before him.

27. And he asked them of [their] welfare, and said, [Is] your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? [Is] he yet alive?

27. He asked them how they were and said, "Is your father well, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?"

28. And they answered, Thy servant our father [is] in good health, he [is] yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

28. They answered, "Your servant our father is well and is still alive."

29. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, [Is] this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

29. He looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" And he added, "God be good to you, my son!"

30. And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought [where] to weep; and he entered into [his] chamber, and wept there.

30. So deeply moved was Joseph, on seeing his brother, that he wanted to cry and went out quickly and wept in his own private room.

31. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

31. After he had washed his face and come out, controlling himself, he said, "Serve the meal."

32. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that [is] an abomination unto the Egyptians.

32. He was served separately and so were they, and the Egyptians as well, for the Egyptians cannot share a meal with Hebrews; for the Egyptians this would be a shame.

33. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

33. They were seated opposite him in the order of their ages from the eldest to the youngest and they looked at each other in astonishment.

34. And he took [and sent] messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

34. Joseph had portions from his own dish taken to them and Benjamin's portion was five times more than that of the others. So they drank freely with him.