Genesis
Chapter 43
The Second Journey to Egypt
1 Now the
famine was still severe in the land. 2 So 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."
3 But
Judah said to him, "The man warned us solemnly, 'You will not see my face again
unless your brother is with you.' 4 If you will
send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But 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.' "
6 Israel
asked, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another
brother?"
7 They
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'?"
8 Then
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. 9 I 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. 10 As it
is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice."
11 Then
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. 12 Take 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. 13 Take your brother also and go back
to the man at once. 14 And may God Almighty
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."
15 So the
men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down
to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these
men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at
noon."
17 The man
did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house. 18 Now 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."
19 So they
went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 "Please, sir," they said, "we came
down here the first time to buy food. 21 But 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. 22 We 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.
24 The
steward took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided
fodder for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their
gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.
26 When
Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and
they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He
asked them how they were, and then he said, "How is your aged father you told me
about? Is he still living?"
28 They
replied, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And they bowed low
to pay him honor.
29 As 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." 30 Deeply 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.
31 After
he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, "Serve the
food."
32 They
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. 33 The 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. 34 When 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.
