The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

43 ·Still no food grew in the land of Canaan [^LThe famine was heavy/severe in the land]. ² When ·Jacob’s family [^Lthey] had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more ·grain [^Lfood] for us to eat.”

³ But Judah said to Jacob, “The ·governor of that country [man] strongly warned us, ‘·If you don’t bring your brother back with you, you will not be allowed to see me [^LYou may not see my face unless your brother is with you].’ ⁴ If you will send ·Benjamin [^Lour brother] with us, we will go down and buy food for you. ⁵ But if you ·refuse to send Benjamin [^Lare not sending], we will not go. The ·governor of that country [^Lman] ·warned [^Lsaid to] us that ·we would not see him if we didn’t bring Benjamin with us [^Lyou will not see my face unless your brother is with you].”

⁶ Israel [^Canother name for Jacob; 32:28] said, “Why did you tell the man you had another brother? You have ·caused me a lot of trouble [wronged/harmed me].”

⁷ The brothers answered, “He questioned us ·carefully [or specifically] about ourselves and our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. How could we know he would ask us to bring our other brother to him?”

⁸ Then Judah said to his father ·Jacob [^LIsrael; 32:28], “Send ·Benjamin [^Lthe lad/child] with me, and we will ·go at once [^Lrise up and go] so that we, you, and our ·children [little ones] may live and not die. ⁹ I will ·guarantee you that he will be safe [^Lbe a guarantee for him], and I will be personally ·responsible [accountable] for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, ·you can blame me [^LI will be condemned before you] all my life. ¹⁰ If we had not ·wasted all this time [been delayed], we could have already ·made two trips [returned twice].”

¹¹ Then their father ·Jacob [^LIsrael; 32:28] said to them, “If it has to be that way, then do this: Take some of the best ·foods [products] in our land in your packs. Give them to the man as a gift: some balm, some honey, ·spices [or gum], ·myrrh [or resin], pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹² Take twice as much ·money [silver] ·with you this time [^Lin your hands], and take back the ·money [silver] that was returned to you in [^Lthe mouth of] your sacks last time. Maybe it was a ·mistake [^Lerror; oversight]. ¹³ And take ·Benjamin [^Lyour brother] with you. Now ·leave and go [^Lrise up and return] to the man. ¹⁴ I pray that God Almighty will cause the ·governor [^Lman] to be ·merciful to [compassionate toward] you and that he will allow ·Simeon [^Lyour other brother] and Benjamin to come back with you. If I am ·robbed of my children [bereaved], then I am ·robbed of them [bereaved]!”

¹⁵ So the ·brothers [^Lmen] took the ·gifts [or tribute]. They also took twice ·as much money as they had taken the first time [^Lthe money/silver in their hand], and they took Benjamin. They ·hurried [^Lrose up and went] down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] his house, “Bring those men into my house. ·Kill [Slaughter] an animal and prepare a meal. Those men will eat with me today at noon.” ¹⁷ The ·servant [^Lman] did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ The ·brothers [^Lmen] were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house and thought, “We were brought here because of the money that was ·put [returned; replaced] in our sacks on the first trip. He wants to ·attack [^Lfall on] us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So the brothers went to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the ·door [entrance] of the house. ²⁰ They said, “·Master [Lord], we came here ·once before [the first time] to buy food. ²¹ While we were going home, ·we stopped for the night and [^Lat the lodging place] when we opened our sacks each of us found all his ·money [silver in its weight] in his sack [42:26–28]. We brought that ·money [silver] ·with us to give it [^Lin our hands] back to you. ²² And we have brought ·more [additional] money to pay for the food we want to buy this time. We don’t know who put that money in our sacks.”

²³ But the servant answered, “·It’s all right [^LPeace be with you]. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the ·money [silver; ^Ltreasure] in your sacks. I got the ·money [silver] you paid me for the grain last time.” Then the servant brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The ·servant [^Lman] ·led [brought] the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys ·food to eat [fodder]. ²⁵ The men prepared their ·gift [tribute] to give to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had heard they were going to eat with him there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, the brothers gave him the ·gift [tribute] ·they had brought [^Lin their hand] into the house and bowed down to the ground in front of him. ²⁷ Joseph asked them how they were doing. He said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ The brothers answered, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed low ·before Joseph to show him respect [^Land did obeisance].

²⁹ When ·Joseph [^Lhe lifted his eyes and] saw his brother Benjamin, ·who had the same mother as he [^Lthe son of his mother], Joseph asked, “Is this your ·youngest [smallest] brother you told me about?” Then he said to Benjamin, “God be ·good [gracious] to you, my son!” ³⁰ Then Joseph hurried off because he ·had to hold back the tears [^Lwas overwhelmed with affection] when he saw his brother Benjamin. So Joseph went into his room and cried there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”

³² So they served Joseph ·at one table [^Lby himself], his brothers ·at another table [^Lby themselves], and the Egyptians who ate with him ·at another table [^Lby themselves]. ·This was because Egyptians did not like Hebrews and never ate with them [^LFor the Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for it was an abomination to the Egyptians]. ³³ Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him ·in order of their ages [^Lthe firstborn according to his birthright], ·from oldest to youngest [^Lthe youngest according to his youth]. They looked at each other because they were so amazed. ³⁴ ·Food [Portions] from Joseph’s table was taken to them, but Benjamin was given five times more food than the others. Joseph’s brothers ate and ·drank freely [celebrated with drinking] with him.