1 Now great famine was in the land. 2 And when they had eaten vp the vitaile, which they had brought from Egypt, their father sayd vnto them, Turne againe, and bye vs a little foode. 3 And Iudah answered him, saying, The man charged vs by an othe, saying, Neuer see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt sende our brother with vs, we will goe downe, and bye thee foode: 5 But if thou wilt not send him, we wil not go downe: for the man said vnto vs, Looke me not in the face, except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel sayd, Wherefore delt ye so euill with me, as to tell the man, whether ye had yet a brother or no? 7 And they answered, The man asked straitly of our selues and of our kinred, saying, Is your father yet aliue? haue ye any brother? And wee tolde him according to these wordes: could we knowe certainely that he would say, Bring your brother downe? 8 Then sayde Iudah to Israel his father, Send the boy with mee, that we may rise and goe, and that we may liue and not dye, both we, and thou, and our children. 9 I wil be suertie for him: of mine hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, then let me beare the blame for euer. 10 For except we had made this tarying, doutlesse by this we had returned the second time. 11 Then their father Israel sayd vnto them, If it must needes be so now, do thus: take of the best fruites of the lande in your vessels, and bring the man a present, a little rosen, and a little hony, spices and myrrhe, nuttes, and almondes: 12 And take double money in your hande, and the money, that was brought againe in your sackes mouthes: cary it againe in your hand, lest it were some ouersight. 13 Take also your brother and arise, and go againe to the man. 14 And God almightie giue you mercie in the sight of the man, that hee may deliuer you your other brother, and Beniamin: but I shall be robbed of my childe, as I haue bene. 15 Thus the men tooke this present, and tooke twise so much money in their hande with Beniamin, and rose vp, and went downe to Egypt and stoode before Ioseph. 16 And whe Ioseph saw Beniamin with them, he sayde to his stewarde, Bring these men home and kill meate, and make ready: for the men shall eate with me at noone. 17 And the man did as Ioseph bad, and brought the men vnto Iosephs house. 18 Nowe when the men were brought into Iosephs house, they were afrayd, and sayd, Because of the money, that came in our sackes mouthes at the first time, are we brought, that hee may picke a quarrell against vs, and lay some thing to our charge, and bring vs in bondage and our asses. 19 Therefore came they to Iosephs stewarde, and communed with him at the doore of ye house. 20 And said, Oh syr, we came in deede down hither at the first time to bye foode, 21 And as wee came to an ynne and opened our sackes, behold, euery mans money was in his sackes mouth, euen our money in full weight, but we haue brought it againe in our handes. 22 Also other money haue we brought in our handes to bye foode, but we cannot tell, who put our money in our sackes. 23 And he said, Peace be vnto you, feare not: your God and the God of your father hath giuen you that treasure in your sackes, I had your money: and he brought forth Simeon to them. 24 So the man led them into Iosephs house, and gaue them water to wash their feete, and gaue their asses prouender. 25 And they made ready their present against Ioseph came at noone, (for they heard say, that they should eate bread there) 26 When Ioseph came home, they brought the present into the house to him, which was in their handes, and bowed downe to the grounde before him. 27 And he asked them of their prosperitie, and sayd, Is your father the olde man, of whome ye tolde me, in good health? is he yet aliue? 28 Who answered, Thy seruant our father is in good health, he is yet aliue: and they bowed downe, and made obeysance. 29 And he lifting vp his eyes, beheld his brother Beniamin his mothers sonne, and sayde, Is this your yonger brother, of whome ye tolde me? And he said, God be merciful vnto thee, my sone. 30 And Ioseph made haste (for his affection was inflamed towarde his brother, and sought where to weepe) and entred into his chamber, and wept there. 31 Afterward he washed his face, and came out, and refrained himselfe, and sayd, Set on meate. 32 And they prepared for him by himselfe, and for them by themselues, and for the Egyptians, which did eate with him, by themselues, because the Egyptians might not eate bread with the Ebrewes: for that was an abomination vnto the Egyptians. 33 So they sate before him: the eldest according vnto his age, and the yongest according vnto his youth. and the men marueiled among themselues. 34 And they tooke meases from before him, and sent to them: but Beniamins mease was fiue times so much as any of theirs: and they drunke, and had of the best drinke with him.
Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin
1 The famine in Canaan got worse, 2 and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the grain which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy a little food for us.”
3 Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us that we would not be admitted to his presence unless we had our brother with us. 4 If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you. 5 If you are not willing, we will not go, because the man told us we would not be admitted to his presence unless our brother was with us.”
6 Jacob said, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another brother?”
7 They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother with us?”
8 Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will leave at once. Then none of us will starve to death. 9 I will pledge my own life, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you safe and sound, I will always bear the blame. 10 If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now.”
11 Their father said to them, “If that is how it has to be, then take the best products of the land in your packs as a present for the governor: a little resin, a little honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother and return at once. 14 May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your other brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them.”
15 So the brothers took the gifts and twice as much money, and set out for Egypt with Benjamin. There they presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. They are going to eat with me at noon, so kill an animal and prepare it.” 17 The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to Joseph's house.
18 As they were being brought to the house, they were afraid and thought, “We are being brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time. They will suddenly attack us, take our donkeys, and make us his slaves.” 19 So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge, 20 “If you please, sir, we came here once before to buy food. 21 When we set up camp on the way home, we opened our sacks, and each man found his money in the top of his sack—every bit of it. We have brought it back to you. 22 We have also brought some more money with us to buy more food. We do not know who put our money back in our sacks.”
23 The servant said, “Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks for you. I received your payment.” Then he brought Simeon to them.
24 The servant took the brothers into the house. He gave them water so that they could wash their feet, and he fed their donkeys. 25 They got their gifts ready to present to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had been told that they were to eat with him. 26 When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him. 27 He asked about their health and then said, “You told me about your old father—how is he? Is he still alive and well?”
28 They answered, “Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well.” And they knelt and bowed down before him.
29 When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “So this is your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.” 30 Then Joseph left suddenly, because his heart was full of tender feelings for his brother. He was about to break down, so he went to his room and cried. 31 After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served. 32 Joseph was served at one table and his brothers at another. The Egyptians who were eating there were served separately, because they considered it beneath their dignity to eat with Hebrews. 33 The brothers had been seated at the table, facing Joseph, in the order of their age from the oldest to the youngest. When they saw how they had been seated, they looked at one another in amazement. 34 Food was served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was served five times as much as the rest of them. So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.