Genesis 43, side by side

¹Now the famine was still severe in the land.

¹And the famine was sore in the land.

²So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

²And 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.

³But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

³And 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.

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

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

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

⁵But 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.

⁶“Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”

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

⁷They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

⁷And 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?

⁸And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.

⁸And 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.

⁹I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.

⁹I 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:

¹⁰If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”

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

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

¹¹And 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:

¹²Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

¹²And 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:

¹³Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.

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

¹⁴May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.

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

¹⁸But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

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

²⁰“Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.

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

²¹But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.

²¹And 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.

²²We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”

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

²³“It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²³And 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.

²⁴And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys.

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

²⁵Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.

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

²⁶When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.

²⁶And 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.

²⁷He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

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

²⁸“Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.

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

²⁹When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

²⁹And 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.

³⁰Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.

³⁰And 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.

³¹Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”

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

³²They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.

³²And 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.

³³They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

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

³⁴When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.

³⁴And 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.