Genesis 43

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 But the famine in the country grew worse,	1 And the famine was sore in the land.
2 and when they had finished eating the supplies which they had brought from Egypt their father said tothem, 'Go back and get us a little food.'	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.
3 'But', Judah replied, 'the man expressly warned us, "You wil not be admitted to my presence unlessyour brother is with you."	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.
4 If you are ready to send our brother with us, we will go down and get food for you.	4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
5 But if you are not ready to send him, we will not go down, in view of the man's warning, "You wil notbe admitted to my presence unless your brother is with 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.
6 Then Israel said, 'Why did you bring this misery on me by tel ing the man you had another brother?'	6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
7 They replied, 'He kept questioning us about ourselves and our family, asking, "Is your father stillalive?" and, "Have you another brother?" That is why we told him. How could we know he was going to say,"Bring your brother down here"?'	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?
8 Judah then said to his father Israel, 'Send the boy with me, and let us be off and go, if we are tosurvive and not die, we, you, and our dependants.	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.
9 I wil go surety for him, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you andproduce him before you, let me bear the blame al my life.	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:
10 Indeed, if we had not wasted so much time we should have been there and back twice by now!'	10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
11 Then their father Israel said to them, 'If it must be so, then do this: take some of the country's bestproducts in your baggage and take them to the man as a gift: some balsam, some honey, gum tragacanth, resin,pistachio nuts and almonds.	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:
12 Take double the amount of money with you and return the money put back in the mouths of yoursacks; it may have been a mistake.	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:
13 Take your brother, and go back to the man.	13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
14 May El Shaddai move the man to be kind to you, and al ow you to bring back your other brother andBenjamin. As for me, if I must be bereaved, bereaved I must be.'	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.
15 The men took this gift; they took double the amount of money with them, and Benjamin. They set off,went down to Egypt and presented themselves before Joseph.	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.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them he said to his chamberlain, 'Take these men into the house.Slaughter a beast and prepare it, for these men are to eat with me at midday.'	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.
17 The man did as Joseph had ordered, and took the men to Joseph's house.	17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18 The men were afraid at being taken to Joseph's house and said, 'We are being taken there becauseof the money replaced in our sacks the first time. They wil set on us; they wil fal on us and make slaves of us,and take our donkeys too.'	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.
19 So they went up to Joseph's chamberlain and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.	19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
20 'By your leave, sir,' they said, 'we came down once before to get supplies,	20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
21 and when we reached camp and opened our sacks, there was each man's money in the mouth of hissack, to the full. But we have brought it back with us,	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.
22 and we have brought more money with us for the supplies. We do not know who put our money inour sacks.'	22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.
23 'Set your minds at ease,' he replied, 'do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father puttreasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.' And he brought Simeon out to them.	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.
24 The man then took the men into Joseph's house. He offered them water to wash their feet, and gavetheir donkeys fodder.	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.
25 They arranged their gift while they waited for Joseph to come at midday, for they had heard theywere to dine there.	25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.
26 When Joseph arrived at the house they offered him the gift they had with them, bowing low beforehim.	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.
27 He greeted them pleasantly, asking, 'Is your father wel , the old man you told me of ? Is he stillalive?'	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?
28 'Your servant our father is wel ,' they replied, 'he is stil alive,' and they bowed respectful y.	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.
29 Looking about, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son. 'Is this your youngest brother', heasked, 'of whom you told me?' And he added, 'God be good to you, my son.'	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.
30 Joseph hurried out; so strong was the affection he felt for his brother that he wanted to cry. He wentinto his room and there he wept.	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.
31 After washing his face he returned and, controlling himself, gave the order: 'Serve the meal.'	31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
32 He was served separately; so were they, and so were the Egyptians who ate in his household, forthe Egyptians could not take food with Hebrews; Egyptians have a horror of doing so.	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.
33 They were placed facing him in order of seniority, from the eldest to the youngest, and the menlooked at one another in amazement.	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.
34 He had portions carried to them from his own dish, the portion for Benjamin being five times largerthan any of the others. And they feasted with him and drank freely.	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.