| Chapter
43 |
| 1 | And
the famine was sore in the land. |
| 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 | 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 thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down
and buy thee food: |
| 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 | And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so
ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? |
| 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 | 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 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 |
For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. |
| 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 | 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 also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: |
| 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 | 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 |
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 | And the
man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. |
| 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 | And they
came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the
door of the house, |
| 20 |
And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: |
| 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 other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell
who put our money in our sacks. |
|
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
| 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 | And they made ready the present
against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread
there. |
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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
| 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 | And he washed his face,
and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. |
| 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 | And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his
birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one
at another. |
| 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. |
