43Now the famine was severe in the land.H7458H3515H776 2And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food."H3615H398H7668H935H4714H1H559H7725H7666H4592H400 3But Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"H3063H559H559H376H5749H5749H559H7200H6440H1115H251 4"If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.H3426H7971H251H3381H7666H400 5"But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"H7971H3381H376H559H7200H6440H251 6And Israel said, "Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?"H3478H559H7489H5046H376H251 7But they said, "The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"H559H376H7592H7592H4138H559H1H2416H3426H251H5046H5921H6310H1697H3045H3045H559H3381H251H3381 8Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.H3063H559H3478H1H7971H5288H6965H3212H2421H4191H2945 9"I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.H6148H3027H1245H518H935H518H3322H6440H2398H3117 10"For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time."H3884H4102H7725H6471 11And their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.H1H3478H559H645H6213H3947H2173H776H3627H3381H376H4503H4592H6875H4592H1706H5219H3910H992H8247 12"Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.H3947H4932H3701H3027H3701H7725H6310H572H7725H3027H4870 13"Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man.H3947H251H6965H7725H376 14"And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!"H410H7706H5414H7356H6440H376H7971H312H251H1144H834H7921H7921 15So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph.H582H3947H2063H4503H3947H4932H3701H3027H1144H6965H3381H4714H5975H6440H3130 16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon."H3130H7200H1144H854H559H1004H935H582H1004H2873H2874H3559H582H398H6672 17Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.H376H6213H3130H559H376H935H582H3130H1004 18Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys."H582H3372H935H3130H1004H559H1697H3701H7725H572H8462H935H1556H5307H3947H5650H2543 19When they drew near to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at the door of the house,H5066H376H3130H1004H1696H6607H1004 20and said, "O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food;H559H994H113H3381H3381H8462H7666H400 21"but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand.H935H4411H6605H572H376H3701H6310H572H3701H4948H7725H3027 22"And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks."H312H3701H3381H3027H7666H400H3045H7760H3701H572 23But he said, "Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.H559H7965H3372H430H430H1H5414H4301H572H935H3701H3318H8095 24So the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.H376H935H582H3130H1004H5414H4325H7364H7272H5414H2543H4554 25Then they made the present ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.H3559H4503H5704H3130H935H6672H8085H398H3899 26And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.H3130H935H1004H935H4503H3027H1004H7812H776 27Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"H7592H7965H559H1H7965H2205H559H2416 28And they answered, "Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive." And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.H559H5650H1H7965H2416H6915H7812 29Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son."H5375H5869H7200H251H1144H517H1121H559H6996H251H559H559H430H2603H1121 30Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there.H3130H4116H7356H3648H251H1245H1058H935H2315H1058 31Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, "Serve the bread."H7364H6440H3318H662H559H7760H3899 32So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.H7760H4713H398H4713H3201H398H3899H5680H8441H4714 33And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another.H3427H6440H1060H1062H6810H6812H582H8539H376H7453 34Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.H5375H4864H6440H1144H4864H2568H3027H7235H8354H7937
Dublin, OH
