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The Return to Egypt with Benjamin
And the famine was grievous in the land.
And the famine was grievous in the land.
The Brothers Return to Egypt
But the famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan.
But the famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan.
And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.
When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.
But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;
If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food.
but if thou do not send [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.
But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”
And Israel said, Why did ye deal [so] ill with me [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
“The man kept asking us questions about our family,” they replied. “He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”
And 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 thou and our little ones.
Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will be on our way. Otherwise we will all die of starvation — and not only we, but you and our little ones.
I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.
I personally guarantee his safety. You may hold me responsible if I don’t bring him back to you. Then let me bear the blame forever.
For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.
If we hadn’t wasted all this time, we could have gone and returned twice by now.”
And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.
So their father, Jacob, finally said to them, “If it can’t be avoided, then at least do this. Pack your bags with the best products of this land. Take them down to the man as gifts — balm, honey, gum, aromatic resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
And take other money in your hand, and the money that was returned to you in the mouth of your sacks, carry back in your hand: perhaps it is an oversight.
Also take double the money that was put back in your sacks, as it was probably someone’s mistake.
And take your brother, and arise, go again to the man.
Then take your brother, and go back to the man.
And the Almighty God give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.
And the men took that gift, and took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and came before Joseph.
So the men packed Jacob’s gifts and double the money and headed off with Benjamin. They finally arrived in Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph.
Joseph's Hospitality to his Brothers
And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the [man] who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.
And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the [man] who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager of his household, “These men will eat with me this noon. Take them inside the palace. Then go slaughter an animal, and prepare a big feast.”
And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
So the man did as Joseph told him and took them into Joseph’s palace.
And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and said, Because of the money that was returned to us in our sacks at the beginning are we brought in, that he may turn against us, and fall upon us and take us for bondmen, and our asses.
The brothers were terrified when they saw that they were being taken into Joseph’s house. “It’s because of the money someone put in our sacks last time we were here,” they said. “He plans to pretend that we stole it. Then he will seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.”
And they came up to the man that was over Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
A Feast at Joseph’s Palace
The brothers approached the manager of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the palace.
and said, Ah! my lord, we came indeed down at the first to buy food.
“Sir,” they said, “we came to Egypt once before to buy food.
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 according to its weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.
But as we were returning home, we stopped for the night and opened our sacks. Then we discovered that each man’s money — the exact amount paid — was in the top of his sack! Here it is; we have brought it back with us.
And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.
We also have additional money to buy more food. We have no idea who put our money in our sacks.”
And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them.
“Relax. Don’t be afraid,” the household manager told them. “Your God, the God of your father, must have put this treasure into your sacks. I know I received your payment.” Then he released Simeon and brought him out to them.
And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food.
The manager then led the men into Joseph’s palace. He gave them water to wash their feet and provided food for their donkeys.
And they made ready the gift for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.
They were told they would be eating there, so they prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon.
When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift that was in their hand, into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.
When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts they had brought him, then bowed low to the ground before him.
And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well -- the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?
After greeting them, he asked, “How is your father, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?”
And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And they bowed, and made obeisance.
“Yes,” they replied. “Our father, your servant, is alive and well.” And they bowed low again.
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 spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son!
Then Joseph looked at his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother. “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Joseph asked. “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
And Joseph made haste, for his bowels burned for his brother; and he sought [a place] to weep, and he went into the chamber, and wept there.
Then Joseph hurried from the room because he was overcome with emotion for his brother. He went into his private room, where he broke down and wept.
And he washed his face, and came out, and controlled himself, and said, Set on bread.
After washing his face, he came back out, keeping himself under control. Then he ordered, “Bring out the food!”
And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
The waiters served Joseph at his own table, and his brothers were served at a separate table. The Egyptians who ate with Joseph sat at their own table, because Egyptians despise Hebrews and refuse to eat with them.
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.
Joseph told each of his brothers where to sit, and to their amazement, he seated them according to age, from oldest to youngest.
And he had portions carried to them from before him. And Benjamin's portion was five times greater than the portions of them all. And they drank, and made merry with him.
And Joseph filled their plates with food from his own table, giving Benjamin five times as much as he gave the others. So they feasted and drank freely with him.