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The text below has been adapted from the ASV.
1 And the famine was heavy in the land. 2 Now, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, Go again; buy us a little food.
3 And Judah spoke to them, saying, The man strictly enjoined us, saying, You shall not see my face unless your brother be with you. 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 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 be with you.
6 And Israel said, Why do you treat me so badly, to tell the man whether you had a brother?
7 And they said, The man asked us directly about ourselves, and about our relatives, saying, Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother? And we answered the questions; how could we know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
8 And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. 9 I will be collateral for him; of my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him to you and set him before me, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 For had we not delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.
11 And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your packs, and carry down a present for the man: a little balm, and a little honey, labdanum, and myrrh, pistachios, and almonds. 12 And take double money in your hand, and carry back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take your brother as well, and rise, go again to the man. And may El Shaddai give you favor with the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I am 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 they rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and make ready; for the men will dine with me at noon. 17 And the man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph's house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time we are brought in; that he may roll over us, and fall upon us, and take us as slaves, and our donkeys.
19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, 20 and said, Oh, my lord, we indeed down the first time to buy food. 21 Then, when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and each man saw his money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight, and we have brought it back again in our hand. 22 And we have brought other money in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.
23 And he said, Peace be with you; fear not. Your god, and the god of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money. And he brought Simeon out to 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 donkeys fodder. 25 And they made ready the present for Joseph's arrival 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 down to him to the earth. 27 And he asked them about their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?
28 And they said, Your servant our father is well, and he is still alive. And they bowed the head, and did homage. 29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?
And he said, God be gracious to you, my son. 30 And Joseph hurried -- because his heart yearned over his brother -- and looked for a place to weep, and he entered his chamber and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and came out, and he restrained himself, and said, Set out bread.
32 And they set it out for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians cannot eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. And the men marvelled to each other. And portions were taken to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were drunk with him.
(43:9) let me bear the blame forever. Literally, I will have sinned toward you all days.
(43:11) pistachios. So HALOT, DCH, ASV margin. WEB reads "nuts", following ASV text, KJV. The Hebrew term appears only here.
(43:13) El Shaddai. This is the Hebrew name, and its exact origin is unclear. WEB reads "God Almighty", following an old tradition.
(43:23) Your god. The use of a possessive pronoun indicates here that "god" is being used as a common noun. See Capitalization.
(43:33) drunk. WEB, following ASV, KJV, reads "merry". But this seems unnecessarily euphemistic.
ASV. The American Standard Version, as printed in 1901 by Thomas Nelson and Sons. This text serves as the basis of the text above, although I have made various alterations, often referring to the World English Bible while doing so.
KJV. The KJV is outdated, but often good with English style.
WEB. The World English Bible has been used to make some checks on my renderings. In some places I adopt its readings.
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