1 October 2022 draft-bible
1 And the famine was severe 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 more food.
3 And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man solemnly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; 5 but if you do not send him, we will not go, because the man said to us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
6 And Israel said, Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?
7 And they said, the man kept asking about ourselves, and about our relatives, saying, Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother? And we told him about the things he asked. Could we have know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
8 And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. 9 I will be collateral for him: from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him to you and set him in front of you, then let me bear the blame forever; 10 for if we had not delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.
11 And their father Israel said to them, If it is so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man: a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds. 12 And take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. 13 Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man. 14 And may El Shaddai make the man sympathetic to you, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I am bereaved, 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 steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare it; for the men will dine with me at noon.
17 And the man did as Joseph said, 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 seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with 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, O my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. 21 But when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and there was each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought it back in our hand. 22 And we have brought down 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. Do not be afraid. Your god, 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 prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, because they heard that they were to 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 the earth before him. 27 And he asked them of their welfare, sand 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. He is still alive. And they bowed their heads 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 moved quickly, for his heart yearned over his brother, and he sought [a place] to weep. And he went into [his] room and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and came out, and he controlled himself, and said, Serve the meal.
32 And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, because 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 marveled with one another. 34 And he sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and became drunk with him.
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