Genesis 43

Judah’s Guarantee

1The famine in the land was severe. 2When they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.” 3But Judah said to him, “The man warned us clearly: ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go, because the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’” 6Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?” 7They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?” 8Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will be on our way, so that we may live and not die — neither we, nor you, nor our children. 9I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. 10As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and come back twice by now.” 11Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift — a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 12Take double the silver with you, and return the silver that was put back in the mouths of your sacks — perhaps it was a mistake. 13Take your brother also, and go back to the man at once. 14And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he will send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am to be bereaved, I am bereaved.”

The Brothers Return to Egypt

15So the men took the gift, double the silver, and Benjamin, and went down to Egypt at once and presented themselves to Joseph. 16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal, and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.” 17The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. 18But they were afraid when they were taken to Joseph’s house. “We are being brought in here because of the silver that was put back in our sacks the first time,” they said. “He intends to attack us and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” 19So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20“Please, sir,” they said, “we came down here once before to buy food. 21But when we came to the place where we stopped for the night and opened our sacks, there was each man’s silver, in full weight, in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.” 23“It is all right,” he said. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and gave their donkeys fodder. 25They prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon, since they had heard they would eat there.

Dinner with Joseph

26When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gift they had brought, and bowed to the ground before him. 27He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?” 28“Your servant our father is well,” they said. “He is still alive.” And they bowed low to honor him. 29As he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out, looking for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. 31After washing his face, he came out, composed himself, and said, “Serve the meal.” 32They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews — that is detestable to them. 33The brothers were seated before him in order by age, from the oldest to the youngest, and they looked at one another in astonishment. 34He sent portions to them from his own table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.