The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

43 ·Still no food grew in the land of Canaan [^LThe famine was heavy/severe in the land]. ² When ·Jacob’s family [^Lthey] had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more ·grain [^Lfood] for us to eat.”

³ But Judah said to Jacob, “The ·governor of that country [man] strongly warned us, ‘·If you don’t bring your brother back with you, you will not be allowed to see me [^LYou may not see my face unless your brother is with you].’ ⁴ If you will send ·Benjamin [^Lour brother] with us, we will go down and buy food for you. ⁵ But if you ·refuse to send Benjamin [^Lare not sending], we will not go. The ·governor of that country [^Lman] ·warned [^Lsaid to] us that ·we would not see him if we didn’t bring Benjamin with us [^Lyou will not see my face unless your brother is with you].”

⁶ Israel [^Canother name for Jacob; 32:28] said, “Why did you tell the man you had another brother? You have ·caused me a lot of trouble [wronged/harmed me].”

⁷ The brothers answered, “He questioned us ·carefully [or specifically] about ourselves and our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. How could we know he would ask us to bring our other brother to him?”

⁸ Then Judah said to his father ·Jacob [^LIsrael; 32:28], “Send ·Benjamin [^Lthe lad/child] with me, and we will ·go at once [^Lrise up and go] so that we, you, and our ·children [little ones] may live and not die. ⁹ I will ·guarantee you that he will be safe [^Lbe a guarantee for him], and I will be personally ·responsible [accountable] for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, ·you can blame me [^LI will be condemned before you] all my life. ¹⁰ If we had not ·wasted all this time [been delayed], we could have already ·made two trips [returned twice].”

¹¹ Then their father ·Jacob [^LIsrael; 32:28] said to them, “If it has to be that way, then do this: Take some of the best ·foods [products] in our land in your packs. Give them to the man as a gift: some balm, some honey, ·spices [or gum], ·myrrh [or resin], pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹² Take twice as much ·money [silver] ·with you this time [^Lin your hands], and take back the ·money [silver] that was returned to you in [^Lthe mouth of] your sacks last time. Maybe it was a ·mistake [^Lerror; oversight]. ¹³ And take ·Benjamin [^Lyour brother] with you. Now ·leave and go [^Lrise up and return] to the man. ¹⁴ I pray that God Almighty will cause the ·governor [^Lman] to be ·merciful to [compassionate toward] you and that he will allow ·Simeon [^Lyour other brother] and Benjamin to come back with you. If I am ·robbed of my children [bereaved], then I am ·robbed of them [bereaved]!”

¹⁵ So the ·brothers [^Lmen] took the ·gifts [or tribute]. They also took twice ·as much money as they had taken the first time [^Lthe money/silver in their hand], and they took Benjamin. They ·hurried [^Lrose up and went] down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] his house, “Bring those men into my house. ·Kill [Slaughter] an animal and prepare a meal. Those men will eat with me today at noon.” ¹⁷ The ·servant [^Lman] did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ The ·brothers [^Lmen] were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house and thought, “We were brought here because of the money that was ·put [returned; replaced] in our sacks on the first trip. He wants to ·attack [^Lfall on] us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So the brothers went to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the ·door [entrance] of the house. ²⁰ They said, “·Master [Lord], we came here ·once before [the first time] to buy food. ²¹ While we were going home, ·we stopped for the night and [^Lat the lodging place] when we opened our sacks each of us found all his ·money [silver in its weight] in his sack [42:26–28]. We brought that ·money [silver] ·with us to give it [^Lin our hands] back to you. ²² And we have brought ·more [additional] money to pay for the food we want to buy this time. We don’t know who put that money in our sacks.”

²³ But the servant answered, “·It’s all right [^LPeace be with you]. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the ·money [silver; ^Ltreasure] in your sacks. I got the ·money [silver] you paid me for the grain last time.” Then the servant brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The ·servant [^Lman] ·led [brought] the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys ·food to eat [fodder]. ²⁵ The men prepared their ·gift [tribute] to give to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had heard they were going to eat with him there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, the brothers gave him the ·gift [tribute] ·they had brought [^Lin their hand] into the house and bowed down to the ground in front of him. ²⁷ Joseph asked them how they were doing. He said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ The brothers answered, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed low ·before Joseph to show him respect [^Land did obeisance].

²⁹ When ·Joseph [^Lhe lifted his eyes and] saw his brother Benjamin, ·who had the same mother as he [^Lthe son of his mother], Joseph asked, “Is this your ·youngest [smallest] brother you told me about?” Then he said to Benjamin, “God be ·good [gracious] to you, my son!” ³⁰ Then Joseph hurried off because he ·had to hold back the tears [^Lwas overwhelmed with affection] when he saw his brother Benjamin. So Joseph went into his room and cried there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”

³² So they served Joseph ·at one table [^Lby himself], his brothers ·at another table [^Lby themselves], and the Egyptians who ate with him ·at another table [^Lby themselves]. ·This was because Egyptians did not like Hebrews and never ate with them [^LFor the Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for it was an abomination to the Egyptians]. ³³ Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him ·in order of their ages [^Lthe firstborn according to his birthright], ·from oldest to youngest [^Lthe youngest according to his youth]. They looked at each other because they were so amazed. ³⁴ ·Food [Portions] from Joseph’s table was taken to them, but Benjamin was given five times more food than the others. Joseph’s brothers ate and ·drank freely [celebrated with drinking] with him.

Joseph Sets a Trap

44 Then Joseph gave a command to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] his house. He said, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much ·grain [^Lfood] as they can carry, and put each man’s ·money [silver] into his sack with the grain. ² Put my silver ·cup [goblet] in the sack of the ·youngest [smallest] brother, along with his ·money [silver] for the grain.” ·The servant [^LHe] did what Joseph told him.

³ At dawn the ·brothers [^Lmen] were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They were not far from the city when Joseph said to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] his house, “·Go after [^LGet up and pursue] the men. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good? ⁵ ·The cup you have stolen is the one [^LIs this not what…?] my ·master [lord] uses for drinking and for ·explaining dreams [divination; ^Cperhaps by pouring oil in water as a means of telling the future (called lecanomancy)]. ·You [^LIs not what you…?] have done a very wicked thing!’ ”

⁶ So ·the servant [^Lhe] caught up with ·the brothers [^Lthem] and said to them ·what Joseph had told him to say [^Lthese words].

⁷ But the brothers said to the servant, “Why do ·you [my master/lord] say these things? ·We would not [^LFar be it from your servants to] do anything like that! ⁸ We brought back to you from the land of Canaan the ·money [silver] we found in our sacks. ·So surely we would not [^LWhy would we…?] steal silver or gold from your ·master’s [lord’s] house. ⁹ If ·you find that silver cup in the sack of one of [^Lit is found with one of] us, then let him die, and we will be your ·slaves [servants].”

¹⁰ ·The servant [^LHe] said, “·We will do [It will be] as you say, but only the man who has taken the cup will become my ·slave [servant]. The rest of you ·may go free [will be innocent].”

¹¹ Then every brother quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened ·it [^Ltheir sack]. ¹² ·The servant [^LHe] searched the sacks, ·going from [starting with] the oldest brother to [^Land ending with] the ·youngest [smallest], and found the ·cup [goblet] in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ The brothers tore their clothes [^Ca sign of mourning; they were afraid for Benjamin’s life]. Then they ·put their sacks back on [^Lloaded] the donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers ·went back to [arrived at] Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there, so ·the brothers bowed facedown [^Lthey fell] on the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man like me can ·learn things by signs and dreams [^Lpractice divination]?”

¹⁶ Judah said, “·Master [My lord], what can we say? What can we tell you? And how can we ·show we are not guilty [justify ourselves]? God has ·uncovered [^Lfound out] our guilt, so all of us will be ·your slaves [^Lslaves/servants of my master/lord], not just ·Benjamin [^Lthe one in whose hand the cup/goblet was found].”

¹⁷ But Joseph said, “·I will not make you all slaves [^LFar be it from me that I should do that]! Only the man ·who stole the cup [^Lin whose hand the cup/goblet was found] will be my ·slave [servant]. The rest of you may go back ·safely [or in peace] to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah ·went to Joseph [^Lapproached him] and said, “·Master [My lord], please let ·me [^Lyour servant] speak ·plainly to you [^La word in your ears], and please don’t be angry with ·me [^Lyour servant]. ·I know that you are as powerful as the king of Egypt [^LYou are like Pharaoh] himself. ¹⁹ ·When we were here before, you asked us [^LMy master/lord asked his servants], ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we answered ·you [^Lmy master/lord], ‘We have an old father. And we have a younger brother, ·who was born when our father was old [^Lof his old age]. ·This youngest son’s [^LHis] brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left alive, and ·our [^Lhis] father loves him very much.’ ²¹ Then you said to ·us [^Lyour servants], ‘Bring ·that brother [^Lhim] to me. I want to ·see [^Lset my eyes on] him.’ ²² And we said to ·you [^Lmy master/lord], ‘That young boy cannot leave his father, because if he leaves him, his father would die.’ ²³ But you said to ·us [your servants], ‘If you don’t bring your youngest brother [^Lwith you], you will not be allowed to see ·me [^Lmy face] again.’ ²⁴ So we went back to [^Lyour servant] our father and told him ·what you had said [^Lthe words of my master/lord].

²⁵ “Later, our father said, ‘·Go again [Return] and buy us a little more food.’ ²⁶ We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our ·youngest [smallest] brother. Without our ·youngest [smallest] brother, we will not be allowed to see the ·governor [^Lface of the man].’ ²⁷ Then [^Lyour servant] my father said to us, ‘You know that my ·wife Rachel gave [^Lwife bore] me two sons. ²⁸ When one son left me, I thought, “Surely he has been torn apart by a wild animal,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ Now you want to take this son away from ·me [^Lmy face/presence] also. But something ·terrible [tragic; disastrous] might happen to him, and ·I would be miserable until the day I die [^Lyou would bring my gray head down to Sheol in sorrow].’ ³⁰ Now what will happen if we go home to [^Lyour servant] our father without our ·youngest [smallest] brother? ·He is so important in our father’s life [^LAnd his life/soul is so bound up in his life/soul] that ³¹ when our father sees the young boy is not with us, he will die. ·And it will be our fault. We will cause the great sorrow that kills our father [^LYour servants will have brought the gray head of your servant to Sheol in grief].

³² “·I gave my father a guarantee that the young boy would be safe [^LFor your servant provided surety for the young boy for his father]. I said to my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, ·you can blame me [^LI will be condemned before my father] all my life.’ ³³ So now, please allow ·me [^Lyour servant] to stay here and be your ·slave [^Lservant in place of the young boy], and let the young boy go back home with his brothers. ³⁴ I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn’t stand to see my father ·that sad [suffer].”

Joseph Reveals Who He Is

45 Joseph could not ·control [or express] himself in front of ·his servants [^Lall those standing around him] any longer, so he cried out, “Have everyone leave me.” ·When only the brothers were left with Joseph [^LSo no one was standing around him when], he ·told them who he was [^Lrevealed himself to his brothers]. ² Joseph cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and the ·people in the king’s palace [^Lhouse of Pharaoh] heard about it. ³ ·He [^LJoseph] said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But the brothers could not answer him, because they were ·very afraid of [or startled by] him.

⁴ So Joseph said to them, “Come close to me.” When the brothers came close to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold as a slave to go to Egypt [37:25–28]. ⁵ Now don’t be ·worried [in anguish; distressed] or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to ·save [preserve] people’s lives. ⁶ ·No food has grown on the land [^LThe famine has been in the land] for two years now, and there will be five more years without ·planting [^Lplowing] or harvest. ⁷ So God sent me here ahead of you to ·make sure you have some descendants left [^Lpreserve a remnant for you] on earth and to keep you alive in ·an amazing way [^La great deliverance]. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God [50:19–20]. God has made me ·the highest officer of the king of Egypt [^Lfather to Pharaoh]. I am ·in charge [master; lord] of his palace, and I am the ·master [ruler] of all the land of Egypt.

⁹ “So leave quickly and go to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: God has made me ·master [lord] over all Egypt. Come down to me ·quickly [without delay]. ¹⁰ Live in the land of Goshen [^Cthe northeast area of the Nile Delta] where you will be near me. Your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have will also be near me. ¹¹ I will ·care for [sustain; maintain] you ·during the next five years of hunger [^Lfor there are still five years of famine] so that you and your family and all that you have will not ·starve [^Lbecome impoverished].’

¹² “Now you can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that ·the one speaking to you is really Joseph [^Lmy mouth is speaking to you]. ¹³ So tell my father about ·how powerful I have become [^Lmy glory/prestige/status] in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring him back to me.” ¹⁴ Then Joseph ·hugged [^Lfell on the neck of] his brother Benjamin and cried, and Benjamin cried ·also [^Lon his neck]. ¹⁵ And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried ·as he hugged them [^Lover them]. After this, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the king of Egypt and his ·officers [servants] ·learned [^Lheard the report] that Joseph’s brothers had come, ·they were very happy [^Lit was good in their eyes]. ¹⁷ So ·the king [^LPharaoh] said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their ·animals [donkeys] and go back to the land of Canaan ¹⁸ and bring their father and their ·families [^Lhouseholds] back here to me. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will eat the ·best food we have here [^Lfat of the land; Ezek. 34:3; 39:19]. ¹⁹ ·Tell [Command] them to take some wagons from Egypt for their ·children [little ones] and their wives and to bring their father back also. ²⁰ Tell them not to ·worry [be troubled] about bringing any of their things with them, because we will give them the best of what we have in Egypt.”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as the king had ordered and ·food [provisions] for ·their trip [the way]. ²² He gave each ·brother [^Lof them] a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin five changes of clothes and about ·seven and one-half pounds [^Lthree hundred pieces] of silver. ²³ Joseph also sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for his father ·on his trip back [^Lfor the way]. ²⁴ Then Joseph told his brothers to go. As they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way home.”

²⁵ So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive and is the ruler over all the land of Egypt.” ·Their father [^LHis heart] was ·shocked [stunned] and did not believe them. ²⁷ But when the brothers told him everything Joseph had said, and when Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt, ·he felt better [^Lthe spirit of Jacob their father came alive/revived]. ²⁸ Israel [^CJacob’s other name; 32:28] said, “·Now I believe you [Enough!]. My son Joseph is still alive, and I will go and see him before I die.”