4)
Being stricken with severe famine and sending his youngest son, Benjamin
43:1-14
Gen. 43
:1
43:1
Now the
afamine was severe in the land.
Gen. 43
:2
43:2
And when they had completely consumed the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them,
aGo back; buy us a little food.
Gen. 43
:3
43:3
But Judah spoke to him, saying, The man solemnly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face unless your
abrother is with you.
Gen. 43
:4
43:4
If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you grain for food;
Gen. 43
:5
43:5
But if you are not willing to send
him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
Gen. 43
:6
43:6
And Israel said, Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?
Gen. 43
:7
43:7
And they said, The man asked very carefully about us and about our relatives, saying, Is your father still alive? Do you have
another brother? So we told him about these things. Could we possibly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
Gen. 43
:8
43:8
And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the boy with me, and we will rise up and go, that we may live and not
adie, we and you and our little ones.
Gen. 43
:9
43:9
I myself will be surety for him; of my hand you may require him. If I do not
abring him to you and set him before you, then I shall bear the blame of sinning before you forever.
Gen. 43
:10
43:10
For if we had not delayed, by now we could have returned twice.
Gen. 43
:11
43:11
And their father Israel said to them, If it
must be so, then do this: Take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man — a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.
Gen. 43
:12
43:12
And take double the silver in your hand, and carry back in your hand the silver that was returned in the mouth of your
asacks; perhaps it was a mistake.
Gen. 43
:13
43:13
Take your brother also, and rise up; return to the man.
Gen. 43
:14
43:14
And may the
1aAll-sufficient God grant you
2mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am to be
bbereaved of my children, I shall be bereaved.
2)
Testing his brothers further
43:15—44:34
Gen. 43
:15
43:15
So the men took this present, and they took double the silver in their hand and Benjamin; and they rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Gen. 43
:16
43:16
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to him who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an
1animal, and prepare
it; for the men will eat with me at noon.
Gen. 43
:17
43:17
And the man did as Joseph said, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.
Gen. 43
:18
43:18
And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said,
It is because of the silver that was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are being brought in, that he may come out against us and fall upon us and take us as slaves with our donkeys.
Gen. 43
:19
43:19
And they came near to the man who was over Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the door of the house,
Gen. 43
:20
43:20
And said, Please, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to
abuy grain for food;
Gen. 43
:21
43:21
And when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and there was each man’s silver, in the mouth of his
asack, our silver in full weight. So we have brought it back in our hand.
Gen. 43
:22
43:22
And we have also brought down extra silver in our hand to buy grain for food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.
Gen. 43
:23
43:23
And he said, Be at peace; do not fear. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your silver came to me. Then he brought Simeon out to them.
Gen. 43
:24
43:24
And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave
them water, and they washed their
afeet; and he gave their donkeys fodder.
Gen. 43
:25
43:25
And they prepared the
apresent for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they would eat a meal there.
Gen. 43
:26
43:26
And when Joseph came into the house, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house and
abowed down to the ground to him.
Gen. 43
:27
43:27
And he asked them about their welfare and said, Is your
afather well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?
Gen. 43
:28
43:28
And they said, Your servant our father is well; he is still alive. And they bowed and paid
him homage.
Gen. 43
:29
43:29
And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother
aBenjamin, 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.
Gen. 43
:30
43:30
And Joseph hurried — for his
ainward parts burned for his brother — and sought
a place to
bweep. So he entered into his chamber and wept there.
Gen. 43
:31
43:31
Then he washed his face and came out, and he controlled himself and said, Serve the meal.
Gen. 43
:32
43:32
And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat a meal with the Hebrews, for that is an
aabomination to the Egyptians.
Gen. 43
:33
43:33
And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
Gen. 43
:34
43:34
And he had portions brought to them from before him; however Benjamin’s portion was
afive times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.
