Genesis:43

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* Now the famine was severe in the land . * And it came to pass , when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt , that their father said to them , Go back , buy us a little food . * And Judah spoke to him , saying , The man solemnly charged us , saying , You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you . * If you send our brother with us , we will go down and buy food for you . * 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 is with you . * And Israel said , Why did you deal so wickedly with me as to tell the man whether you had yet another brother ? * And they said , The man sought to ask us about ourselves and our kindred , saying , Is your father still alive ? Have you another brother ? And we told him these words with our mouths . Could we possibly have known that he would say , Bring your brother down ? * And Judah said to Israel his father , Send the lad with me , and we will arise and go , that we may live and not die , both we and you and also our little ones . * I myself will be surety for him ; from my hand you shall require him . If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you , then I shall bear the guilt forever . * For if we had not delayed , surely by now we would have returned this second time . * And their father Israel said to them , If it must be so , then do this : Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man ; a little balm and a little honey , spices and myrrh , nuts and almonds . * Take double money in your hand , and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks ; perhaps it was an oversight . * Take your brother also , and arise , go back to the man . * And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man , that he may release your other brother and Benjamin . If I am bereaved , I am bereaved ! * So the men took this present and Benjamin , and they took double money in their hand , and arose and went down to Egypt , and stood before Joseph . * And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them , he said to the steward of his house , Take these men to my house , and slaughter an animal and make ready ; for these men shall dine with me at noon . * And the man did as Joseph commanded , and the man brought the men into Joseph ’s house . * And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph ’s house ; and they said , It is because of the money , which was returned in our sacks the first time , that we are brought in , so that he may roll against us and fall upon us , to take us as slaves with our donkeys . * And they came near to the steward of Joseph ’s house and spoke with him at the entrance of the house , * and said , O sir , we indeed came down the first time to buy food ; * but it happened , when we came to the lodging place , that we opened our sacks , and behold , each man ’s money was in the mouth of his sack , our money in full weight ; so we have brought it back in our hand . * And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food . We do not know who put our money in our sacks . * And he said , Peace to you , do not be afraid . Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks ; I had your money . And he brought Simeon out to them . * So the man brought the men into Joseph ’s house and gave them water , and they washed their feet ; and he gave their donkeys feed . * And they made the present ready for Joseph ’s coming at noon , for they heard that they would eat bread there . * And when Joseph came into the house , they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house , and prostrated before him to the earth . * And he asked after their welfare , and said , Is your father well , the old man of whom you spoke ? Is he still alive ? * And they answered , Your servant our father is in good health ; he is still alive . And they bowed down and prostrated themselves . * And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin , his mother ’s son , and said , Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me ? And he said , God be gracious to you , my son . * Now his compassions yearned for his brother ; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep . And he went into his chamber and wept there . * And he washed his face and came out ; and he restrained himself , and said , Serve the food . * And they set him a place by himself , and them by themselves , and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves ; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews , for that is an abomination to the Egyptians . * And they sat before him , the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth ; and the men were astonished at one another . * And he took portions to them from before him , but Benjamin ’s portion was five hands greater than any of theirs . So they drank and were drunken with him .

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