Genesis:43-44
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And the famine was sore in the land .
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And it came to pass ,
when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt ,
their father said unto them ,
Go again ,
buy us a little food .
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And Judah spake unto him ,
saying ,
The man did solemnly protest unto us ,
saying ,
Ye shall not see my face ,
except your brother be with you .
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If thou wilt send our brother with us ,
we will go down and buy thee food :
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But if thou wilt not send him ,
we will not go down :
for the man said unto us ,
Ye shall not see my face ,
except your brother be with you .
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And Israel said ,
Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me ,
as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother ?
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And they said ,
The man asked us straitly of our state ,
and of our kindred ,
saying ,
Is your father yet alive ?
have ye another brother ?
and we told him according to the tenor of these words :
could we certainly know that he would say ,
Bring your brother down ?
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And Judah said unto Israel his father ,
Send the lad with me ,
and we will arise and go ;
that we may live ,
and not die ,
both we ,
and thou ,
and also our little ones .
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I will be surety for him ;
of my hand shalt thou require him :
if I bring him not unto thee ,
and set him before thee ,
then let me bear the blame for ever :
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For except we had lingered ,
surely now we had returned this second time .
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And their father Israel said unto them ,
If it must be so now ,
do this ;
take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels ,
and carry down the man a present ,
a little balm ,
and a little honey ,
spices ,
and myrrh ,
nuts ,
and almonds :
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And take double money in your hand ;
and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks ,
carry it again in your hand ;
peradventure it was an oversight :
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Take also your brother ,
and arise ,
go again unto the man :
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And God Almighty give you mercy before the man ,
that he may send away your other brother ,
and Benjamin .
If I be bereaved of my children ,
I am bereaved .
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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 .
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And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them ,
he said to the ruler of his house ,
Bring these men home ,
and slay ,
and make ready ;
for these men shall dine with me at noon .
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And the man did as Joseph bade ;
and the man brought the men into Joseph '
s house .
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And the men were afraid ,
because they were brought into Joseph '
s house ;
and they said ,
Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in ;
that he may seek occasion against us ,
and fall upon us ,
and take us for bondmen ,
and our asses .
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And they came near to the steward of Joseph '
s house ,
and they communed with him at the door of the house ,
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And said ,
O sir ,
we came indeed down at the first time to buy food :
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And it came to pass ,
when we came to the inn ,
that we opened our sacks ,
and ,
behold ,
every man '
s money was in the mouth of his sack ,
our money in full weight :
and we have brought it again in our hand .
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And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food :
we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks .
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And he said ,
Peace be to you ,
fear not :
your God ,
and the God of your father ,
hath given you treasure in your sacks :
I had your money .
And he brought Simeon out unto them .
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And the man brought the men into Joseph '
s house ,
and gave them water ,
and they washed their feet ;
and he gave their asses provender .
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And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon :
for they heard that they should eat bread there .
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And when Joseph came home ,
they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house ,
and bowed themselves to him to the earth .
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And he asked them of their welfare ,
and said ,
Is your father well ,
the old man of whom ye spake ?
Is he yet alive ?
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And they answered ,
Thy servant our father is in good health ,
he is yet alive .
And they bowed down their heads ,
and made obeisance .
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And he lifted up his eyes ,
and saw his brother Benjamin ,
his mother '
s son ,
and said ,
Is this your younger brother ,
of whom ye spake unto me ?
And he said ,
God be gracious unto thee ,
my son .
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And Joseph made haste ;
for his bowels did yearn upon his brother :
and he sought where to weep ;
and he entered into his chamber ,
and wept there .
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And he washed his face ,
and went out ,
and refrained himself ,
and said ,
Set on bread .
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And they set on for him by himself ,
and for them by themselves ,
and for the Egyptians ,
which did eat with him ,
by themselves :
because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews ;
for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians .
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And they sat before him ,
the firstborn according to his birthright ,
and the youngest according to his youth :
and the men marvelled one at another .
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And he took and sent messes unto them from before him :
but Benjamin '
s mess was five times so much as any of theirs .
And they drank ,
and were merry with him .
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And he commanded the steward of his house ,
saying ,
Fill the men '
s sacks with food ,
as much as they can carry ,
and put every man '
s money in his sack '
s mouth .
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And put my cup ,
the silver cup ,
in the sack '
s mouth of the youngest ,
and his corn money .
And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken .
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As soon as the morning was light ,
the men were sent away ,
they and their asses .
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And when they were gone out of the city ,
and not yet far off ,
Joseph said unto his steward ,
Up ,
follow after the men ;
and when thou dost overtake them ,
say unto them ,
Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good ?
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Is not this it in which my lord drinketh ,
and whereby indeed he divineth ?
ye have done evil in so doing .
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And he overtook them ,
and he spake unto them these same words .
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And they said unto him ,
Wherefore saith my lord these words ?
God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing :
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Behold ,
the money ,
which we found in our sacks '
mouths ,
we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan :
how then should we steal out of thy lord '
s house silver or gold ?
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With whomsoever of thy servants it be found ,
both let him die ,
and we also will be my lord '
s bondmen .
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And he said ,
Now also let it be according unto your words :
he with whom it is found shall be my servant ;
and ye shall be blameless .
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Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground ,
and opened every man his sack .
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And he searched ,
and began at the eldest ,
and left at the youngest :
and the cup was found in Benjamin '
s sack .
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Then they rent their clothes ,
and laded every man his ass ,
and returned to the city .
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And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph '
s house ;
for he was yet there :
and they fell before him on the ground .
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And Joseph said unto them ,
What deed is this that ye have done ?
wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine ?
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And Judah said ,
What shall we say unto my lord ?
what shall we speak ?
or how shall we clear ourselves ?
God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants :
behold ,
we are my lord '
s servants ,
both we ,
and he also with whom the cup is found .
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And he said ,
God forbid that I should do so :
but the man in whose hand the cup is found ,
he shall be my servant ;
and as for you ,
get you up in peace unto your father .
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Then Judah came near unto him ,
and said ,
Oh my lord ,
let thy servant ,
I pray thee ,
speak a word in my lord '
s ears ,
and let not thine anger burn against thy servant :
for thou art even as Pharaoh .
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My lord asked his servants ,
saying ,
Have ye a father ,
or a brother ?
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And we said unto my lord ,
We have a father ,
an old man ,
and a child of his old age ,
a little one ;
and his brother is dead ,
and he alone is left of his mother ,
and his father loveth him .
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And thou saidst unto thy servants ,
Bring him down unto me ,
that I may set mine eyes upon him .
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And we said unto my lord ,
The lad cannot leave his father :
for if he should leave his father ,
his father would die .
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And thou saidst unto thy servants ,
Except your youngest brother come down with you ,
ye shall see my face no more .
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And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father ,
we told him the words of my lord .
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And our father said ,
Go again ,
and buy us a little food .
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And we said ,
We cannot go down :
if our youngest brother be with us ,
then will we go down :
for we may not see the man '
s face ,
except our youngest brother be with us .
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And thy servant my father said unto us ,
Ye know that my wife bare me two sons :
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And the one went out from me ,
and I said ,
Surely he is torn in pieces ;
and I saw him not since :
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And if ye take this also from me ,
and mischief befall him ,
ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave .
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Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father ,
and the lad be not with us ;
seeing that his life is bound up in the lad '
s life ;
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It shall come to pass ,
when he seeth that the lad is not with us ,
that he will die :
and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave .
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For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father ,
saying ,
If I bring him not unto thee ,
then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever .
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Now therefore ,
I pray thee ,
let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord ;
and let the lad go up with his brethren .
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For how shall I go up to my father ,
and the lad be not with me ?
lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father .
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Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him ;
and he cried ,
Cause every man to go out from me .
And there stood no man with him ,
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren .