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The Return to Egypt with Benjamin

¹ Now the famine was still severe in the land.² So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy a little more food for us.”³ But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’⁴ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.⁵ But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”⁶ “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”⁷ They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”⁸ And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.⁹ I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible! If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then let me bear the guilt before you all my life.¹⁰ If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”

¹¹ Then 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 packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.¹² Take double the money with you so that you may return the money that was put back into in the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.¹³ Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.¹⁴ May God Almighty^(a) grant you mercy before the man so that he will release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵ So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of money, and Benjamin as well. They made their way down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph’s Hospitality to His Brothers

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.²⁷ He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?”²⁸ “Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.²⁹ When Joseph 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?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”³⁰ Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.³¹ Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”³² They served Joseph’s brothers separately from him and the Egyptians who ate with him, because Egyptians would not eat with Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.³³ They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at each other in astonishment.³⁴ When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.