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The Return to Egypt

^1 (C1)Now the famine was severe in the land.² So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food."³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, "^(C1)The man sternly warned ^(F1)us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'⁴ "If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.⁵ "But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"⁶ Then Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, ^(F1)by telling the man whether you still had another brother?"⁷ But they said, "The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, '^(C1)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' So we ^(F1)answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(C1)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.⁹ "^(C1)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^(F1)me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^(F2)you can let me take the blame forever.¹⁰ "For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice."

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^(F1)bags, and carry down to the man ^(C1)as a gift, a little ^(C2)balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and ^(F2)myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.¹² "And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(C1)the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.¹³ "Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man;¹⁴ and may ^(F1)(C1)God Almighty ^(C2)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(C3)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(C4)if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!"¹⁵ So the men took ^(C1)this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his ^(C1)house steward, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon."¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said, and ^(F1)brought the men to Joseph's house.¹⁸ Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, so that he may ^(F1)attack us and ^(F2)overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys."¹⁹ So they approached Joseph's house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,²⁰ and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,²¹ and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(C1)each man's money was in the opening of his sack, our money in ^(F1)full. So ^(C2)we have brought it back in our hand.²² "We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks."²³ But he said, "Peace be to you, do not be afraid. ^(C1)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your ^(F1)money was in my possession." Then ^(C2)he brought Simeon out to them.²⁴ Then the man brought the men into Joseph's house and ^(C1)gave them water, and they ^(C2)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.²⁵ So they prepared ^(C1)the gift ^(F1)for Joseph's arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^(F2)a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the gift which was in their hand, and they ^(C1)bowed down to the ground before him.²⁷ Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, "^(C1)Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"²⁸ And they said, "Your servant our father is well; he is still alive." Then ^(C1)they bowed down again ^(F1)in homage.²⁹ And as he raised his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, "Is this ^(C1)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" Then he said, "^(C2)May God be gracious to you, my son."³⁰ Joseph then hurried out, for ^(F1)(C1)he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep; so he entered his chamber and ^(C2)wept there.³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^(C1)controlled himself and said, "^(F1)Serve the meal."³² Then they served him by himself, and ^(F1)Joseph's brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an ^(C1)abomination to the Egyptians.³³ Now they ^(F1)were seated before him, from ^(C1)the firstborn according to his birthright to the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.³⁴ Then he took portions to them from ^(F1)his own table, ^(C1)but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.