Read the Bible

¹ And the famine [was] severe in the land.² And it came to pass, when they had consumed the corn which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.³ And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did solemnly protest to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you.⁴ If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:⁵ But if thou wilt not send [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you.⁶ And Israel said, Why dealt ye [so] ill with me, [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?⁷ And they said, The man asked us strictly concerning our state, and 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?⁸ 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 thou, [and] also our little ones.⁹ I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:¹⁰ For except we had delayed, surely now we had returned this second time.

¹¹ And their father Israel said to them, If [it must be] so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:¹² And take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks, carry [it] again in your hand; it may be it [was] an oversight:¹³ Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man:¹⁴ And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin: If I be bereaved, I am bereaved.

¹⁵ And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and arose, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.¹⁶ 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.¹⁷ And the man did as Joseph commanded: and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.¹⁸ 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 bond-men, and our asses.¹⁹ And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,²⁰ And said, O sir, we came down indeed at the first time to buy food:²¹ 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.²² And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.²³ 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 to them.²⁴ 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.²⁵ And they made ready the present against Joseph should come at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ 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.²⁷ And he asked them of [their] welfare, and said, [Is] your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? [Is] he yet alive?²⁸ And they answered, Thy servant, our father, [is] in good health, he [is] yet alive: and they bowed their heads and made obeisance.²⁹ 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 spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son.³⁰ And Joseph made haste; for his bowels yearned towards his brother: and he sought [where] to weep; and he entered into [his] chamber, and wept there.³¹ And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.³² And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him, by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that [is] an abomination to the Egyptians.³³ And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birth-right, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men wondered one at another.³⁴ And he took [and sent] messes to 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.