The Return to Egypt with Benjamin 1 UST The famine{ continued to be} severe in the region{ of Canaan}. BSB BSB: Now the famine was still severe in the land.
2 UST So when Jacob and his family finished eating{ all} the grain that his sons had brought from{ the country of} Egypt, he said to them,“Go back{ to Egypt}{ and} buy some{ more} grain for us{ and our families}.” BSB BSB: So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
3 UST But{ his son} Judah replied to him,“The governor{ there} sternly warned us that we cannot go to him{ again}{ to buy grain} if our{ youngest} brother{ is} not with us. BSB BSB: But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
4 UST { So} if you will allow our{ youngest} brother to go with us,{ then} we can go{ to Egypt} and buy{ more} grain for you. BSB BSB: If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
5 UST However if you refuse to let him go{ with us}, we cannot go{ there}, because the governor warned us that we cannot go to him{ again} if our{ youngest} brother{ is} not with us.” BSB BSB: 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 UST Then{ their father} Israel asked{ them},“Why did you cause trouble for me by telling the governor that you have a younger brother?” BSB BSB: “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”
7 UST They answered{ him},“The governor asked{ us} many questions about ourselves and about our family. He asked{ us} if our father was still alive and if we had{ another} brother. We{ just} answered his questions honestly. There is no way we could have known that he would require us to take our brother down{ there}{ to him}!” BSB BSB: 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 UST Then Judah urged his father Israel{ about Benjamin},“Entrust the young man to me{ to take care of} so that we can go immediately{ to Egypt}{ to buy grain}. Then all of us, including our children, can survive and not starve to death. BSB BSB: 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 UST I personally promise to keep him safe. You can hold me responsible for him,{ so that} if I do not bring him{ back} to you safely, I will be guilty of this sin against you for the rest of my life. BSB BSB: I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
10 UST { In any case,} if we had not waited{ this long}, we could have made two{ round} trips{ there and back} by now.” BSB BSB: If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”
11 UST Then their father Israel said to them,“Since that is how it must be, then do this: Put{ some} of the best things from{ our} land in your sacks, and take{ them} to the governor{ as} gifts.{ Include} some healing salve, some honey,{ some} spices and incense,{ and}{ some} pistachio nuts and almonds. BSB BSB: 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 UST { Also} take with you twice{ as much} money{ as you took the first time}, because you must take back the money that someone gave back{ to you} in your sacks. Maybe they did that by mistake. BSB BSB: Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.
13 UST So{ now,} take your{ youngest} brother and immediately go back to the governor. BSB BSB: Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.
14 UST I pray that God{ who is} all- powerful will cause him to treat you kindly so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come{ back}{ home} with you. But{ if not, and} if I{ must} lose them and grieve{ for them},{ then} I{ will} grieve.” BSB BSB: May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
15 UST Then the brothers packed those gifts{ in their sacks} along with twice as much money{ as the grain would cost}. Then they{ took} Benjamin{ with them} and quickly traveled down to{ the country of} Egypt and went directly to Joseph. BSB BSB: So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Joseph’s Hospitality to His Brothers 16 UST When Joseph saw Benjamin with his{ other} brothers, he commanded his head house- servant,“Escort these men to{ my} house. Then butcher a calf and prepare{ a feast}, because{ I want} them to eat with me{ today} at noon.” BSB BSB: When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”
17 UST The servant did exactly what Joseph{ had} told{ him to do} and escorted the brothers to Joseph’ s house. BSB BSB: The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.
18 UST But when the brothers{ saw} that he had taken them to Joseph’ s house, they were afraid, and they said{ to each other},“He has taken us here because of{ our} money that someone gave back to us in our sacks{ on}{ our} first trip{ here}.{ He intends} to{ have his soldiers} attack us and overpower us and make us{ his} servants, along with our donkeys!” BSB BSB: But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”
19 UST Then they approached Joseph’ s head house- servant{ outside} the door to{ his} house to speak to him. BSB BSB: So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
20 UST And said,“Excuse us, sir, one time before this, we traveled all the way down{ here}{ to Egypt} to buy{ some} grain. BSB BSB: “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.
21 UST But{ on our way home,} when we arrived at the place where we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks. There in the top of each of our sacks{ was} the money{ we had paid to you}{ for the grain}! The money was all there! So we brought it{ all} back with us{ to give to you}. BSB BSB: But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.
22 UST We have{ also} brought more money with us so that we can buy{ some more} grain{ now}. We have no idea who put the money in our sacks.” BSB BSB: We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”
23 UST But Joseph’ s servant replied{ to them},“It is all right,{ so} do not worry{ about it}. The God whom you and your father serve must have put the money in your sacks,{ because} I{ definitely} received your money{ that you paid for the grain}.” Then Joseph’ s servant brought Simeon out{ of prison} to his brothers. BSB BSB: “It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
24 UST Then Joseph’ s servant brought the brothers into Joseph’ s house and provided{ them} with water to wash{ the road dust off} their feet. He also fed their donkeys. BSB BSB: And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys.
25 UST { Meanwhile,} Joseph’ s brothers got{ their} gifts ready to give to Joseph when he came home at noon, because they had heard that they were going to eat a meal{ with him} there. BSB BSB: Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.
26 UST When Joseph came home, his brothers{ gave} to him the gifts that they had brought with them into the house, and they bowed down before him{ with their faces} to the ground{ to show respect}. BSB BSB: When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.
27 UST Then Joseph asked them how they were doing, and he asked{ them},“Is your elderly father well whom you mentioned{ to me}? Is he still living?” BSB BSB: He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”
28 UST They answered{ him},“{ Yes sir,} our father, who highly respects you, is still alive and well.” Then they bowed{ their heads} and bowed down{ to the ground}{ again}. BSB BSB: “Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.
29 UST Then Joseph looked around and saw his brother Benjamin, who had the same mother that he had, and he said{ to them},“So this must be your youngest brother whom you told me about.” Then he said{ to Benjamin},“I pray that God will be kind to you, young man.” BSB BSB: 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 UST Suddenly Joseph rushed out{ of the room} because he felt overwhelmed with emotions about his brother and was about to cry. So he went to his bedroom, where he cried{ privately}. BSB BSB: Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.
31 UST After he had gotten control of his emotions{ and stopped crying}, he washed{ the tears off} his face and came back out{ of his room}. Then he commanded{ his servants},“Serve the food{ to us}.” BSB BSB: Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”
32 UST So they served{ food} to Joseph at his own table, and his brothers at their own table, and the Egyptians who were eating with him at their own table. Egyptians do not eat at the same table as Hebrew people, because Egyptians consider it unacceptable{ to do that}. BSB BSB: They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.
33 UST Joseph’ s brothers were sitting{ at a table} facing his table in the order of their ages, from the oldest to the youngest.{ When they noticed that,} they were amazed{ and stared} at one another. BSB BSB: They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
34 UST Then Joseph{ had his servants} serve food to his brothers from his table, but he{ had them} serve Benjamin five times more{ food} than{ they} served to any of the rest{ of his brothers}. Then his brothers feasted and drank{ wine} freely with him. BSB BSB: When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.