GENESIS. the corn, and departed thence. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for behold, it was in his sack's mouth. 28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and lo, it is even in my sack and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? 29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befel unto them, saying, 30 The man who is the lord of the land spake roughly to us, and took us for spies. 35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. 37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. 38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befal him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. CHAPTER XLIII. JOSEPH'S BRETHREN VISIT HIM AGAIN. AND the famine was sore in the land. 2 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. 3 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. 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 GENESIS. man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore 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 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? 8 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: 9 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. 11 And their father Israel said unto them, if it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits of 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; 12 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. 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto 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 of my children, I am bereaved. 15 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. 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 bade; 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 GENESIS. occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, 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 indeed down 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 unto 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 came 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 'spake? is he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive; and they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. 29 And he lift 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. 30 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. 34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him; but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of their's. And they drank, and were merry with him. GENESIS. CHAPTER XLV. JOSEPH IS KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN. 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. 2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? and his brethren could not answer him: for they were troubled at his presence. 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you; and they came near: and he said I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not. 10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast. 11 And there will I nourish thee (for yet there are five years of famine ;) lest thou and thy household, and all that thou hast come to poverty. 12 And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. GENESIS. 13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen: and ye shall haste, and bring down my father hither. 14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them and after that his brethren talked with him. 16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye: lade your beasts, and go, get ye into the land of Canaan ; 18 And take your father, and your households, and come unto me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. 19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take ye waggons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21 And the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them waggons according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment: but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. 23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. 24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. 25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, 26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph. which he had said unto them and when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die. |