Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt
with Benjamin
1 The famine in Canaan got
worse,
2 and when the family
of Jacob had eaten all the grain
which had been brought from Egypt,
Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and
buy a little food for us.”
3 Judah said to him, “The man
sternly warned us that we would not
be admitted to his presence unless
we had our brother with us.
4 If you
are willing to send our brother with
us, we will go and buy food for you.
5 If you are not willing, we will not
go, because the man told us we
would not be admitted to his presence
unless our brother was with
us.”
6 Jacob said, “Why did you cause
me so much trouble by telling the
man that you had another brother?”
7 They answered, “The man kept
asking about us and our family, ‘Is
your father still living? Do you have
another brother?’ We had to answer
his questions. How could we know
that he would tell us to bring our
brother with us?”
8 Judah said to his father, “Send
the boy with me, and we will leave
at once. Then none of us will starve
-- --
to death.
9 I will pledge my own life,
and you can hold me responsible for
him. If I do not bring him back to
you safe and sound, I will always
bear the blame.
10 If we had not
waited so long, we could have been
there and back twice by now.”
11 Their father said to them, “If
that is how it has to be, then take the
best products of the land in your
packs as a present for the governor:
a little resin, a little honey, spices,
pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12 Take
with you also twice as much money,
because you must take back the
money that was returned in the top
of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake.
13 Take your brother and return
at once.
14 May Almighty God cause
the man to have pity on you, so that
he will give Benjamin and your other
brother back to you. As for me, if I
must lose my children, I must lose
them.”
15 So the brothers took the gifts
and twice as much money, and set
out for Egypt with Benjamin. There
they presented themselves to
Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin
with them, he said to the servant
in charge of his house, “Take
these men to my house. They are
going to eat with me at noon, so kill
an animal and prepare it.”
17 The
servant did as he was commanded
and took the brothers to Joseph's
house.
18 As they were being brought to
the house, they were afraid and
thought, “We are being brought here
because of the money that was returned
in our sacks the first time.
They will suddenly attack us, take
our donkeys, and make us his
slaves.”
19 So at the door of the
house, they said to the servant in
charge,
20 “If you please, sir, we
came here once before to buy food.
21 When we set up camp on the way
home, we opened our sacks, and
each man found his money in the top
of his sack—every bit of it. We have
brought it back to you.
22 We have
also brought some more money with
us to buy more food. We do not
know who put our money back in
our sacks.”
23 The servant said, “Don't worry.
Don't be afraid. Your God, the God
of your father, must have put the
money in your sacks for you. I received
your payment.” Then he
brought Simeon to them.
24 The servant took the brothers
into the house. He gave them water
so that they could wash their feet,
and he fed their donkeys.
25 They got
their gifts ready to present to Joseph
when he arrived at noon, because
they had been told that they were to
eat with him.
26 When Joseph got
home, they took the gifts into the
house to him and bowed down to the
ground before him.
27 He asked
about their health and then said,
“You told me about your old father
—how is he? Is he still alive and
well?”
28 They answered, “Your humble
servant, our father, is still alive and
well.” And they knelt and bowed
down before him.
29 When Joseph saw his brother
Benjamin, he said, “So this is your
youngest brother, the one you told
me about. God bless you, my son.”
30 Then Joseph left suddenly, because
his heart was full of tender
feelings for his brother. He was
about to break down, so he went to
his room and cried.
31 After he had
washed his face, he came out, and
controlling himself, he ordered the
meal to be served.
32 Joseph was
served at one table and his brothers
at another. The Egyptians who were
eating there were served separately,
because they considered it beneath
their dignity to eat with Hebrews.
33 The brothers had been seated at
the table, facing Joseph, in the order
of their age from the oldest to the
youngest. When they saw how they
had been seated, they looked at one
another in amazement.
34 Food was
served to them from Joseph's table,
and Benjamin was served five times
as much as the rest of them. So they
ate and drank with Joseph until they
were drunk.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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