Genesis 43

The Famine Gets Worse

1 The famine was still hitting hard in the land.

2 When they finished eating the grain they brought from Egypt, Jacob said, ‘Go back and buy us some more food.’

3 Judah said, ‘Hold up, Dad. That man told us straight-up: If you do not bring your youngest brother, do not even think about coming back.’

4 ‘If you let us take Benjamin, we will go and buy food.’

5 ‘But if you do not let him go, we are not going. That man warned us.’

6 Jacob said, ‘Why did you all even tell him you had another brother, You put us in this mess!’

7 They said, ‘The man asked a bunch of questions about us and our family. He said, Is your father still alive, Do you have another brother, We just answered his questions. How were we supposed to know he would ask us to bring Benjamin,’

Judah Steps Up

8 Judah said, ‘Let me take care of this. Send Benjamin with me so we can go and survive. We will all starve if we do not.’

9 ‘I will be responsible for him. If something happens, you can blame me forever.’

10 ‘If we had not wasted all this time arguing, we could have been back and forth by now.’

Jacob Agrees

11 Then Jacob said, ‘Alright, if it has to be this way, take some gifts for the man, some balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachios, and almonds.’

12 ‘Take double the silver, because it might have been a mistake that the first silver was put back in your bags.’

13 ‘And take your brother Benjamin. Go back and see the man.’

14 ‘May God Almighty give you all favor so the man lets your other brother and Benjamin come back. If I lose my kids, then I lose my kids.’

The Brothers Return to Egypt

15 So they packed up the gifts, the silver, and Benjamin, and headed to Egypt to see Joseph.

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he told his steward, ‘Take these men to my house, prepare a meal, and get it ready. They are eating with me at noon.’

17 The steward did what Joseph said and brought the men to his house.

18 The brothers got scared when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, ‘This is because of the silver that was put back in our sacks. He is going to accuse us, take us as slaves, and jack our donkeys!’

The Brothers Speak to the Steward

19 They went up to Joseph’s steward and said at the entrance to the house,

20 ‘Listen, sir, we came here before to buy food,’

21 ‘but when we got back and opened our sacks, we found our silver at the top. We brought it back with us.’

22 ‘We also brought more silver to buy food. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.’

23 The steward said, ‘Do not worry. Your God and the God of your father must have put the silver there. I got your payment.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them.

The Brothers Meet Joseph Again

24 The steward took them into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and fed their donkeys.

25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph, because they heard they were eating with him at noon.

26 When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts and bowed down to the ground before him.

27 Joseph asked, ‘How is your father, the old man you told me about, Is he still alive?’

28 They said, ‘Yeah, our dad is alive and well.’ Then they bowed down again.

29 Joseph looked at Benjamin, his full brother, and said, ‘Is this your youngest brother you told me about, May God be good to you, my son.’

30 Joseph got emotional seeing his brother and had to leave the room to cry.

31 After he pulled himself together, he came back, ordered the food to be served, and sat down.

The Feast

32 Joseph ate at his own table, his brothers at another, and the Egyptians at theirs, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, it was considered nasty to them.

33 The brothers were seated in birth order, and they looked at each other, tripping out about how he knew.

34 Joseph sent food from his table, but Benjamin’s plate had five times as much as the others. They all ate and drank, having a good time.