1
And it came to pass that they came unto Jacob, their father, unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them, saying: The man, Zaphnath-paaneah, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us for spies of the country.
2
And we said unto him: We are true men; we are no spies; we be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is nota, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
3
And Zaphnath-paaneah, the lord of the country, said unto us: Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone;
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And bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.
5
And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, the bundle of money of every man was in his sack; and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
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¶ And Jacob, their father, said unto them: Ye hath bereaved of my sons! Joseph is nota, and Simeonb is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me!
7
And Reuben spoke 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.
8
And Jacob said: My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone;
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If mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
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¶ And it came to pass that the famine was sore in all the lands, and when the house of Jacob had eaten up the grains which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them: Go again; buy us a little food.
11
And Judah spoke unto him, saying: The man did solemnly protesta unto us, saying: Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you;
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Therefore, if thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;
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But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us: Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
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¶ And Jacob said: Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
15
And they said: The man, Zaphnath-paaneah, asked us straitly of our state and of our kindred, saying: Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother?
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And we told him according to the tenor of these words; could we certainly know that he would say: Bring your brother down?
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¶ And Judah said unto Jacob, 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.
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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 forever;
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For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
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¶ And their father, Jacob, said unto them: If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in 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;
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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.
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Take also your brother and arise; go again unto the man; and Elohim Shaddaia give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin.
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If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
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¶ And it came to pass that 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.
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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.
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And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into the house of Joseph.
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¶ And the men were afraid because they were brought into the house of Joseph;
28
And the sons of Jacob 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 bondmen, and our asses.
29
And they came near to the steward of the house of Joseph, and they communed with him at the door of the house, and said: O sir, we came, indeed, down at the first time to buy food;
30
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.
31
And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food; we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.
32
¶ And the servant of Joseph said: Peace be to you; fear not; your Elohima, and the Elohim of thy father, hath given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money, and he brought Simeon out unto them.
33
And the man brought the men into the house of Joseph and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave food to their donkeys.
34
And they made ready the gifts for Joseph to come at noon; for they heard that they should eat bread there.
35
¶ And it came to pass that when Joseph came home, they brought him the gifts which was in their hand into the house and boweda themselves to him to the earth.
36
And he asked them of their welfare and said: Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?
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And they answered: Thy servant, our father, is in good health; he is yet alive; and they bowed down their heads and made to honor Joseph.
38
And Joseph lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother, and said: Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke unto me?
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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.
40
And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said: Set on breada.
41
And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him by themselves because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abominationa unto the Egyptians.
42
And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthrighta and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marveled one at another.
43
And Joseph took and sent food unto them from his own table; but Benjamin's portion was five times so much as any of theirs; and they drank and were merry with him.