Parallel Bible results for "genesis 43"

Genesis 43

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Now the land was in bitter need of food.

2 And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.

3 And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.

4 If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food:

5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you.

6 And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

7 And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother?

8 Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.

9 Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.

10 Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now.

11 Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so, then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:

12 And take twice as much money with you; that is to say, take back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been an error;

13 And take your brother and go back to the man:

14 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man, so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If my children are to be taken from me; there is no help for it.

15 So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.

16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant, Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they will take food with me in the middle of the day.

17 And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house.

18 Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money which was put back in our bags the first time; he is looking for something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us and our asses for his use.

19 So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house,

20 And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food;

21 And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, all our money in full weight: and we have it with us to give it back;

22 As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no idea who put our money in our bags.

23 Then the servant said, Peace be with you: have no fear: your God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags for you: I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them.

24 And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food.

25 And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in the middle of the day: for word was given to them that they were to have a meal there.

26 And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.

27 And he said, How are you? is your father well, the old man of whom you were talking to me? is he still living?

28 And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him.

29 Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you gave me word? And he said, God be good to you, my son.

30 Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.

31 Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us.

32 And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by themselves; because the Egyptians may not take food with the Hebrews, for that would make them unclean.

33 And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were looking at one another in wonder.

34 And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took wine freely with him.

Good News Translation GNT

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.