King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the famine was sore in the land.
1
The famine in Canaan got worse,
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.
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 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.
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 thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
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If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you.
5 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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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 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
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Jacob said, "Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another 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?
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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 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.
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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 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:
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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 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
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If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now."
11 And their father Israel 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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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 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 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 also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
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Take your brother and return at once.
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.
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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 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.
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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 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.
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 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
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The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to 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 occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.
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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 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
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So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge,
20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
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"If you please, sir, we came here once before 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.
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 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.
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 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.
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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 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.
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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 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.
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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 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.
26
When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him.
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?
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 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
28
They answered, "Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well." And they knelt and bowed down before him.
29 And he lifted 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.
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 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.
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 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
31
After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served.
32 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 abomination unto the Egyptians.
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 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.
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 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
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.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.