New International Version NIV
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now the famine was still severe in the land.
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Now the land was in bitter need of food.
2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
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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 But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
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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 send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
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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, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ”
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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 Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?”
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And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?
7 They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”
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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 along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die.
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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 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.
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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 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”
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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 must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.
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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 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.
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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 Take your brother also and go back to the man at once.
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And take your brother and go back to the man:
14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
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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 the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph.
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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 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.”
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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 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house.
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And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into Joseph's house.
18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.”
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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 steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
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So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the house,
20 “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food.
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And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get food;
21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us.
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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 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”
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As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no idea who put our money in our bags.
23 “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
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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 The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys.
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And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food.
25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.
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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 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground.
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And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they had for him, and went down to the earth before him.
27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?”
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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 They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.
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And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still living. And they went down on their faces before him.
29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”
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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 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.
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Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.
31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, “Serve the food.”
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Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling his feelings said, Put food before us.
32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians.
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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 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment.
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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 When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.
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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.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.