Genesis 43:3-21
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 43
3Judah spoke to him, however, saying, 'The man sternly warned us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’?' 6Then Israel said, 'Why did you treat me so badly, by telling the man whether you still had another brother?' 7But they said, 'The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?' 8So Judah said to his father Israel, 'Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. 9I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then you can let me take the blame forever. 10For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.'
11Then their father Israel said to them, 'If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a gift, a little balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.
12And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.
13Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man;
14and may God Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!'
15So the men took this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, 'Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon.'
17So the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house.
18Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, 'It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, so that he may attack us and overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys.'
19So they approached Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,
20and said, 'Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,
21and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the opening of his sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back in our hand.
King James Version
Chapter 43
3And 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. 4If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5But 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.
8And 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.
9I 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:
10For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
11And 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:
12And 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:
13Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
14And 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.
15And 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.
16And 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.
17And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18And 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.
19And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
20And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
21And 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.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 43
3But Judah said to him, "The man specifically warned us: ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’"
8Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents.
9I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable! If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever.
10If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now."
11Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.
12Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake.
13Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man.
14May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived."
16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, "Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon."
17The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph’s house.
18But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, "We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys."
19So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the doorway of the house.
New Living Translation
Chapter 43
3But Judah said, 'The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food. 5But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’'
8Judah said to his father, 'Send the boy with me, and we will be on our way. Otherwise we will all die of starvation — and not only we, but you and our little ones.
9I personally guarantee his safety. You may hold me responsible if I don’t bring him back to you. Then let me bear the blame forever.
10If we hadn’t wasted all this time, we could have gone and returned twice by now.'
11So their father, Jacob, finally said to them, 'If it can’t be avoided, then at least do this. Pack your bags with the best products of this land. Take them down to the man as gifts — balm, honey, gum, aromatic resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12Also take double the money that was put back in your sacks, as it was probably someone’s mistake.
13Then take your brother, and go back to the man.
14May God Almighty give you mercy as you go before the man, so that he will release Simeon and let Benjamin return. But if I must lose my children, so be it.'
15So the men packed Jacob’s gifts and double the money and headed off with Benjamin. They finally arrived in Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph.
16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager of his household, 'These men will eat with me this noon. Take them inside the palace. Then go slaughter an animal, and prepare a big feast.'
17So the man did as Joseph told him and took them into Joseph’s palace.
19The brothers approached the manager of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the palace.
20Sir,' they said, 'we came to Egypt once before to buy food.
21But as we were returning home, we stopped for the night and opened our sacks. Then we discovered that each man’s money — the exact amount paid — was in the top of his sack! Here it is; we have brought it back with us.
English Standard Version
Chapter 43
3But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’" 6Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?" 7They replied, "The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?" 8And Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice."
11Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.
13Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man.
14May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."
16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon."
17The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph 's house.
18And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph 's house, and they said, "It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys."
19So they went up to the steward of Joseph 's house and spoke with him at the door of the house,
20and said, "Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food.
21And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man 's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us,
New International Version
Chapter 43
3But Judah said to him, "The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But 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.’ "
8Then 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.
9I 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.
10As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice."
11Then 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.
12Take 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.
13Take your brother also and go back to the man at once.
14And 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."
15So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph.
16When 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."
17The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house.
18Now 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."
19So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
20"We beg your pardon, our lord," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food.
21But 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.
New King James Version
Chapter 43
3But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”
8Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
9I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
10For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.”
11And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.
12Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.
13Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man.
14And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
15So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph.
16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.”
17Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.
19When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house,
20and said, “O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food;
21but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand.
