1 The famine was severe in the land. 2 When they had finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But 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.’ ” 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man you had another brother?” 7 They said, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We answered his questions. How could we have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the young man with me, and we will get up and go, so that we, you, and our little ones may live and not die. 9 I will be his guarantor; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will bear the blame before you all my days. 10 If we had not delayed, we could have returned twice by now.” 11 Their father Israel said to them, “If that is how it must be, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your containers and bring the man a gift: a little balm and a little honey, gum and aromatic resin, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Take twice as much money with you, and take back the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother too, and get up and return to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” 15 The men took this gift, twice as much money, and Benjamin. They got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the man in charge of his house, “Bring the men into the house, slaughter an animal, and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph said and brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18 The men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of the money returned in our sacks the first time, so that he may find a pretext against us, attack us, and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” 19 They approached the man in charge of Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the entrance of the house. 20 They said, “Please, my lord, we did indeed come down the first time to buy food. 21 When we came to the lodging place and opened our sacks, each man’s money was there in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought down other money to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23 He said, “Peace to you. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He also gave their donkeys feed. 25 They prepared the gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon, for they had heard that they would eat bread there. 26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had with them into the house and bowed down to him to the ground. 27 He asked about their well-being and said, “Is your father well, the old man you told me about? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” They bowed their heads and bowed down. 29 He lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. He said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Joseph hurried away, for his compassion for his brother was stirred, and he sought a place to weep. He went into a room and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the bread.” 32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, for the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, because that was an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 They sat before him in order of birth, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at one another in amazement. 34 He sent portions to them from the food before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as large as any of theirs. They drank and became drunk with him.