Gema369 KJV Bible: Genesis 43

*The food shortage was very bad in the country.

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.

*Then, after eating the grain they got from Egypt, their dad told them, "Go back and get more 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.

*Judah told him, "The man promised that he would only meet us if our brother comes with us."

4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

*If you let our friend come 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.

*But if you don't send him, we won't go down. The man told us, we can't see his face unless our brother comes with us.

6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

*Israel asked, "Why did you treat me so badly by telling that man if I have any other brothers?"

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?

*They said, "The man wanted to know about us and our family, asking if our dad is still alive and if we have any other brothers. We answered based on what he asked, not sure if he really meant for us to bring our brother down."

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.

*Judah asked his dad, Israel, "Let the boy come with us. Then we'll leave and stay alive, along with you and our small children."

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:

*I will guarantee his safety; you can trust me to be responsible for him. If I fail to deliver him to you and present him to you, then I accept the blame forever.

10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

*If we hadn't stayed longer, we would have come back for the second time 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:

*"And their father Israel told them, 'If we have to do this now, then do the following: Collect the best fruits from the land and put them in your containers. Also, take some balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds as a gift for the man.'"

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:

*Take twice the amount of money in your hand. Also, carry back the money found inside your sacks in your hand. It might have been a mistake.

13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

*Take your brother with you and leave now to return to the man.

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.

*May the powerful God grant you compassion so the man can let your other sibling and Benjamin go. If I lose my kids, I've lost 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.

*The men accepted the gift, grabbed twice the amount of money, and brought Benjamin with them. They then left for Egypt, met Joseph, and stood in front of him.

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.

*When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he told the house leader, "Bring these men home, prepare a meal, and kill, because these men will eat with me at lunchtime."

17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

*The man followed Joseph's instructions and brought the other men to Joseph's home.

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.

*The men were scared when they entered Joseph's house, thinking that the money returned with their sacks earlier might mean Joseph wants to trap them, enslave them, and take their donkeys too.

19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

*They approached the manager of Joseph's home and talked to him by the house entrance.

20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:

*He said, "Sir, we did come here before to get 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.

*When we arrived at the inn, we opened our bags and found each person's money inside their sack, with the correct amount. We brought the money back with us.

22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

*We brought money for food, but don't know who placed it in our bags.

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.

*He said, "May peace be with you, don't be afraid." Your God, the same God as your father, has given you a treasure in your bags. I had your money. He also brought Simeon to you.

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.

*The man took the guests to Joseph's home, gave them water to clean their feet, and fed their donkeys.

25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

*They prepared the gift before noon when Joseph arrived, as they learned they would eat bread there.

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.

*When Joseph returned home, they gave him the gift they were holding and bent down to the ground to show respect.

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?

*He asked how they were doing and inquired, "Is your dad healthy, the elderly man you mentioned? Is he still alive?"

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.

*They said, "Your dad is doing well and is still alive." Then they bowed their heads and showed respect.

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.

*He looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, the child of his mother. He asked, "Is this the young brother you told me about?" Then he replied, "May God bless you, my child."

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.

*Joseph hurried because he deeply cared for his brother. He searched for a place to cry. Then, he went into his room and cried there.

31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

*He cleaned his face, left, controlled himself, and ordered, "Prepare food."

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.

*They separated him with only his people, and the Egyptians who ate with them, from everyone else. This was because eating with Hebrews was considered very unclean by the Egyptians.

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.

*They sat down in front of him, the oldest because of his birthright, and the youngest due to his young age; and the people were amazed.

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.

*He sent food to them ahead of time, and Benjamin's portion was five times bigger than the others'. They enjoyed the meal and had a great time together.

Genesis

Chapter 43