The second journey to Egypt
1 ① Now the lack of food was severe in the land, 2and when they had eaten the grain they brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go down again and buy us a little food.” 3But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us that our brother had to come with us. 4If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you; 5but if you don’t send him, we will not go, for the man said: You will not be admitted to my presence if your brother is not with you.” 6Israel then said, “Why did you bring this misery on me by letting the man know you have another brother?” 7They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kinsfolk saying: ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And so we answered these questions. Could we have known that he would tell us to bring our brother?”
8Judah then said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me. Let us go so that we, you and our children may live and not die. 9I will guarantee his safety. If I do not bring him back and set him here before you, I will bear the blame forever. 10If we hadn’t delayed for so long we could have been there and back twice over.”
11Israel their father said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some choice products of the land in your bags and a gift for the man — some balm, a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12Take double the money with you and you will repay what was put in your sacks; it may have been a mistake. 13Take your brother and go back to the man. 14May God Almighty grant you mercy in his presence, so that he will allow you to bring back your other brother and Benjamin. As for myself if I am bereaved of my children, then bereaved I shall have to be.”
15The men took the gift and the double amount of money as well. And, taking Benjamin, they set off and went down to Egypt and were admitted to the presence of Joseph.
16When Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, he said to his steward, “Bring these men to my house. Have an animal slaughtered and a meal prepared, for these men will eat with me at noon.” 17The steward did as Joseph directed and brought the men to Joseph’s house.
18They were afraid and said to each other, “It’s because of the money that was placed in our sacks the last time, that we are brought in. He wants to attack and overpower us and have us as slaves and take our donkeys.” 19So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the door of the house, 20“Oh my Lord, we came down here the first time to buy food, 21and when we reached a lodging place and opened our sacks, we found in the mouth of the sacks each one’s money to the full weight. We have brought it back with us 22as well as additional money to buy food. We don’t know who put the money in our sacks.” 23The steward said, “Be at peace! Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, put a treasure in your grain sacks. Your money reached me safely.” He then brought Simeon out to them.
24The steward took them into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and fodder for their donkeys. 25They prepared their present and waited for Joseph’s arrival at midday, for they heard they were to dine there.
26When Joseph came into the house, they offered him the gift they had with them and bowed to the ground before him. 27He asked them how they were and said, “Is your father well, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 28They answered, “Your servant our father is well and is still alive.” 29He looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, the son of his own mother, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he added, “God be good to you, my son!” 30So deeply moved was Joseph, on seeing his brother, that he wanted to cry and went out quickly and wept in his own private room. 31After he had washed his face and come out, controlling himself, he said, “Serve the meal.” 32He was served separately and so were they, and the Egyptians as well, for the Egyptians cannot share a meal with Hebrews; for the Egyptians this would be a shame. 33They were seated opposite him in the order of their ages from the eldest to the youngest and they looked at each other in astonishment.
34Joseph had portions from his own dish taken to them and Benjamin’s portion was five times more than that of the others. So they drank freely with him.
- Gen 43,1 We shall note in these chapters the soldering of two different traditions which gives rise to repetitions. Just as in chapter 37, Reuben and Judah make the same effort to save Joseph, here Judah appears on the scene after Reuben.
