January 15
Genesis 43 English
Standard Version (ESV)
Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt
43 Now the famine was severe
in the land. 2 And when
they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to
them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah
said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face
unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you
will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But 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.’” 6 Israel
said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another
brother?” 7 They
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’?” 8 And 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. 9 I 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. 10 If we had
not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”
11 Then 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. 12 Take
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. 13 Take also
your brother, and arise, go again to the man. 14 May God
Almighty[a] 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.”
15 So the men took this
present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and
went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
16 When 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.” 17 The man
did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph's house. 18 And 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.” 19 So they went up to the
steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “Oh,
my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. 21 And 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, 22 and we
have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our
money in our sacks.” 23 He
replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father
has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought
Simeon out to them.24 And when the man had
brought the men into Joseph's house and given them water, and they had
washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, 25 they
prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they
should eat bread there.
26 When Joseph came home,
they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed
down to him to the ground. 27 And he
inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of
whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant
our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and
prostrated themselves. 29 And he
lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said,
“Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious
to you, my son!”30 Then Joseph hurried out,
for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to
weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. 31 Then he
washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the
food.”32 They
served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with
him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for
that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they
sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest
according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. 34 Portions
were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five
times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry[b] with him.
Genesis 44 English
Standard Version (ESV)
Joseph Tests His Brothers
44 Then he commanded the
steward of his house, “Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can
carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack,2 and put
my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his
money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.
3 As soon as the morning was
light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.4 They had
gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward,
“Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have
you repaid evil for good?[a] 5 Is it not
from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination?
You have done evil in doing this.’”
6 When he overtook them, he
spoke to them these words. 7 They said
to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your
servants to do such a thing! 8 Behold, the
money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the
land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? 9 Whichever
of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's
servants.” 10 He said,
“Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the
rest of you shall be innocent.”11 Then each man quickly
lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12 And he
searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup
was found in Benjamin's sack. 13 Then they tore their
clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
14 When Judah and his
brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him
to the ground. 15 Joseph
said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man
like me can indeed practice divination?”16 And Judah
said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear
ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my
lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17 But he
said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the
cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your
father.”
18 Then Judah went up to him
and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's
ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are
like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord
asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20 And we
said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the
child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's
children, and his father loves him.’ 21 Then you
said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on
him.’ 22 We said
to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his
father, his father would die.’ 23 Then you said to your
servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not
see my face again.’
24 “When we went back to your
servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And when our
father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ 26 we said,
‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down.
For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your
servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One left
me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen
him since. 29 If you take
this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my
gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’
30 “Now therefore, as soon as
I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life
is bound up in the boy's life, 31 as soon as he sees that
the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray
hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your
servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I
do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all
my life.’ 33 Now
therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my
lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how
can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil
that would find my father.”
Genesis 45 English
Standard Version (ESV)
Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family
45 Then Joseph could not control
himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from
me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he
wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard
it. 3 And
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But
his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
4 So Joseph said to his
brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am
your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now
do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for
God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the
famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years
in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God
sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive
for you many survivors. 8 So it was
not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord
of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and
go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me
lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall
dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children
and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you
have. 11 There I
will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that
you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ 12 And now
your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my
mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must
tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry
and bring my father down here.”14 Then he
fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he
kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with
him.
16 When the report was heard
in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his
servants. 17 And
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and
go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and
your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land
of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19 And you,
Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt
for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no
concern for[a] your goods, for the best of all the
land of Egypt is yours.’”
21 The sons of Israel did so:
and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave
them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he
gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels[b] of silver and five changes of
clothes. 23 To his
father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt,
and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father
on the journey. 24 Then he
sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not
quarrel on the way.”
25 So they went up out of
Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they
told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when
they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he
saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their
father Jacob revived. 28 And
Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him
before I die.”