| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1And the famine was sore in the land. | 1Now the famine in the land was severe. |
| 2And 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. | 2When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us some food." |
| 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. | 3But Judah said to him, "The man specifically warned us: 'You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.' |
| 4If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: | 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. |
| 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. | 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.'"" |
| 6And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? | 6Why did you cause me so much trouble?" Israel asked. "Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?" |
| 7And 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? | 7They answered, "The man kept asking about us and our family: 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother? And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, 'Bring your brother here'?" |
| 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. | 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 children. |
| 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: | 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. |
| 10For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. | 10If we had not wasted time, we could have come back twice by now." |
| 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: | 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--some balsam and some honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios 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: | 12Take twice as much money with you. Return the money that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. |
| 13Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: | 13Take your brother also, and go back at once to 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. | 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." |
| 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. | 15The men took this gift, double the amount of money, and Benjamin. They made their way 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. | 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." |
| 17And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. | 17The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to 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. | 18But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph's house. They said, "We have been brought here because of the money that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys." |
| 19And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, | 19So they approached Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the doorway of the house. |
| 20And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: | 20They said, "Sir, we really did come down here the first time only 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. | 21When we came to the place where we lodged for the night and opened our bags of grain, each one's money was at the top of his bag! It was the full amount of our money, and we have brought it back with us. |
| 22And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. | 22We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We don't know who put our money in the bags." |
| 23And 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. | 23Then the steward said, "May you be well. Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them. |
| 24And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. | 24The steward brought the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet, and got feed for their donkeys. |
| 25And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. | 25Since the men had heard that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph's arrival at noon. |
| 26And 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. | 26When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him. |
| 27And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? | 27He asked if they were well, and he said, "How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?" |
| 28And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. | 28They answered, "Your servant our father is well. He is still alive." And they bowed down to honor him. |
| 29And 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. | 29When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?" Then he said, "May God be gracious to you, my son." |
| 30And 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. | 30Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room to weep. |
| 31And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. | 31Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure, he said, "Serve the meal." |
| 32And 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. | 32They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is abhorrent to them. |
| 33And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. | 33They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. |
| 34And 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. | 34Portions were served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin's portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank, and they got intoxicated with Joseph. |
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