| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1And the famine was sore in the land. | 1Now the famine was still severe in the land. |
| 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. | 2So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little more 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 warned us solemnly, 'You will not see my face 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 along 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 down, because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face 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? | 6Israel asked, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man 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 replied, "The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. 'Is your father still living?' he asked us. 'Do you have another brother?' We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, 'Bring your brother down 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 Israel his father, "Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. |
| 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 myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. |
| 10For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. | 10As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice." |
| 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, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift--a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts 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 double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. |
| 13Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: | 13Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. |
| 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. | 14And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved." |
| 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. | 15So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to 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 the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to 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 told him and took the men 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. | 18Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as 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 went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. |
| 20And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: | 20"We beg your pardon, our lord," they said, "we came down here the first time 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. | 21But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver--the exact weight--in the mouth of his sack. So 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 also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks." |
| 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. | 23"It's all right," he said. "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver." 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 took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. |
| 25And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. | 25They prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there. |
| 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 presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. |
| 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 them how they were, and then he said, "How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?" |
| 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 replied, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before 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. | 29As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" And he said, "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. | 30Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. |
| 31And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. | 31After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, "Serve the food." |
| 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, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. |
| 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. | 33The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they 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. | 34When portions were served to them from Joseph's table, Benjamin's portion was five times as much as anyone else's. So they feasted and drank freely with him. |
|
