Jacob told his sons to go to Egypt country again

1Some time later, there was still no rain and no food plants growing in Canaan country, and everybody was really hungry.

2Jacob’s family finished eating all that food that they got in Egypt country, and they didn’t have any more food. So Jacob said to his sons, “Go back to Egypt country, and buy a bit more food for us.”

3But Jacob’s son Judah said, “You know that we can’t go back to Egypt country without our youngest brother Benjamin. That man that is in charge of Egypt, he will not let us do that. Last time we went to Egypt, that man talked strongly to us, and he said, ‘You can only come back here if you bring your youngest brother with you.’”

4Then Judah said to Jacob, “If you will let our brother Benjamin go with us to Egypt country, then we will go and buy food for you there.

5But if you will not let Benjamin go with us, then we will not go to Egypt country, because that man said to us, ‘You can only come back here if you bring your youngest brother with you.’”

6Then Jacob said, “I don’t want you mob to take Benjamin to Egypt country. Why did you make this problem for me? Why did you tell that man that you have another brother?”

7Jacob’s sons said, “That man asked us lots of questions about ourselves and our family. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? And have you got another brother?’ We just answered his questions. We didn’t know that he was going to say, ‘Bring your brother here.’”

8Then Judah talked to his father Jacob again. He said, “I will look after that young man Benjamin. Let him go with me to Egypt country. We will go there straight away, with the rest of our brothers, so that we can buy food. If we don’t go and buy food, our mob will get so hungry that we will all die. That’s true for us, and you, and our kids. We all need that food, so that we can stay alive.”

9Then Judah said to his father, “I promise that I will look after Benjamin, and I will keep him safe until we come back. I’m telling you straight, if I don’t bring Benjamin back here to you, then you can blame me and say that I am guilty, and you can keep doing that all my life.

10But listen, we really need to go to Egypt country now. We already waited too long. We had enough time to go to Egypt and come back, and then go again and come back. But we didn’t do that. We just stayed here in Canaan country.”

11Then their father Jacob said, “All right. I can see that you mob have to take Benjamin to Egypt country. But first, I want you to get some of the best things from our country, so that you can take them as presents for that man, the one that is in charge of Egypt. Get some honey, and some nuts. And get some perfume, and some bush medicine called myrrh. Put all those things into your bags, and take them to Egypt, and give them to that man that is in charge.”

12Then Jacob kept on talking to his sons. He said, “Remember, the last time you mob went to Egypt, you paid money for food. Then later on, you found that money in your food bags. I don’t know why somebody put that money into your food bags. Maybe that person wasn’t thinking right. So you have to take that money back to Egypt country, and you have to give it to that man that is in charge. And take some other money with you as well, to pay for the food that you will buy this time.”

13Then Jacob said to his sons, “Now get your brother Benjamin, and leave this place straight away. Go back to Egypt country, and go to that man that is in charge.

14You know, God is the one that has power over everything. So I’m asking God to make that man feel sorry for you mob. If he feels sorry for you, then he will let your brother Simeon go free, and he will let Simeon and Benjamin come back here with you. But if those things don’t happen, and if my sons die, then I can’t change that.”

Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt country again

15Straight away, Jacob’s sons did everything that Jacob said. They got those presents ready, and they got that money that they found in their food bags, and some other money. Then they got their brother Benjamin, and they went to Egypt country. After they got there, they went and stood in front of Joseph.

16Joseph looked at those men, and he saw that his brother Benjamin was with them. So Joseph talked to his worker, the one that was in charge of all the other workers in his house. Joseph said to that worker, “I want these men to eat lunch with me at 12 o’clock. So take them to my house, and then go and get one of my animals and kill it. Cook the meat from that animal, and get it ready for us to eat.”

17So that worker started to take those men to Joseph’s house, just like Joseph told him to do.

18Then those men got frightened. They talked to each other, and they said, “You know, the last time we came here to Egypt country, we brought money with us, to buy food. But somebody put that money in our food bags, and then we took those food bags back home with us. We didn’t know that our money was in those bags. Now that man is going to say to us, ‘You mob stole that money.’ That’s the reason why he wants us at his house. Him and his men, they are going to attack us, and we will not be able to fight back, because they will be too strong for us. Then they will make us like prisoners, and we will have to work very hard for them. And they will take our donkeys too.”

19So when those men got near to Joseph’s house, they stopped outside the door of the house, and they talked to Joseph’s worker.

20They said, “Please, sir, we want to tell you something. Some time ago, we came here to Egypt country, to buy food. We got lots of food, and we paid money for that food.

21Then on the way home, we stopped at a place to camp for the night. Then we opened our food bags, and we saw that all our money was in those bags, on top of the food. We don’t know who put that money in our bags. So now, we brought that money here, to give it back. And we brought some other money with us too, so that we can buy more food.”

23Then Joseph’s worker said to them, “It’s all right. Don’t be frightened. I got the money that you paid for that food last time. The God that you and your father respect, he is the one that put that money in your food bags. It’s like he gave you a special present.” Then that worker went and got Joseph’s brother Simeon, that one that stayed in Egypt country last time. That worker took Simeon to his brothers,

24and then he took all those men into Joseph’s house. He got water for them to wash their feet, and he got food for their donkeys to eat.

25And he said to those men, “You are going to eat lunch with my boss at 12 o’clock.” So they washed their feet, and they got those presents ready for Joseph, the ones that they brought from Canaan country.

Joseph’s brothers had lunch with him

26Joseph came home for lunch, and his brothers gave him those presents that they brought from Canaan country. They still didn’t know that he was their brother. They thought that he was one of the Egypt people. So they got down on their knees and put their faces near the ground, to show him respect.

27Joseph said to them, “How are you mob?” And he said, “The last time you came here, you told me about your father. So tell me, how is that old man? Is he still alive?”

28They said, “Yes, our father is still alive, and he is good. He respects you.” Then they all got down on their knees again, and they put their faces near the ground, to show respect to Joseph.

29Joseph looked around, and he saw his brother Benjamin. You know, Joseph and Benjamin had the same mother and father. So Joseph said to those men, “You told me that you have another younger brother. Is this him?” Then Joseph said to Benjamin, “Young man, I’m asking God to be very good to you.”

30Joseph was really happy to see Benjamin, because he loved him very much. He was so happy that he wanted to cry. But Joseph didn’t want his brothers to see him crying, so he quickly went out of that room to find a place to cry. He went to his own room, and he cried.

31After a while, Joseph stopped crying. Then he washed his face, and he went back to his brothers. And Joseph tried to be strong, so that he did not cry again. He said to his workers, “Bring the food that you made, so that we can eat it.”

32In that room there was Joseph, and Joseph’s brothers, and some Egypt people. Joseph’s workers went and got food for them all. Those Egypt people didn’t want to sit with Joseph’s brothers, because Joseph’s brothers were from the Hebrew tribe, and the Egypt people reckoned it was wrong to eat food with Hebrew people. That’s what their culture said. So those Egypt people sat by themselves, and Joseph had a special place for himself.

33And Joseph got his brothers to sit together. He got his oldest brother to sit down first, and he got his 2nd oldest brother to sit down next, and then he kept on doing that with all his brothers, and he got his youngest brother to sit down last. So all his brothers were sitting down in order of their age, from the oldest to the youngest. Joseph’s brothers were shocked. They thought, “That man knows how old we all are. How does he know that?”

34Then Joseph’s workers got food from Joseph’s table, and they gave that food to Joseph’s brothers. But they gave Benjamin more food than all the others. They gave Benjamin 5 lunches just for him. And all of Joseph’s brothers, they drank a lot of wine with Joseph, and they felt very happy.