43 Meanwhile, the famine in the land of Canaan was increasing. 2 And when all the grain supplies brought from Egypt were exhausted, the father said to his sons, "Go again and buy a little grain, that we may have food."

3But Judas reminded him: "The man of whom we have spoken to you has severely commanded us not to come to him without our younger brother." 4 If you let him go with us, we will go for grain, that you may have food. 5But if you do not let us go, we must not go there, for the man said, 'Do not show yourself to me without your younger brother.'"

6"You should have brought such trouble upon me! Jacob complained. "Why did you say you have another brother?!"

7And they justified themselves: "That man kept asking about us and about our loved ones: 'Is your father alive? Do you have another brother?" How could we have known that he would demand that our brother be brought to him?"

8 This time, it was not Reuben, but Judah who said to his father Israel: "Let Benjamin go with me, and we will set out immediately, so that neither we, nor you, nor our children will die of hunger. 9I answer for him with my head, you will ask me if anything happens to him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, this sin will be upon me for the rest of my days. 10And if we had not delayed, surely we would have gone there and back twice."

11 "For this matter," said Israel, their father, "then do this: take with you[351] the things for which our land is famous: balm and grape honey, spices and frankincense, pistachios and almonds, and take them as a gift to that man. 12Take twice as much money with you, for you must return the money that you put in your sacks, perhaps by mistake. 13Take your brother Benjamin and go to that man. 14May God Almighty[352] dispose him to you, so that he may release both the brother you left there and Benjamin. And if I am destined to lose my children, then it will be so!"

15Jacob's sons took with them the gifts of which their father had spoken, silver twice as much as before, and they hastened with Benjamin to Egypt. There they were brought before Joseph. 16As soon as Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, he said to his steward: "Bring these men to my house. At noon, they will have lunch with me. Order us to slaughter the best of the cattle and cook it for us." 17The steward did as he was told: he brought the brothers to Joseph's house.

18They were seized with fear as soon as they learned that they had been brought to Joseph's house, and the brothers began to share their fears among themselves: "We have been brought here because of the money that was last time in our sacks. He wants to accuse and punish us, to make us his slaves and to take our donkeys for himself!" 19So they went to the steward of Joseph's house to explain themselves to him in the courtyard. 20"Please listen, our lord! They began. "We had already been here once, bought grain, 21 and when on the way home we stopped for the night and opened our sacks, each of us found in the sack, on top, his silver, returned to him in full. This time we brought it back. E-22 And besides it, we have silver with us to buy grain. We do not know who then put the silver in our sacks."

23 "Calm down, you have nothing to fear," said the steward. "It must be your God, the God of your father, who has put the treasure in the sacks for you. And I received your silver in full."

He brought Simeon to them, 24 invited them to enter Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet, and ordered that their donkeys be given food. 25Expecting Joseph to arrive at noon, they laid out their gifts, for they had heard that they were to dine with him.

26When Joseph came home, they offered him the gifts they had with him and bowed down to the ground. 27He kindly asked them about their health, and then said: "You have told me about your father, the elder, and is he still alive? How is his health?" 28"Our father, your servant, is alive and well!" they replied, and once more humbly bowed.

29As Joseph continued to speak to them, his eyes turned to his brother Benjamin, his mother's son. "Is this your little brother," he asked, "the one you told me about? May God show His mercy to you, my son!" he said excitedly. 30And ready to weep under the influx of tender feelings for his brother, Joseph hastily retired to his room and wept there.

31 Then, having washed himself, he went out and, holding himself in hand, ordered it to be served on the table. 32 It was served separately to him, separately to the brothers, and separately to the Egyptians who dined right there (Egyptians do not eat at the same table with the Jews – they consider it beneath their dignity). 33The brothers were seated before Joseph one by one in order of seniority, from the firstborn to the youngest, and they were amazed to look at each other in amazement. 34And when they were served refreshments from Joseph's table, Benjamin received five times as much as the rest. So the brothers drank and feasted with Joseph.

The Final Challenge