Daily Text and Bible Reading: Wednesday, January 15 [Press play below]

43.1 Now the famine was severe in the land.
43.2 So when they had finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them: “Return and buy a little food for us.”
43.3 Then Judah said to him: “The man clearly warned us, ‘You must not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
43.4 If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
43.5 But if you do not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You must not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”
43.6 And Israel asked: “Why did you have to bring this trouble on me by telling the man that you had another brother?”
43.7 They replied: “The man directly inquired concerning us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ and we told him these facts. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”
43.8 Judah then urged Israel his father: “Send the boy with me, and let us go on our way so that we may live and not die—we and you and our children.
43.9 I will be a guarantee for his safety. You may hold me responsible. If I fail to return him to you and present him to you, I will have sinned against you for all time.
43.10 But if we had not delayed, we could have been there and back twice by now.”
43.11 So Israel their father said to them: “If it must be so, then do this: Take the finest products of the land in your bags and carry them down to the man as a gift: a little balsam, a little honey, labdanum, resinous bark, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
43.12 Take double the money with you; and also take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your bags. Maybe it was a mistake.
43.13 Take your brother and go, return to the man.
43.14 May God Almighty grant you pity from the man, so that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. But as for me, if I must be bereaved, I will be bereaved!”
43.15 So the men took this gift, and they took double the money in their hand and Benjamin. Then they rose and went on their way down to Egypt and again stood before Joseph.
43.16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he at once said to the man who was over his house: “Take the men to the house and slaughter animals and prepare the meal, for the men are to eat with me at noon.”
43.17 Immediately the man did just as Joseph had said, and he took them to Joseph’s house.
43.18 But the men became afraid when they were taken to Joseph’s house, and they began to say: “It is because of the money that was returned in our bags the last time that we are being brought here. Now they will attack us and make us slaves and take our donkeys!”
43.19 So they approached the man who was over Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the entrance of the house.
43.20 They said: “Pardon us, my lord! We did come down the first time to buy food.
43.21 But when we arrived at our lodging place and began opening our bags, why, here was the money of each one in the mouth of his bag, our money in full weight. So we would like to return it personally.
43.22 And we have brought more money to buy food. We do not know who placed our money in our bags.”
43.23 Then he said: “It is all right. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father put treasure in your bags. Your money came first to me.” After that he brought out Simeon to them.
43.24 Then the man brought them into Joseph’s house and gave them water for washing their feet, and he gave fodder for their donkeys.
43.25 And they prepared the gift for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they were going to eat a meal there.
43.26 When Joseph went into the house, they brought their gift to him into the house and prostrated themselves to him to the ground.
43.27 After this he inquired about their welfare and said: “How is your aged father of whom you have spoken? Is he still alive?”
43.28 To this they said: “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves.
43.29 When he looked up and saw Benjamin his brother, the son of his mother, he said: “Is this your brother, the youngest one of whom you have spoken to me?” He added: “May God show you his favor, my son.”
43.30 Joseph then hurried out, because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he looked for a place to weep. So he went into a private room and gave way to tears there.
43.31 After that he washed his face and went out, now in control of himself, and he said: “Serve the meal.”
43.32 They served him by himself and them by themselves, and the Egyptians with him ate by themselves, for the Egyptians could not eat a meal with the Hebrews, because that is a detestable thing to the Egyptians.
43.33 The brothers were seated before him, the firstborn according to his right as firstborn and the youngest according to his youth, and they kept looking at one another in amazement.
43.34 He kept sending portions of food from his table to theirs, but he increased Benjamin’s portion five times the size of the portions of all the others. So they continued banqueting and drinking with him to the full.
44.1 Later he commanded the man who was over his house: “Fill the bags of the men with as much food as they can carry, and place the money of each one in the mouth of his bag.
44.2 But you must place my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the bag of the youngest, along with the money for his grain.” So he did as Joseph had instructed.
44.3 In the morning when it had become light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.
44.4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to the man who was over his house: “Get up! Chase after the men! When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid bad for good?
44.5 Is not this what my master drinks from and uses to read omens expertly? It is a wicked thing you have done.’”
44.6 So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.
44.7 But they said to him: “Why does my lord say such a thing? It is unthinkable that your servants would do anything like this.
44.8 Why, the money that we found in the mouth of our bags we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How, then, could we steal silver or gold from the house of your master?
44.9 If it is found with one of your slaves, let him die, and the rest of us will also become slaves to my master.”
44.10 So he said: “Let it be as you say: The one with whom it is found will become my slave, but the rest of you will be innocent.”
44.11 With that each one quickly lowered his bag to the ground and opened it.
44.12 He searched carefully, starting with the oldest and finishing with the youngest. Finally the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag.
44.13 Then they ripped their garments apart, and each of them lifted his load back onto his donkey and returned to the city.
44.14 When Judah and his brothers went into Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him.
44.15 Joseph said to them: “What is this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man like me can expertly read omens?”
44.16 At this Judah replied: “What can we say to my master? What can we speak? And how can we prove ourselves righteous? The true God has found out the error of your slaves. We are now slaves to my master, both we and the one in whose hand the cup was found!”
44.17 However, he said: “It is unthinkable for me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found is the one who will become a slave to me. As for the rest of you, go up in peace to your father.”
44.18 Judah now approached him and said: “I beg you, my master, please let your slave speak a word in my master’s ears, and do not become angry with your slave, for you are like Pharaoh himself.
44.19 My master asked his slaves, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
44.20 So we said to my master, ‘We do have an aged father and a child of his old age, the youngest. But his brother is dead, so he is the only remaining son of his mother, and his father loves him.’
44.21 After that you said to your slaves, ‘Bring him down to me so that I may see him.’
44.22 But we said to my master, ‘The boy is not able to leave his father. If he did leave him, his father would certainly die.’
44.23 Then you said to your slaves, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you may not see my face anymore.’
44.24 “So we went up to your slave my father and told him the words of my master.
44.25 Later our father said, ‘Return and buy a little food for us.’
44.26 But we said, ‘We are not able to go down. If our youngest brother is with us we will go down, for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
44.27 Then your slave my father said to us, ‘You well know that my wife bore but two sons to me.
44.28 But one of them left me and I said: “He must surely have been torn to pieces!” and I have not seen him until now.
44.29 If you were to take this one also out of my sight and a fatal accident were to befall him, you would certainly bring down my gray hairs to the Grave with calamity.’
44.30 “And now if I return to your slave my father without the boy along with us, since his own life is bound up with this one’s life,
44.31 then as soon as he sees that the boy is not there, he will die, and your slaves will indeed bring down the gray hairs of your slave our father to the Grave in grief.
44.32 Your slave gave a guarantee to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I fail to bring him back to you, then I will have sinned against my father forever.’
44.33 So now, please, let your slave stay instead of the boy as my master’s slave, in order that the boy may return with his brothers.
44.34 How can I return to my father without the boy along with me? I could not bear looking on when this calamity befalls my father!”
45.1 At this Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants. So he cried out: “Have everyone leave me!” No one else stayed with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
45.2 Then he began to weep so loudly that the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s house heard it.
45.3 Finally Joseph said to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were unable to answer him at all, because they were astonished on account of him.
45.4 So Joseph said to his brothers: “Come close to me, please.” With that they came close to him. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
45.5 But now do not be upset and do not reproach one another because you sold me here; because God has sent me ahead of you for the preservation of life.
45.6 This is the second year of the famine in the land, and there are yet five years in which there will be no plowing or harvest.
45.7 But God sent me ahead of you in order to preserve for you a remnant on the earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
45.8 So, then, it was not you who sent me here, but it was the true God, in order to appoint me as chief adviser to Pharaoh and lord for all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
45.9 “Return quickly to my father, and you must say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph has said: “God has appointed me lord over all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not delay.
45.10 You must dwell in the land of Goshen, where you will be near me—you, your sons, your grandsons, your flocks, your herds, and everything you have.
45.11 I will supply you with food there, for there are yet five years of famine. Otherwise, you and your house and everything you have will come to poverty.”’
45.12 You and my brother Benjamin can now see with your own eyes that I am really the one speaking to you.
45.13 So you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring my father down here.”
45.14 Then he embraced his brother Benjamin and gave way to weeping, and Benjamin wept with his arms around his neck.
45.15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers spoke with him.
45.16 The news reached the house of Pharaoh: “Joseph’s brothers have come!” It was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants.
45.17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your beasts of burden and go to the land of Canaan,
45.18 and take your father and your households and come here to me. I will give you the good things of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the richest part of the land.’
45.19 And you are commanded to tell them: ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your children and your wives, and you must bring your father on one of them and come here.
45.20 Do not worry about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
45.21 And the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons according to Pharaoh’s orders, and he gave them provisions for the journey.
45.22 To each of them he gave individual changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave 300 silver pieces and five changes of clothing.
45.23 And to his father he sent the following: ten donkeys carrying good things of Egypt and ten female donkeys carrying grain and bread and sustenance for his father for the journey.
45.24 So he sent his brothers off, and as they departed, he said to them: “Do not become upset with one another on the way.”
45.25 Then they went up from Egypt and came into the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
45.26 Then they reported to him: “Joseph is still alive, and he is the ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But his heart grew numb because he did not believe them.
45.27 When they went on telling him all the words that Joseph had spoken to them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob began to revive.
45.28 Israel exclaimed: “It is enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die!”