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[1][Parashat VaYigash] And when Y'hudah saw the dealings of Yosef with them, Y'hudah approached him and broke open the door, and came with his brothers before Yosef.
[2]And Y'hudah said unto Yosef, Let it not seem grievous in the eyes of my lord, may your servant I pray you speak a word before you? and Yosef said unto him, Speak.
[3]And Y'hudah spoke before Yosef, and his brothers were there standing before them; and Y'hudah said unto Yosef, Surely when we first came to our lord to buy food, you did consider us as spies of the land, and we brought Benyamin before you, and you still makest sport of us this day.
[4]And now therefore let the king hear my words, and send I pray you our brother that he may go along with us to our father, lest your soul perish this day with all the souls of the inhabitants of Egypt.
[5]Do you not know what two of my brothers, Shim'on and Levi, did unto the city of Shechem, and unto seven cities of the Amorites, on account of our sister Dinah, and also what they would do for the sake of their brother Benyamin?
[6]And I with my strength, who am greater and mightier than both of them, come this day upon you and your land if you are unwilling to send our brother.
[7]Have you not heard what our Eohim who made choice of us did unto Pharaoh on account of Sarah our mother, whom he took away from our father, that he smote him and his house with heavy plagues, that even unto this day the Egyptians relate this wonder to each other? so will our Elohim do unto you on account of Benyamin whom you have this day taken from his father, and on account of the evils which you this day heap over us in your land; for our Elohim will remember his covenant with our father Avraham and bring evil upon you, because you have grieved the soul of our father this day.
[8]Now therefore hear my words that I have this day spoken unto you, and send our brother that he may go away lest you and the people of your land die by the sword, for you cannot all prevail over me.
[9]And Yosef answered Y'hudah, saying, Why have you opened wide your mouth and why do you boast over us, saying, Strength is with you? as Pharaoh lives, if I command all my valiant men to fight with you, surely you and these your brothers would sink in the mire.
[10]And Y'hudah said unto Yosef, Surely it becomes you and your people to fear me; as YHWH lives if I once draw my sword I shall not sheathe it again until I shall this day have slain all Egypt, and I will commence with you and finish with Pharaoh your lord.
[11]And Yosef answered and said unto him, Surely strength belongs not alone to you; I am stronger and mightier than you, surely if you draw your sword I will put it to your neck and the necks of all your brothers.
[12]And Y'hudah said unto him, Surely if I this day open my mouth against you I would swallow you up that you be destroyed from off the earth and perish this day from your kingdom. And Yosef said, Surely if you open your mouth I have power and might to close your mouth with a stone until you shall not be able to utter a word; see how many stones are before us, truly I can take a stone, and force it into your mouth and break your jaws.
[13]And Y'hudah said, Elohim is witness between us, that we have not hitherto desired to battle with you, only give us our brother and we will go from you; and Yosef answered and said, As Pharaoh lives, if all the kings of Kanaan came together with you, you should not take him from my hand.
[14]Now therefore go your way to your father, and your brother shall be unto me for a slave, for he has robbed the king's house. And Y'hudah said, What is it to you or to the character of the king, surely the king sends forth from his house, throughout the land, silver and gold either in gifts or expenses, and you still talk about your cup which you did place in our brother's bag and say that he has stolen it from you?
[15]May it never be that our brother Benyamin or any of the seed of Avraham should do this thing to steal from you, or from any one else, whether king, prince, or any man.
[16]And now therefore cease this accusation lest all the earth hear your words, saying, For a little silver the king of Egypt wrangled with the men, and he accused them and took their brother for a slave.
[17]And Yosef answered and said, Take unto you this cup and go from me and leave your brother for a slave, for it is the judgment of a thief to be a slave.
[18]And Y'hudah said, Why are you not ashamed of your words, to leave our brother and to take your cup? Surely if you givest us your cup, or a thousand times as much, we will not leave our brother for the silver which is found in the hand of any man, that we will not die over him.
[19]And Yosef answered, And why did you forsake your brother and sell him for twenty pieces of silver unto this day, and why then will you not do the same to this your brother?
[20]And Y'hudah said, YHWH is witness between me and you that we desire not your battles; now therefore give us our brother and we will go from you without quarreling.
[21]And Yosef answered and said, If all the kings of the land should assemble they will not be able to take your brother from my hand; and Y'hudah said, What shall we say unto our father, when he sees that our brother comes not with us, and will grieve over him?
[22]And Yosef answered and said, This is the thing which you shall tell unto your father, saying, The rope has gone after the bucket.
[23]And Y'hudah said, Surely you are a king, and why speak you these things, giving a false judgment? woe unto the king who is like unto you.
[24]And Yosef answered and said, There is no false judgment in the word that I spoke on account of your brother Yosef, for all of you sold him to the Midyanites for twenty pieces of silver, and you all denied it to your father and said unto him, An evil beast has devoured him, Yosef has been torn to pieces.
[25]And Y'hudah said, Behold the fire of Shem burns in my heart, now I will burn all your land with fire; and Yosef answered and said, Surely your sister-in-law Tamar, who killed your sons, extinguished the fire of Shechem.
[26]And Y'hudah said, As YHWH lives, if I pluck out a single hair from my flesh, I will fill all Egypt with its blood.
[27]And Yosef answered and said, Such is your custom to do as you did to your brother whom you sold, and you dipped his coat in blood and brought it to your father in order that he might say an evil beast devoured him and here is his blood.
[28]And when Y'hudah heard this thing he was exceedingly wroth and his anger burned within him, and there was before him in that place a stone, the weight of which was about four hundred shekels, and Y'hudah's anger was kindled and he took the stone in one hand and cast it to the heavens and caught it with his left hand.
[29]And he placed it afterward under his legs, and he sat upon it with all his strength and the stone was turned into dust from the force of Y'hudah.
[30]And Yosef saw the act of Y'hudah and he was very much afraid, but he commanded M'nasheh his son and he also did with another stone like unto the act of Y'hudah, and Y'hudah said unto his brothers, Let not any of you say, this man is an Egyptian, but by his doing this thing he is of our father's family.
[31]And Yosef said, Not to you only is strength given, for we are also powerful men, and why will you boast over us all? and Y'hudah said unto Yosef, Send I pray you our brother and ruin not your country this day.
[32]And Yosef answered and said unto them, Go and tell your father, an evil beast has devoured him as you said concerning your brother Yosef.
[33]And Y'hudah spoke to his brother Naftali, and he said unto him, Make haste, go now and number all the streets of Egypt and come and tell me; and Shim'on said unto him, Let not this thing be a trouble to you; now I will go to the mount and take up one large stone from the mount and level it at every one in Egypt, and kill all that are in it.
[34]And Yosef heard all these words that his brothers spoke before him, and they did not know that Yosef understood them, for they imagined that he knew not to speak Hebrew.
[35]And Yosef was greatly afraid at the words of his brothers lest they should destroy Egypt, and he commanded his son M'nasheh, saying, Go now make haste and gather unto me all the inhabitants of Egypt, and all the valiant men together, and let them come to me now upon horseback and on foot and with all sorts of musical instruments, and M'nasheh went and did so.
[36]And Naftali went as Y'hudah had commanded him, for Naftali was light-footed as one of the swift stags, and he would go upon the ears of grain and they would not break under him.
[37]And he went and numbered all the streets of Egypt, and found them to be twelve, and he came hastily and told Y'hudah, and Y'hudah said unto his brothers, Hasten you and put on every man his sword upon his loins and we will come over Egypt, and smite them all, and let not a remnant remain.
[38]And Y'hudah said, Behold, I will destroy three of the streets with my strength, and you shall each destroy one street; and when Y'hudah was speaking this thing, behold the inhabitants of Egypt and all the mighty men came toward them with all sorts of musical instruments and with loud shouting.
[39]And it came to pass that all their number was five hundred cavalry and ten thousand infantry, and four hundred men who could fight without sword or spear, only with their hands and strength.
[40]And all the mighty men came with great storming and shouting, and they all surrounded the sons of Ya'akov and terrified them, and the ground quaked at the sound of their shouting.
[41]And when the sons of Ya'akov saw these troops they were greatly afraid of their lives, and Yosef did so in order to terrify the sons of Ya'akov to become tranquilized.
[42]And Y'hudah, seeing some of his brothers terrified, said unto them, Why are you afraid while the grace of our Elohim is with us? and when Y'hudah saw all the people of Egypt surrounding them at the command of Yosef to terrify them, only Yosef commanded them, saying, Do not touch any of them.
[43]Then Y'hudah hastened and drew his sword, and uttered a loud and bitter scream, and he smote with his sword, and he sprang upon the ground and he still continued to shout against all the men.
[44]And when he did this thing YHWH caused the terror of Y'hudah and his brothers to fall upon the valiant men and all the men that surrounded them.
[45]And they all fled at the sound of the shouting, and they were terrified and fell one upon the other, and many of them died as they fell, and they all fled from before Y'hudah and his brothers and from before Yosef.
[46]And while they were fleeing, Y'hudah and his brothers pursued them unto the house of Pharaoh, and they all escaped, and Y'hudah again sat before Yosef and roared at him like a lion, and gave a great and tremendous shriek at him.
[47]And the shriek was heard at a distance, and all the inhabitants of Sukkot heard it, and all Egypt quaked at the sound of the shriek, and also the walls of Egypt and of the land of Goshen fell in from the shaking of the earth, and Pharaoh also fell from his throne upon the ground, and also all the pregnant women of Egypt and Goshen miscarried when they heard the noise of the shaking, for they were terribly afraid.
[48]And Pharaoh sent word, saying, What is this thing that has this day happened in the land of Egypt? and they came and told him all the things from beginning to end, and Pharaoh was alarmed and he wondered and was greatly afraid.
[49]And his fright increased when he heard all these things, and he sent unto Yosef, saying, you have brought unto me the Hebrews to destroy all Egypt; what will you do with that thievish slave? send him away and let him go with his brothers, and let us not perish through their evil, even we, you and all Egypt.
[50]And if you desire not to do this thing, cast off from you all my valuable things, and go with them to their land, if you delight in it, for they will this day destroy my whole country and slay all my people; even all the women of Egypt have miscarried through their screams; see what they have done merely by their shouting and speaking, moreover if they fight with the sword, they will destroy the land; now therefore choose that which you desire, whether me or the Hebrews, whether Egypt or the land of the Hebrews.
[51]And they came and told Yosef all the words of Pharaoh that he had said concerning him, and Yosef was greatly afraid at the words of Pharaoh and Y'hudah and his brothers were still standing before Yosef indignant and enraged, and all the sons of Ya'akov roared at Yosef, like the roaring of the sea and its waves.
[52]And Yosef was greatly afraid of his brothers and on account of Pharaoh, and Yosef sought a pretext to make himself known unto his brothers, lest they should destroy all Egypt.
[53]And Yosef commanded his son M'nasheh, and M'nasheh went and approached Y'hudah, and placed his hand upon his shoulder, and the anger of Y'hudah was stilled.
[54]And Y'hudah said unto his brothers, Let no one of you say that this is the act of an Egyptian youth for this is the work of my father's house.
[55]And Yosef seeing and knowing that Y'hudah's anger was stilled, he approached to speak unto Y'hudah in the language of mildness.
[56]And Yosef said unto Y'hudah, Surely you speak truth and have this day verified your assertions concerning your strength, and may your Elohim who delights in you, increase your welfare; but tell me truly why from among all your brothers do you wrangle with me on account of the lad, as none of them have spoken one word to me concerning him.
[57]And Y'hudah answered Yosef, saying, Surely you must know that I was security for the lad to his father, saying, If I brought him not unto him I should bear his blame forever.
[58]Therefore have I approached you from among all my brothers, for I saw that you were unwilling to suffer him to go from you; now therefore may I find grace in your eyes that you shall send him to go with us, and behold I will remain as a substitute for him, to serve you in whatever you desire, for wherever you shall send me I will go to serve you with great energy.
[59]Send me now to a mighty king who has rebelled against you, and you shall know what I will do unto him and unto his land; although he may have cavalry and infantry or an exceeding mighty people, I will slay them all and bring the king's head before you.
[60]Do you not know or have you not heard that our father Avraham with his servant Eliezer smote all the kings of Elam with their hosts in one night, they left not one remaining? and ever since that day our father's strength was given unto us for an inheritance, for us and our seed forever.
[61]And Yosef answered and said, You speak truth, and falsehood is not in your mouth, for it was also told unto us that the Hebrews have power and that YHWH their Elohim delights much in them, and who then can stand before them?
[62]However, on this condition will I send your brother, if you will bring before me his brother the son of his mother, of whom you said that he had gone from you down to Egypt; and it shall come to pass when you bring unto me his brother I will take him in his stead, because not one of you was security for him to your father, and when he shall come unto me, I will then send with you his brother for whom you have been security.
[63]And Y'hudah's anger was kindled against Yosef when he spoke this thing, and his eyes dropped blood with anger, and he said unto his brothers, How does this man this day seek his own destruction and that of all Egypt!
[64]And Shim'on answered Yosef, saying, Did we not tell you at first that we knew not the particular spot to which he went, and whether he be dead or alive, and wherefore speaketh my lord like unto these things?
[65]And Yosef seeing the countenance of Y'hudah discerned that his anger began to kindle when he spoke unto him, saying, Bring unto me your other brother instead of this brother.
[66]And Yosef said unto his brothers, Surely you said that your brother was either dead or lost, now if I should call him this day and he should come before you, would you give him unto me instead of his brother?
[67]And Yosef began to speak and call out, Yosef, Yosef, come this day before me, and appear to your brothers and sit before them.
[68]And when Yosef spoke this thing before them, they looked each a different way to see from where Yosef would come before them.
[69]And Yosef saw all their acts, and said unto them, Why do you look here and there? I am Yosef whom you sold to Egypt, and now therefore let it not grieve you in your eyes that you sold me, for as a support during the famine did Elohim send me before you.
[70]And his brothers were terrified at him when they heard the words of Yosef, and Y'hudah was exceedingly terrified at him.
[71]And when Benyamin heard the words of Yosef he was before them in the inner part of the house, and Benyamin ran unto Yosef his brother, and embraced him and fell upon his neck, and they wept.
[72]And when Yosef's brothers saw that Benyamin had fallen upon his brother's neck and wept with him, they also fell upon Yosef and embraced him, and they wept a great weeping with Yosef.
[73]And the voice was heard in the house of Yosef that they were Yosef's brothers, and it pleased Pharaoh exceedingly, for he was afraid of them lest they should destroy Egypt.
[74]And Pharaoh sent his servants unto Yosef to congratulate him concerning his brothers who had come to him, and all the captains of the armies and troops that were in Egypt came to rejoice with Yosef, and all Egypt rejoiced greatly about Yosef's brothers.
[75]And Pharaoh sent his servants to Yosef, saying, Tell your brothers to fetch all belonging to them and let them come unto me, and I will place them in the best part of the land of Egypt, and they did so.
[76]And Yosef commanded him that was set over his house to bring out to his brothers gifts and garments, and he brought out to them many garments being robes of royalty and many gifts, and Yosef divided them among his brothers.
[77]And he gave unto each of his brothers a change of garments of gold and silver, and three hundred pieces of silver, and Yosef commanded them all to be dressed in these garments, and to be brought before Pharaoh.
[78]And Pharaoh seeing that all Yosef's brothers were valiant men, and of beautiful appearance, he greatly rejoiced.
[79]And they afterward went out from the presence of Pharaoh to go to the land of Kanaan, to their father, and their brother Benyamin was with them.
[80]And Yosef rose up and gave unto them eleven chariots from Pharaoh, and Yosef gave unto them his chariot, upon which he rode on the day of his being crowned in Egypt, to fetch his father to Egypt; and Yosef sent to all his brothers' children, garments according to their numbers, and a hundred pieces of silver to each of them, and he also sent garments to the wives of his brothers from the garments of the king's wives, and he sent them.
[81]And he gave unto each of his brothers ten men to go with them to the land of Kanaan to serve them, to serve their children and all belonging to them in coming to Egypt.
[82]And Yosef sent by the hand of his brother Benyamin ten suits of garments for his ten sons, a portion above the rest of the children of the sons of Ya'akov.
[83]And he sent to each fifty pieces of silver, and ten chariots on the account of Pharaoh, and he sent to his father ten asses laden with all the luxuries of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with grain and bread and nourishment for his father, and to all that were with him as provisions for the road.
[84]And he sent to his sister Dinah garments of silver and gold, and frankincense and myrrh, and aloes and women's ornaments in great plenty, and he sent the same from the wives of Pharaoh to the wives of Benyamin.
[85]And he gave unto all his brothers, also to their wives, all sorts of onyx stones and bdellium, and from all the valuable things among the great people of Egypt, nothing of all the costly things was left but what Yosef sent of to his father's house.
[86]And he sent his brothers away, and they went, and he sent his brother Benyamin with them.
[87]And Yosef went out with them to accompany them on the road unto the borders of Egypt, and he commanded them concerning his father and his house, to come to Egypt.
[88]And he said unto them, Do not quarrel on the road, for this thing was from YHWH to keep a great people from starvation, for there will be yet five years of famine in the land.
[89]And he commanded them, saying, When you come unto the land of Kanaan, do not come suddenly before my father in this affair, but act in your wisdom.
[90]And Yosef ceased to command them, and he turned and went back to Egypt, and the sons of Ya'akov went to the land of Kanaan with joy and cheerfulness to their father Ya'akov.
[91]And they came unto the borders of the land, and they said to each other, What shall we do in this matter before our father, for if we come suddenly to him and tell him the matter, he will be greatly alarmed at our words and will not believe us.
[92]And they went along until they came near unto their houses, and they found Serach, the daughter of Asher, going forth to meet them, and the damsel was very good and subtle, and knew how to play upon the harp.
[93]And they called unto her and she came before them, and she kissed them, and they took her and gave unto her a harp, saying, Go now before our father, and sit before him, and strike upon the harp, and speak these words.
[94]And they commanded her to go to their house, and she took the harp and hastened before them, and she came and sat near Ya'akov.
[95]And she played well and sang, and uttered in the sweetness of her words, Yosef my uncle is living, and he rules throughout the land of Egypt, and is not dead.
[96]And she continued to repeat and utter these words, and Ya'akov heard her words and they were agreeable to him.
[97]He listened while she repeated them twice and thrice, and joy entered the heart of Ya'akov at the sweetness of her words, and the Spirit of Elohim was upon him, and he knew all her words to be true.
[98]And Ya'akov blessed Serach when she spoke these words before him, and he said unto her, My daughter, may death never prevail over you, for you have revived my spirit; only speak yet before me as you have spoken, for you have gladdened me with all your words.
[99]And she continued to sing these words, and Ya'akov listened and it pleased him, and he rejoiced, and the Spirit of Elohim was upon him.
[100]While he was yet speaking with her, behold his sons came to him with horses and chariots and royal garments and servants running before them.
[101]And Ya'akov rose up to meet them, and saw his sons dressed in royal garments and he saw all the treasures that Yosef had sent to them.
[102]And they said unto him, Be informed that our brother Yosef is living, and it is he who rules throughout the land of Egypt, and it is he who spoke unto us as we told you.
[103]And Ya'akov heard all the words of his sons, and his heart palpitated at their words, for he could not believe them until he saw all that Yosef had given them and what he had sent him, and all the signs which Yosef had spoken unto them.
[104]And they opened out before him, and showed him all that Yosef had sent, they gave unto each what Yosef had sent him, and he knew that they had spoken the truth, and he rejoiced exceedingly an account of his son.
[105]And Ya'akov said, It is enough for me that my son Yosef is still living, I will go and see him before I die.
[106]And his sons told him all that had befallen them, and Ya'akov said, I will go down to Egypt to see my son and his offspring.
[107]And Ya'akov rose up and put on the garments which Yosef had sent him, and after he had washed, and shaved his hair, he put upon his head the turban which Yosef had sent him.
[108]And all the men of Ya'akov's house and their wives put on the garments which Yosef had sent to them, and they greatly rejoiced at Yosef that he was still living and that he was ruling in Egypt,
[109]And all the inhabitants of Kanaan heard of this thing, and they came and rejoiced much with Ya'akov that he was still living.
[110]And Ya'akov made a feast for them for three days, and all the kings of Kanaan and nobles of the land ate and drank and rejoiced in the house of Ya'akov.
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