< Genesis 43 >

1 The famine in Canaan got worse.
Or la carestia era grave nel paese;
2 Finally, when Jacob and his family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go back to Egypt and buy some more grain for us!”
e quand’ebbero finito di mangiare il grano che aveano portato dall’Egitto, il padre disse loro: “Tornate a comprarci un po’ di viveri”.
3 But Judah said to him, “The man who sold us the grain warned us sternly, ‘I will not let you see me [SYN] again if you come and your younger brother is not with you.’
E Giuda gli rispose, dicendo: “Quell’uomo ce lo dichiarò positivamente: Non vedrete la mia faccia, se il vostro fratello non sarà con voi.
4 So, if you will send our younger brother with us, we will go down to Egypt and buy some grain for you.
Se tu mandi il nostro fratello con noi, noi scenderemo e ti compreremo dei viveri;
5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down there, because that man said to us, ‘I will not let you see me again if your younger brother is not with you.’”
ma, se non lo mandi, non scenderemo; perché quell’uomo ci ha detto: Non vedrete la mia faccia, se il vostro fratello non sarà con voi”.
6 Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me to have this trouble by telling the man that you had a younger brother?”
E Israele disse: “Perché m’avete fatto questo torto di dire a quell’uomo che avevate ancora un fratello?”
7 One of them replied, “The man asked about us and about our family. He said, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. (We could not know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’/How could we know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’)” [RHQ]
Quelli risposero: “Quell’uomo c’interrogò partitamente intorno a noi e al nostro parentado, dicendo: Vostro padre vive egli ancora? Avete qualche altro fratello? E noi gli rispondemmo a tenore delle sue domande. Potevam noi mai sapere che ci avrebbe detto: Fate venire il vostro fratello?”
8 Then Judah said to his father Jacob, “Send the boy with me, and we will go immediately, in order that we and you and our children may get grain and not die from hunger.
E Giuda disse a Israele suo padre: “Lascia venire il fanciullo con me, e ci leveremo e andremo; e noi vivremo e non morremo: né noi, né tu, né i nostri piccini.
9 I myself will guarantee that he will return. You can require me to do what I am promising [IDM]. If I do not bring him back to you safely, you can say forever that (I am to blame/it was my fault [that he did not return to you)].
Io mi rendo garante di lui; ridomandane conto alla mia mano; se non te lo riconduco e non te io rimetto davanti, io sarò per sempre colpevole verso di te.
10 If we had not (wasted so much time/waited so long), by now we could have gone there and returned two times!”
Se non ci fossimo indugiati, a quest’ora saremmo già tornati due volte”.
11 Then their father Jacob said to them, “If there is no other way, do this: Put in your sacks some of the best things that are grown in this land, and take them down to the man as a gift. Take some balm/perfume and honey and spices and myrrh/ointment, some pistachio nuts, and almonds.
Allora Israele, loro padre, disse loro: “Se così è fate questo: Prendete ne’ vostri sacchi delle cose più squisite di questo paese, e portate a quell’uomo un dono: un po’ di balsamo, un po’ di miele, degli aromi e della mirra, de’ pistacchi e delle mandorle;
12 Take twice as much money as you took the previous time, because you must return the silver that someone put in the tops of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake that it was put in your sacks.
e pigliate con voi il doppio del danaro, e riportate il danaro che fu rimesso alla bocca de’ vostri sacchi; forse fu un errore;
13 Take your younger brother and go back to that man.
prendete anche il vostro fratello, e levatevi, tornate da quell’uomo;
14 I will pray that God Almighty will cause that man to act mercifully toward you, so that he will let your other brother, as well as Benjamin, come back here with you. But as for me, if my sons are taken from me, then I will not have my sons!”
e l’Iddio onnipotente vi faccia trovar grazia dinanzi a quell’uomo, sì ch’egli vi rilasci l’altro vostro fratello e Beniamino. E se debbo esser privato de’ miei figliuoli, ch’io lo sia!”
15 So the men took the gifts that Jacob said that they should take, and twice the amount of money that the grain would cost, and they also took Benjamin. They went down quickly to Egypt, and they stood in front of Joseph.
Quelli presero dunque il dono, presero seco il doppio del danaro, e Beniamino; e, levatisi, scesero in Egitto, e si presentarono dinanzi a Giuseppe.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the man who (was in charge of/supervised) things in his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, because I want them to eat with me at noon.” [And he told him in what order they were to be seated].
E come Giuseppe vide Beniamino con loro, disse al suo maestro di casa: “Conduci questi uomini in casa; macella, e prepara tutto; perché questi uomini mangeranno con me a mezzogiorno”.
17 The man did as Joseph said. And he took them to Joseph’s house.
E l’uomo fece come Giuseppe aveva ordinato, e li menò in casa di Giuseppe.
18 But they were afraid because he was taking them to Joseph’s house. They were thinking, “He is taking us here because of the silver that was put in our sacks the first time that we came here. While we are eating, he will have his servants attack us and seize us and cause us to become his slaves, and also take our donkeys.”
E quelli ebbero paura, perché eran menati in casa di Giuseppe, e dissero: “Siamo menati qui a motivo di quel danaro che ci fu rimesso nei sacchi la prima volta; ei vuol darci addosso, precipitarsi su noi e prenderci come schiavi, coi nostri asini”.
19 They went with the man who was in charge of things in Joseph’s house. When they arrived at the entrance of the house,
E accostatisi al maestro di casa di Giuseppe, gli parlarono sulla porta della casa, e dissero:
20 one of them said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me. We came down here previously and bought some grain.
“Scusa, signor mio! noi scendemmo già una prima volta a comprar dei viveri;
21 But at the place where we stopped for the night as we were returning home, we opened our sacks. We were astonished to see that in the top of each of our sacks was the exact amount of silver that we had paid for the grain! So we have brought it back with us.
e avvenne che, quando fummo giunti al luogo dove pernottammo, aprimmo i sacchi, ed ecco il danaro di ciascun di noi era alla bocca del suo sacco: il nostro danaro del peso esatto; e noi l’abbiam riportato con noi.
22 We have also brought more silver with us to buy more grain. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.”
E abbiam portato con noi dell’altro danaro per comprar de’ viveri; noi non sappiamo chi avesse messo il nostro danaro nei nostri sacchi”.
23 The man replied, [“Relax]! Do not worry about it! I received the silver that you brought. Your God, the God your father worships, must have put it in your sacks.” And then he brought Simeon to them from the prison.
Ed egli disse: “Datevi pace, non temete; l’Iddio vostro e l’Iddio del vostro padre ha messo un tesoro nei vostri sacchi. Io ebbi il vostro danaro”. E, fatto uscire Simeone, lo condusse loro.
24 Then he took them into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet and gave them food for the donkeys.
Quell’uomo li fece entrare in casa di Giuseppe; dette loro dell’acqua, ed essi si lavarono i piedi; ed egli dette del foraggio ai loro asini.
25 He told them that they were going to eat with Joseph at noon. So the men prepared their gifts to give to Joseph when he arrived.
Ed essi prepararono il regalo, aspettando che Giuseppe venisse a mezzogiorno; perché aveano inteso che rimarrebbero quivi a mangiare.
26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts that they had brought into the house. Then they bowed down to the ground in front of him.
E quando Giuseppe venne a casa, quelli gli porsero il dono che aveano portato seco nella casa, e s’inchinarono fino a terra davanti a lui.
27 He asked them if they were (well/in good health), and then he asked, “How is the health of your old father, the one that you told me about? Is he still living?”
Egli domandò loro come stessero, e disse: “Vostro padre, il vecchio di cui mi parlaste, sta egli bene? Vive egli ancora?”
28 One of them replied, “Yes, our father, [who is willing to be] your servant, is still alive, and he is well.” Then again they bowed down in front of him.
E quelli risposero: “Il padre nostro, tuo servo, sta bene; vive ancora”. E s’inchinarono, e gli fecero riverenza.
29 Then he saw his [younger] brother Benjamin, his own mother’s other son. He asked them, “Is this your youngest brother, the one whom you told me about?” After they said “Yes,” he said to Benjamin, “Young man, I pray that God will act kindly toward you.”
Poi Giuseppe alzò gli occhi, vide Beniamino suo fratello, figliuolo della madre sua, e disse: “E’ questo il vostro fratello più giovine di cui mi parlaste?” Poi disse a lui: “Iddio ti sia propizio, figliuol mio!”
30 Joseph quickly left the room. He realized that he was about to cry because he (was full of emotion about his younger brother/loved his younger brother so much). He went into his private room and cried there.
E Giuseppe s’affrettò ad uscire, perché le sue viscere s’eran commosse per il suo fratello; e cercava un luogo dove piangere; entrò nella sua camera, e quivi pianse.
31 Then, after he washed the tears from his face, he came out, and controlling his emotions, he said to the servants, “Serve the food!”
Poi si lavò la faccia, ed uscì; si fece forza, e disse: “Portate il pranzo”.
32 The people of Egypt considered that it was disgraceful for them to eat with Hebrews, so the servants served food to Joseph by himself, and served the other people of Egypt who ate with him by themselves, and they served Joseph’s older brothers and younger brother by themselves.
Fu dunque portato il cibo per lui a parte, e per loro a parte, e per gli Egiziani che mangiavan con loro, a parte; perché gli Egiziani non possono mangiare con gli Ebrei; per gli Egiziani è cosa abominevole.
33 His brothers were astonished to see that their seats were arranged according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest!
Ed essi si misero a sedere dinanzi a lui: il primogenito, secondo il suo diritto di primogenitura, e il più giovine secondo la sua età; e si guardavano l’un l’altro con maraviglia.
34 And when their portions of food were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s portion! So they ate food and drank wine with Joseph and became very cheerful.
E Giuseppe fe’ loro portare delle vivande che aveva dinanzi; ma la porzione di Beniamino era cinque volte maggiore di quella d’ogni altro di loro. E bevvero, e stettero allegri con lui.

< Genesis 43 >