Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

When we left off yesterday, nine of Jacob's sons had just returned to Canaan with food from

Egypt in the midst of a famine. Joseph kept Simeon behind as a hostage in Egypt in hopes of getting to see his brother Benjamin.

But Jacob refused to let his son Benjamin go to Egypt.

Today we pick up with Jacob and his sons finishing off the grain they got from Egypt.

Jacob finally agrees to let his sons go back to Egypt for more food

and take his youngest son Benjamin with them,

but only after Judah pledges to bear the blame if anything happens.

Jacob sends them off with some local treats, things that probably made Joseph

homesick when he saw them, as well as double the money so that they could pay back what they found in their grain bags.

They thought it was God's punishment, but Jacob chooses to optimistically believe for once

and give the benefit of the doubt, saying,

maybe it was just an oversight.

He resolves to leave the matter in God's hands.

When they arrive in Egypt, Joseph sees

that his full brother Benjamin is with them, so he orders them to his home.

He's planning a feast, but they think they're in trouble.

Wouldn't you? This is terrifying.

In their panic, they try to explain to his servant what happened, but he already knows because

he was in on it.

Simian, the hostage, joins them, and then in front of all 11 brothers, Joseph offers Benjamin a special blessing.

Then Joseph seats all the brothers in exact order from oldest to youngest.

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