41 (53) And the seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Miżrayim, were ended.

(54) And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Yosef had said: and the famine was in all the lands; but in all the land of Miżrayim there was bread.

(55) And when all the land of Miżrayim was famished, the people cried to Par῾o for bread: and Par῾o said to all Miżrayim, Go to Yosef; what he says to you, do.

(56) And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Yosef opened all the storehouses, and sold to Miżrayim; and the famine grew severe in the land of Miżrayim.

(57) And all countries came to Miżrayim to Yosef to buy corn; because the famine was so severe in all the earth.

42 (1) Now when Ya῾aqov saw that there was corn in Miżrayim, Ya῾aqov said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?

(2) And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Miżrayim: go down there, and buy for us from there, that we may live, and not die.

(3) And Yosef’s ten brothers went down to buy corn in Miżrayim.

(4) But Binyamin, Yosef’s brother, Ya῾aqov sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest mischief befall him.

(5) And the sons of Yisra᾽el came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Kena῾an.

(6) And Yosef was the governor of the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Yosef’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the earth.

(7) And Yosef saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them; and he said to them, Where do you come from? And they said, From the land of Kena῾an to buy food.

(8) And Yosef knew his brethren, but they knew him not.

(9) And Yosef remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, You are spies; to see the nakedness of the land are you come.

(10) And they said to him, No, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

(11) We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

(12) And he said to them, No, but you are come to see the nakedness of the land.

(13) And they said, Thy servants are twelve, we are brothers, sons of one man in the land of Kena῾an; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.

(14) And Yosef said to them, That is what I spoke to you, saying, you are spies:

(15) hereby you shall be proved; by the life of Par῾o you shall not go out of here unless your youngest brother comes here.

(16) Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Par῾o surely you are spies.

(17) And he put them all together into custody for three days.

(18) And Yosef said to them on the third day, This do, and live: I fear God:

42 (19) if you are true men, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your confinement: and you go, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

(20) but bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so.

(21) And they said one to another, Truly, we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

(22) And Re᾽uven answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and you would not hear? therefore, behold, even his blood is required.

(23) And they knew not that Yosef understood them; for he spoke to them by an interpreter.

(24) And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and turned back to them, and spoke with them, and took from them Shim῾on, and bound him before their eyes.

(25) Then Yosef gave orders to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus it was performed.

(26) And they loaded their asses with the corn, and departed from there.

(27) And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging place, he saw his money; for, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.

(28) And he said to his brethren, My money is returned; and, lo, it is in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God has done to us?

(29) And they came to Ya῾aqov their father to the land of Kena῾an, and told him all that had befallen them; saying,

(30) The man, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

(31) And we said to him, We are true men; we are no spies:

(32) We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Kena῾an.

(33) And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, Hereby shall I know that you are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

(34) and bring your youngest brother to me: then shall I know that you are no spies, but that you are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and you shall traffic in the land.

(35) And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

(36) And Ya῾aqov their father said to them, You have bereaved me of my children: Yosef is not, and Shim῾on is not, and you will take Binyamin away: all these things have come upon me.

(37) And Re᾽uven spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to thee.

(38) And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in which you go, then shall you bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to She᾽ol.

43 (1) And the famine was severe in the land.

(2) And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Miżrayim, their father said to them, Go back, buy us a little food.

(3) And Yehuda spoke to him, saying, The man did solemnly protest to us, saying, You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.

(4) If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

(5) but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.

(6) And Yisra᾽el said, Why did you treat me so ill, as to tell the man whether you had another brother?

(7) And they said, The man asked us particularly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have you another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we possibly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

(8) And Yehuda said to Yisra᾽el his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

(9) I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, then I shall have sinned to thee for ever.

(10) For if we had not lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

(11) And their father Yisra᾽el said to them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, gum, ladanum, nuts, and almonds:

(12) and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks, carry it back in your hand; perhaps it was an oversight:

(13) take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man:

(14) and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother, and Binyamin. If I be bereaved of my children, then I am bereaved.

(15) And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Binyamin; and they rose up, and went down to Miżrayim, and stood before Yosef.

43 (16) And when Yosef saw Binyamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slaughter a beast, and make it ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon.

(17) And the man did as Yosef bade; and the man brought the men into Yosef’s house.

(18) And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Yosef’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

(19) And they came near to the steward of Yosef’s house, and they spoke with him at the door of the house,

(20) and said, O sir, we came down indeed at the first time to buy food:

(21) and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight:

(22) and we have brought it back in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

(23) And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Shim῾on out to them.

(24) And the man brought the men into Yosef’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

(25) And they made ready the present for when Yosef came at noon: for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

(26) And when Yosef came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

(27) And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?

(28) And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is still alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

(29) And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Binyamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son.

43 (30) And Yosef made haste: for his affection was kindled towards his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

(31) And he washed his face, and went out, and restrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

(32) And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Miżrim who did eat with them, by themselves: because the Miżrim might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Miżrim.

(33) And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

(34) And he took and sent portions to them from before him: but Binyamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

44 (1) And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

(2) And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Yosef had spoken.

(3) As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

(4) And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Yosef said to his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say to them, Why have you rewarded evil for good?

(5) Is not this that from which my lord drinks, and whereby indeed he divines? you have done evil in so doing.

(6) And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.

(7) And they said to him, Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from thy servants to do according to this thing:

(8) behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to thee out of the land of Kena῾an: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?

(9) With whomever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.

(10) And he said, Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and you shall be blameless.

(11) Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

(12) And he searched, and began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest: and the cup was found in Binyamin’s sack.

(13) Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

(14) And Yehuda and his brethren came to Yosef’s house; for he was still there: and they fell before him to the ground.

(15) And Yosef said to them, What deed is this that you have done? do you not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?

(16) And Yehuda said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s bondmen, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.

(17) And he said, Far be it from me that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; and as for you, go up in peace to your father.

3 (15) And Shelomo awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Yerushalayim, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. (16) Then came there two women, that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him. (17) And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. (18) And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. (19) And this woman’s child died in the night; because she lay upon it. (20) And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. (21) And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had looked closely at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, that I did bear. (22) And the other woman said, No; but the living child is my son, and the dead one is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead one is thy son, and the living one is my son. Thus they spoke before the king. (23) Then said the king, The one says, This is my son that lives, and thy son is the dead: and the other says, No: but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. (24) And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. (25) And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. (26) Then spoke the woman whose child was the living one to the king, for her love was enkindled towards her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, but do not slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. (27) Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and do not slay it: she is its mother. (28) And all Yisra᾽el heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment. 4 (1) So king Shelomo was king over all Yisra᾽el.

1. Any handles of vessels which have been fixed not in their usual manner, or, if fixed in their usual manner, have not been fixed firmly, or, if fixed firmly, have been broken, they block. If a vessel was immersed with its mouth downwards, it is as though it had not been immersed. If immersed in the regular manner but without the attachment, [it becomes clean] only if turned on its side. If a vessel is narrow at each end and broad in the center, it becomes clean only if turned on its side. A flask which has its mouth turned inwards becomes clean only if a hole is made at the side. An inkpot of laymen becomes clean only if a hole is made at the side. The inkpot of Joseph the priest had a hole at its side.

2. A bolster and a cushion of leather it is necessary that the water enter inside them. A round cushion or a ball or a bootmaker's last or an amulet or a phylactery, it is not necessary that the water enter inside them. This is the general rule: any article the filling of which is not usually taken out and put in may be immersed unopened.

3. The following do not require that the water shall enter inside them:Knots [in the clothes] of a poor man, or in tassels, or in the thong of a sandal, or in a head-tefillin if it is fastened tightly, or in an arm-tefillin if it does not move up or down, or in the handles of a water-skin, or in the handles of a wallet.

4. The following require that water shall enter inside them:The knot in an undergarment which is tied to the shoulder. The hem of a sheet must be stretched out. And the knot of head tefillin if it is not fastened tightly, Or of the arm-tefillin if it moves up and down. And the laces of a sandal. Clothes which are immersed when they have just been washed must be kept immersed until they bubble up; But if they are immersed when already dry, they must be kept immersed until they throw up bubbles and then cease to bubble up.

5. Any handles of vessels which are too long and which will be cut short, need only be immersed up to the point of their proper measure. Rabbi Judah says: [they are unclean] until the whole of them is immersed. The chain of a large bucket, to the length of four handbreadths, and a small bucket, to the length of ten handbreadths, and they need only be immersed up to the point of their proper measure. Rabbi Tarfon says: it is not clean unless the whole of the chain-ring is immersed. The rope bound to a basket is not counted as a connection unless it has been sewn on.

6. Bet Shammai say: hot water may not be immersed in cold, or cold in hot, foul in fresh or fresh in foul. But Bet Hillel say: it may be immersed. A vessel full of liquids which one immersed, it is as if it has not been immersed. If it was full of urine, this is reckoned as water. If it contained hatat waters, [it is unclean] unless the water [of the mikveh which enters the vessel] exceeds the hatat waters. Rabbi Yose says: even if a vessel with the capacity of a kor contains but a quarter-log, it is as if it had not been immersed.

7. All foods combine together to make up the half of a half-loaf which makes the body unfit. All liquids combine together to make up the quarter-log which makes the body unfit. This is more of a stringency in the case of one who drinks unclean liquids than in the case of the mikveh, for in this case they have made all other liquids like water.

8. If one ate unclean foods or drank unclean liquids and then he immersed and then vomited them up, they are still unclean because they did not become clean in the body. If one drank unclean water and immersed and then vomited it up, it is clean because it became clean in the body. If one swallowed a clean ring and then went into the tent of a corpse, if he sprinkled himself once and twice and immersed himself and then vomited it up, behold, it remains as it was before. If one swallowed an unclean ring, he may immerse himself and eat terumah. If he vomited it up, it is unclean and it renders him unclean. If an arrow was stuck into a man, it blocks so long as it is visible. But if it is not visible, he may immerse himself and eat terumah.

The Gemara further discusses actions that are apt to lead to a seminal emission. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi would curse one who sleeps lying on his back [aparkeid], as this might lead to a seminal emission. The Gemara asks: Is that so? But doesn’t Rav Yosef say: One who is lying on his back may not recite Shema? From this it may be inferred that it is only Shema that one may not recite in this position, but to sleep lying in that position is permitted.

The Gemara answers: With regard to the prohibition against sleeping while lying on one’s back, when one leans slightly to the side it is permitted. But with regard to reciting Shema while lying face upward, even when one leans slightly to the side it is prohibited. The Gemara asks: But wouldn’t Rabbi Yoḥanan lie on his back leaning slightly to the side and recite Shema in this manner? The Gemara answers: The halakha in the case of Rabbi Yoḥanan is different, as he was corpulent, and consequently he could lean only slightly.

The period from sunset until the time when three stars of medium size become visible is called twilight. It is uncertain whether this period is part of the preceding day or of the following night. We generally decide in favor of greater stringency on this score; hence, the Sabbath lights may not be lit during twilight. And one who inadvertently does forbidden work at twilight on the eve of Shabbat and at the conclusion of Shabbat is nevertheless liable for a sin-offering. And these stars are not the large ones that are visible during the day and not the small ones that are only visible at night, but rather the medium ones. And from when three of these medium stars become visible, it is surely night with no doubt.

We do not make the wick that we light on Shabbat from something upon which the fire flickers, such as wool, hair, silk, cypress-wool, uncombed flax, the webbing of a palm tree, types of soft wood or that which is similar to them. Rather [we make it] from something upon which the fire catches, such as combed flax, silk clothes, cotton and that which is similar to them. One who lights needs to light the majority of what comes out of the wick.

One who wraps something with which we light, over something with which we do not light: If it is to thicken the wick in order to add to its light, it is forbidden. But if it is to harden the wick so that it stand and not slip down, it is permissible.