#! /bin/bash while read line do number=$(echo $line | awk '{ print $3 }') col1=$(echo $line | awk '{ print $1 }') col2=$(echo $line | awk '{ print $2 }') choice=$(grep -E "\b$number" query.txt | awk '{ print $2 }') echo -e "$col1\t$col2\t$choice" >> out.txt done < file1.txt