Genesis 42

1 And Jacob sees that there is grain in Egypt, and Jacob says to his sons, “Why do you look at each other?”

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

2 He also says, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt, go down there, and buy for us from there, and we live and do not die”;

“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

3 and the ten brothers of Joseph go down to buy grain in Egypt,

So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

4 and Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob has not sent with his brothers, for he said, “Lest harm meet him.”

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”

5 And the sons of Israel come to buy in the midst of those coming, for the famine has been in the land of Canaan,

So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

6 and Joseph is the ruler over the land, he who is selling to all the people of the land, and Joseph’s brothers come and bow themselves to him—face to the earth.

Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

7 And Joseph sees his brothers, and discerns them, and makes himself strange to them, and speaks sharp things with them, and says to them, “From where have you come?” And they say, “From the land of Canaan—to buy food.”

And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

8 And Joseph discerns his brothers, but they have not discerned him,

Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

9 and Joseph remembers the dreams which he dreamed of them and says to them, “You [are] spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

10 And they say to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food;

“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.

11 we [are] all of us sons of one man, we [are] right men; your servants have not been spies”;

We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

12 and he says to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land”;

“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

13 and they say, “Your servants [are] twelve brothers; we [are] sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the young one [is] with our father today, and one is not.”

But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

14 And Joseph says to them, “This [is] that which I have spoken to you, saying, You [are] spies,

Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!

15 by this you are proved: [as] Pharaoh lives, if you go out from this—except by your young brother coming here;

And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

16 send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you, remain bound, and let your words be proved, whether truth be with you: and if not, [as] Pharaoh lives, surely you [are] spies”;

Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

17 and he gathers them into confinement [for] three days.

So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

18 And Joseph says to them on the third day, “Do this and live; I fear God!

and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

19 If you [are] right men, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your confinement, and you, go, carry in grain [for] the famine of your houses,

If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

20 and you bring your young brother to me, and your words are established, and you do not die”; and they do so.

Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

21 And they say to one another, “Truly we [are] guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul, in his making supplication to us, and we did not listen: therefore this distress has come on us.”

Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

22 And Reuben answers them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the boy? And you did not listen; and his blood also, behold, it is required.”

And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

23 And they have not known that Joseph understands, for the interpreter [is] between them;

They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

24 and he turns around from them, and weeps, and turns back to them, and speaks to them, and takes Simeon from them, and binds him before their eyes.

And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

25 And Joseph commands, and they fill their vessels [with] grain, also to put back the money of each of them into his sack, and to give to them provision for the way; and one does to them so.

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

26 And they lift up their grain on their donkeys, and go from there,

and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.

27 and the one opens his sack to give provender to his donkey at a lodging-place, and he sees his money, and behold, it [is] in the mouth of his bag,

At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

28 and he says to his brothers, “My money has been put back, and also, behold, in my bag”: and their heart goes out, and they tremble, to one another saying, “What [is] this God has done to us!”

“My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

29 And they come to their father Jacob, to the land of Canaan, and they declare to him all the things meeting them, saying,

When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

30 “The man, the lord of the land, has spoken with us sharp things, and makes us as spies of the land;

“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

31 and we say to him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,

But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies.

32 we [are] twelve brothers, sons of our father, one is not, and the young one [is] today with our father in the land of Canaan.

We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’

33 And the man, the lord of the land, says to us, By this I know that you [are] right men—leave one of your brothers with me, and take [for] the famine of your houses and go,

Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

34 and bring your young brother to me, and I know that you [are] not spies, but you [are] right men; I give your brother to you, and you trade with the land.”

But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”

35 And it comes to pass, they are emptying their sacks, and behold, the bundle of each man’s silver [is] in his sack, and they see their bundles of silver, they and their father, and are afraid;

As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.

36 and their father Jacob says to them, “You have bereaved me; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and Benjamin you take—all these [things] have been against me.”

Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

37 And Reuben speaks to his father, saying, “You put to death my two sons, if I do not bring him to you; give him into my hand, and I bring him back to you”;

Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

38 and he says, “My son does not go down with you, for his brother [is] dead, and he by himself is left; when harm has met him in the way in which you go, then you have brought down my grey hairs in sorrow to Sheol.” (Sheol h7585)

But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.” (Sheol h7585)