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 found out grain was available in Egypt, he asked his sons, “Why do you keep on looking at each other to do something?
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”;
I've heard there's grain in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us so we can stay alive—if not, we're going to die!”
3 and the ten brothers of Joseph go down to buy grain in Egypt,
So ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy grain.
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 other brothers, for he said, “I'm afraid something bad might happen to 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 Israel's sons went to buy grain along with everyone else, because there was famine in Canaan too.
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.
Joseph was the governor of the country and he sold grain to all the people there. So Joseph's brothers went to him, and bowed low 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.”
Joseph recognized them as soon as he saw them, but he acted like a stranger towards them and spoke to them in a severe way, saying, “Where are you from?” “From the country of Canaan,” they replied. “We've come to buy food.”
8 And Joseph discerns his brothers, but they have not discerned him,
Even though Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn't 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 thought back to the dreams he'd had about them, and told them, “No! You're spies! You've come to discover our country's weaknesses!”
10 And they say to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food;
“That's not true, my lord!” they responded. “We, your servants, have just 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're all the sons of one man and we're honest. We're not spies!”
12 and he says to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land”;
“No! You've come to find our country's weaknesses!” he insisted.
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.”
“Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man living in the country of Canaan,” they explained. “The youngest is right now with our father, and one has passed away.”
14 And Joseph says to them, “This [is] that which I have spoken to you, saying, You [are] spies,
“As I said before, you're spies!” Joseph declared.
15 by this you are proved: [as] Pharaoh lives, if you go out from this—except by your young brother coming here;
“This is how your story will be checked. I swear on Pharaoh's life that you'll never leave this country unless your younger 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”;
One of you go back and bring your other brother here. The others of you will be kept here in prison until it's clear that you're telling the truth. If not, then I swear on Pharaoh's life it proves you're spies!”
17 and he gathers them into confinement [for] three days.
So Joseph put all of them in prison for three days.
18 And Joseph says to them on the third day, “Do this and live; I fear God!
On the third day he told them, “Since I'm someone who respects God, do as I tell you and you'll 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're truly honest, choose one of your brothers to stay here in prison. The rest of you can go back home with grain for your hungry families.
20 and you bring your young brother to me, and your words are established, and you do not die”; and they do so.
But you must bring your youngest brother here to me to prove what you're saying is true. If not, you will all die.” They agreed to do this.
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.”
“Clearly we're being punished for what we did to our brother,” they said to each other. “We watched him in agony pleading with us for mercy, but we refused to listen to him. That's why we're in all this trouble.”
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.”
Reuben said to them, “Didn't I tell you, ‘Don't harm the boy!’ But you didn't listen to me. Now we're paying the price for what we did to him.”
23 And they have not known that Joseph understands, for the interpreter [is] between them;
They didn't realize that Joseph understood what they were saying because they were talking to him through an interpreter.
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.
Joseph stepped away from them because he started crying. He came back when he was able to speak to them again. He chose Simeon and had him tied up as they watched.
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.
Joseph gave the order to fill up their sacks with grain, and also to return the money they had paid by placing it in the sacks as well. He also ordered that they should be provided with food for their journey home. All this was done.
26 And they lift up their grain on their donkeys, and go from there,
The brothers loaded the grain onto their donkeys and then set off.
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,
On their way they stopped for the night, and one of them opened up his sack to give his donkey something to eat and saw his money there at the top 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!”
He told his brothers, “My money's been returned to me. It's right here at the top of my sack!” They were horrified! Trembling with fear they asked each other, “What is this that God's 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 arrived home in Canaan, they told their father Jacob everything that had happened.
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 the country's governor spoke to us in a severe way, and accused us of spying on the land,” they explained.
31 and we say to him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,
“We told him, ‘We are honest men. We're 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, the sons of one father. One has passed away and the youngest is right now with our father in the country 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 the country's governor said to us, ‘This is how I'll find out if you're telling the truth: you are to leave one of your brothers here with me while the rest take grain home for your hungry families.
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.”
Then bring your youngest brother to me. That way I'll know you're not spies but you're telling the truth. I'll release your brother to you, and you can stay in the country and trade.’”
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 emptied their sacks, each one's money bag was there in his sack! When they and their father saw the money bags, they were horrified.
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.”
Jacob their father accused them, “You have taken Joseph from me—he's gone! Simeon is gone too! Now you want to take Benjamin away! I'm the one who's suffering from all of this!”
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”;
“You can kill my two sons if I don't bring him back to you,” Reuben assured him. “Trust me with him, and I will bring him home to you myself.”
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)
“My son won't go there with you!” Jacob declared. “His brother is dead, and he's the only one I have left. If anything bad happens to him on the journey you're planning, you'll send this old man to his grave in grief.” (Sheol h7585)
