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 someone told Jacob that there was grain in Egypt that people could buy, he said to his sons, “(Why do you just sit there looking at each other?/Do not just sit there looking at each other!) [RHQ] We need some grain!”
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”;
He said to them, “Someone told me that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, in order that we will not die!”
3 and the ten brothers of Joseph go down to buy grain in Egypt,
So Joseph’s ten [older] brothers went down to Egypt to buy some 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 Benjamin, Joseph’s [younger] brother, to go with the others, because he was afraid/worried that something terrible might happen to him like what happened to Joseph.
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 Jacob’s other sons went down from Canaan to Egypt to buy grain, and others from there went too, because there was a famine in Canaan also.
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.
At that time Joseph was the governor of Egypt. He was the one who sold grain to people who came from all over Egypt and from many other countries [HYP] to buy grain. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, [they were told that it was necessary for them to talk with Joseph. So they went to him and] prostrated themselves 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.”
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he pretended that he did not know them. He spoke harshly to them, saying, “Where do you come from?” One of them replied, “We have come from Canaan, to buy some grain.”
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.”
And then Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them many years previously. [But he decided not to tell them yet that he was their younger brother]. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to find out whether we will be able to defend ourselves [if you attack us]!”
10 And they say to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food;
One of them replied, “No, sir! We have come to buy grain.
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. We are honest men, not spies.”
12 and he says to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land”;
He said to them, “[I do not believe you]. You have come just to see whether we would be able to defend ourselves if we were attacked!”
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 one of them replied, “No, that is not true! Originally there were twelve of us who were brothers, the sons of one man. Our younger brother is with our father. One [younger] brother has died. [EUP]”
14 And Joseph says to them, “This [is] that which I have spoken to you, saying, You [are] spies,
Joseph replied, “[You are lying! I think] it is just as I told you. 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;
But this is how I will determine whether what you are saying is true. I think that as surely as the king lives, you are spies. And you will not leave this place until 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 group to go and get your younger brother and bring him here. I will put the rest of you in prison, in order that I may test what you have said to find out whether what you are telling me is true. If the one who goes does not bring your younger brother here, then, just as surely as the king lives, it will be clear that you are lying and that you are spies.”
17 and he gathers them into confinement [for] three days.
Then Joseph put them all 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, Joseph went to the prison and said to them, “I am a man who fears that God [will punish me if I do not do what I promise]. So do what I tell you, and I will spare your lives.
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 men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, and the rest of you can take some grain back to your families who are very hungry because of the famine.
20 and you bring your young brother to me, and your words are established, and you do not die”; and they do so.
But if you come back here again, you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that you can prove that what you told me is true, and as a result I will not have you executed.” So they agreed to do that.
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.”
They said to each other, “It is surely because of what we did to our [younger] brother that (we are being punished/God is punishing us)! We saw that he [SYN] was very distressed when he pleaded with us not to harm him. But we did not pay any attention to him, and that is why we are having 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, “I told you not to harm the boy [RHQ], but you did not pay attention to what I said! Now we are being (paid back/punished) for killing him [MTY]!”
23 And they have not known that Joseph understands, for the interpreter [is] between them;
While they were talking with Joseph, they were speaking through (an interpreter/someone who knew their language and the Egyptian language), but when they said these things among themselves, they were speaking in their own language, and they did not know that Joseph could understand their language, and that he could understand what they were saying.
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.
[Because of what they said, Joseph realized that they admitted that what they had done to him many years previously was wrong]. He could not keep from crying, [and he did not want them to see him crying], so he left them and went outside the room and began to cry. But then he returned to them and talked to them again. Then he took Simeon, and while they were watching, he told his servants to tie him up. He left Simeon in the prison and told the others that they could go.
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 told his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also told them to put the money that each one had paid for the grain in the top of his sack. He also told them to give them food to eat along the way. After the servants did those things for Joseph’s older brothers,
26 And they lift up their grain on their donkeys, and go from there,
his older brothers loaded the sacks of grain on their donkeys and left.
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 stopped to sleep that night, one of them opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey. He was amazed to see his money in 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 exclaimed to his brothers, “Someone has returned my money! Here it is in my sack!” They started shaking with fear, and said to each other, “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 returned to their father in Canaan land, they told him all that had happened to them. One of them said,
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 governs the whole land of Egypt talked very harshly to us. He acted toward us as though we were spying on his country.
31 and we say to him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,
But we told him, ‘We are honest men! We are 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.
Originally there were twelve of us who were brothers, the sons of one father. One has died [EUP], and our youngest brother is with our father in 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,
The man who is the governor of the land [did not believe us], so he said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are truly honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me. Then the rest of you can take some grain for your families that are starving from hunger 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 when you return, bring your youngest brother to me, in order that I will know that you are not spies, but instead, that you are honest men. Then I will release your brother for you. And then you can buy whatever you want in this country.’”
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 were emptying their sacks, they were surprised that in each man’s sack was his pouch of money! When they and their father saw all the pouches of money, they were frightened.
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 caused two of my children to be taken from me! Joseph is dead, and Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin from me! It is I who am suffering because of all these things that are happening!”
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”;
Reuben said to his father, “I will be responsible for Benjamin. [I will take him to Egypt and] bring him back to you. Let me take care of him. If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you may kill both of my sons.”
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 said, “No, I will not let my son go down there with you. His [older] brother is dead, and he is the only [one of my wife Rachel’s] sons who is left! If something harms him while you are traveling, you would cause me, a gray-haired old man, to die because of sorrow.” (Sheol h7585)
