< 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?”
Now Jacob became aware that there was grain in Egypt. He said to his sons, “Why do you look 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”;
He said, “See here, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy for us from there so we may live and not die.”
3 and the ten brothers of Joseph go down to buy grain in Egypt,
Joseph's ten 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 Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come 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,
The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in 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 governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to 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 saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke harshly with them. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 And Joseph discerns his brothers, but they have not discerned him,
Joseph recognized his brothers, but 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.”
Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the undefended parts of the land.”
10 And they say to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food;
They said to him, “No, my master. 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 one man's sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
12 and he says to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land”;
He said to them, “No, you have come to see the undefended parts of the land.”
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.”
They said, “We your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. See, the youngest is this day with our father, and one brother is no longer alive.”
14 And Joseph says to them, “This [is] that which I have spoken to you, saying, You [are] spies,
Joseph said to them, “It is what I said to 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;
By this you will be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave here, 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 yourselves and let him get your brother. You will remain in prison, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you.”
17 and he gathers them into confinement [for] three days.
He put them all in custody for three days.
18 And Joseph says to them on the third day, “Do this and live; I fear God!
Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God.
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 be confined in this prison, but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20 and you bring your young brother to me, and your words are established, and you do not die”; and they do so.
Bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you will not die.” So they did so.
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 one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us and we would not listen. Therefore 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.”
Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy,' but you would not listen? Now, see, his blood is required of us.”
23 And they have not known that Joseph understands, for the interpreter [is] between them;
They did not know that Joseph understood them, for 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.
He turned from them and wept. He returned to them and spoke to them. He took Simeon from among them and bound him 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 commanded his servants to fill his brothers' bags with grain, and to put every man's money back into his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. It was done for them.
26 And they lift up their grain on their donkeys, and go from there,
The brothers loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.
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,
As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the opening of his 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 said to his brothers, “My money has been put back. Look at it; it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “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,
They went to Jacob, their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them. They 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, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us and thought that we were spies in the land.
31 and we say to him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,
We said to 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.
We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is this day 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,
The man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'By this I will know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, take grain for the famine in your houses, and go your way.
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.”
Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will release your brother to you, and you will 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;
It came about as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bag of silver was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid.
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 said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no longer alive, Simeon is gone, and you will take Benjamin away. All these things are 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”;
Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may kill my two sons if I do not bring Benjamin back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him to you again.”
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 )
Jacob said, “My son will not go down with you. For his brother is dead and he alone is left. If harm comes to him on the road in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hair with sorrow to Sheol.” (Sheol )