Genesis 42
1 Audiens autem Jacob quod alimenta venderentur in Ægypto, dixit filiis suis: Quare negligitis?
Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
2 audivi quod triticum venundetur in Ægypto: descendite, et emite nobis necessaria, ut possimus vivere, et non consumamur inopia.
He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.”
3 Descendentes igitur fratres Joseph decem, ut emerent frumenta in Ægypto,
Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 Benjamin domi retento a Jacob, qui dixerat fratribus ejus: Ne forte in itinere quidquam patiatur mali:
But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.”
5 ingressi sunt terram Ægypti cum aliis qui pergebant ad emendum. Erat autem fames in terra Chanaan.
The sons of Israel came to buy amongst those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 Et Joseph erat princeps in terra Ægypti, atque ad ejus nutum frumenta populis vendebantur. Cumque adorassent eum fratres sui,
Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
7 et agnovisset eos, quasi ad alienos durius loquebatur, interrogans eos: Unde venistis? Qui responderunt: De terra Chanaan, ut emamus victui necessaria.
Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognised them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 Et tamen fratres ipse cognoscens, non est cognitus ab eis.
Joseph recognised his brothers, but they didn’t recognise him.
9 Recordatusque somniorum, quæ aliquando viderat, ait ad eos: Exploratores estis: ut videatis infirmiora terræ venistis.
Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamt about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
10 Qui dixerunt: Non est ita, domine, sed servi tui venerunt ut emerent cibos.
They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 Omnes filii unius viri sumus: pacifici venimus, nec quidquam famuli tui machinantur mali.
We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
12 Quibus ille respondit: Aliter est: immunita terræ hujus considerare venistis.
He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
13 At illi: Duodecim, inquiunt, servi tui, fratres sumus, filii viri unius in terra Chanaan: minimus cum patre nostro est, alius non est super.
They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”
14 Hoc est, ait, quod locutus sum: exploratores estis.
Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
15 Jam nunc experimentum vestri capiam: per salutem Pharaonis non egrediemini hinc, donec veniat frater vester minimus.
By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 Mittite ex vobis unum, et adducat eum: vos autem eritis in vinculis, donec probentur quæ dixistis utrum vera an falsa sint: alioquin per salutem Pharaonis exploratores estis.
Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.”
17 Tradidit ergo illos custodiæ tribus diebus.
He put them all together into custody for three days.
18 Die autem tertio eductis de carcere, ait: Facite quæ dixi, et vivetis: Deum enim timeo.
Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God.
19 Si pacifici estis, frater vester unus ligetur in carcere: vos autem abite, et ferte frumenta quæ emistis, in domos vestras,
If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20 et fratrem vestrum minimum ad me adducite, ut possim vestros probare sermones, et non moriamini. Fecerunt ut dixerat,
Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so.
21 et locuti sunt ad invicem: Merito hæc patimur, quia peccavimus in fratrem nostrum, videntes angustiam animæ illius, dum deprecaretur nos, et non audivimus: idcirco venit super nos ista tribulatio.
They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 E quibus unus Ruben, ait: Numquid non dixi vobis: Nolite peccare in puerum: et non audistis me? en sanguis ejus exquiritur.
Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.”
23 Nesciebant autem quod intelligeret Joseph, eo quod per interpretem loqueretur ad eos.
They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
24 Avertitque se parumper, et flevit: et reversus locutus est ad eos.
He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from amongst them, and bound him before their eyes.
25 Tollensque Simeon, et ligans illis præsentibus, jussit ministris ut implerent eorum saccos tritico, et reponerent pecunias singulorum in sacculis suis, datis supra cibariis in viam: qui fecerunt ita.
Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.
26 At illi portantes frumenta in asinis suis, profecti sunt.
They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there.
27 Apertoque unus sacco, ut daret jumento pabulum in diversorio, contemplatus pecuniam in ore sacculi,
As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28 dixit fratribus suis: Reddita est mihi pecunia, en habetur in sacco. Et obstupefacti, turbatique, mutuo dixerunt: Quidnam est hoc quod fecit nobis Deus?
He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 Veneruntque ad Jacob patrem suum in terram Chanaan, et narraverunt ei omnia quæ accidissent sibi, dicentes:
They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying,
30 Locutus est nobis dominus terræ dure, et putavit nos exploratores esse provinciæ.
“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 Cui respondimus: Pacifici sumus, nec ullas molimur insidias.
We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies.
32 Duodecim fratres uno patre geniti sumus: unus non est super, minimus cum patre nostro est in terra Chanaan.
We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.’
33 Qui ait nobis: Sic probabo quod pacifici sitis: fratrem vestrum unum dimittite apud me, et cibaria domibus vestris necessaria sumite, et abite,
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, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way.
34 fratremque vestrum minimum adducite ad me, ut sciam quod non sitis exploratores: et istum, qui tenetur in vinculis, recipere possitis: ac deinceps quæ vultis, emendi habeatis licentiam.
Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”
35 His dictis, cum frumenta effunderent, singuli repererunt in ore saccorum ligatas pecunias, exterritisque simul omnibus,
As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 dixit pater Jacob: Absque liberis me esse fecistis: Joseph non est super, Simeon tenetur in vinculis, et Benjamin auferetis: in me hæc omnia mala reciderunt.
Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
37 Cui respondit Ruben: Duos filios meos interfice, si non reduxero illum tibi: trade illum in manu mea, et ego eum tibi restituam.
Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”
38 At ille: Non descendet, inquit, filius meus vobiscum: frater ejus mortuus est, et ipse solus remansit: si quid ei adversi acciderit in terra ad quam pergitis, deducetis canos meos cum dolore ad inferos. (Sheol h7585)
He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” (Sheol h7585)
