Gen 42
1
Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do you
look one upon another?
2
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down there,
and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.
3
And Joseph`s ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4
But Benjamin, Joseph`s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest
Peradventure harm befall him.
5
And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the famine was in the
land of Canaan.
6
And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of
the land. And Joseph`s brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their
faces to the earth.
7
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them, and
spoke roughly with them; and he said to them. Whence come you? And they said, From
the land of Canaan to buy food.
8
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, You are
spies; to see the nakedness of the land you are come.
10
And they said to him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are your servants come.
11
We are all one man`s sons; we are true men, your servants are no spies.
12
And he said to them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land you are come.
13
And they said, We your servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land
of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14
And Joseph said to them, That is it that I spoke to you, saying, You are spies:
15
hereby you shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go forth hence, except
your youngest brother come here.
16
Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be bound, that your
words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh
surely you are spies.
17
And he put them all together into ward three days.
18
And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, and live: for I fear God:
19
if you be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go
you, carry grain for the famine of your houses:
20
and bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall
not die. And they did so.
21
And they said one to another, We are truly guilty concerning our brother, in that
we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore
is this distress come upon us.
22
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spoke I not to you, saying, Do not sin against the
child; and you would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required.
23
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between
them.
24
And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spoke
to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.
25
Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with grain, and to restore every man`s
money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the way: and thus was it done
to them.
26
And they laded their asses with their grain, and departed thence.
27
And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging-place,
he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28
And he said to his brethren, My money is restored; and, behold, it is even in my sack:
and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, What
is this that God has done to us?
29
And they came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had
befallen them, saying,
30
The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the
country.
31
And we said to him, We are true men; and we are no spies:
32
we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day
with our father in the land of Canaan.
33
And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Hereby shall I know that you are true
men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take [grain for] the famine of your houses,
and go your way;
34
and bring your youngest brother to me: then shall I know that you are no spies, but
that you are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and you shall traffic in
the land.
35
And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man`s bundle
of money was in his sack: and when they and their father saw their bundles of money,
they were afraid.
36
And Jacob their father said to them, Me have you bereaved of my children: Joseph is
not, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin away: all these things are against
me.
37
And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to you:
deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to you again.
38
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only
is left: if harm befall him by the way in which you go, then will you bring down my
gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.