¹And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? ²And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down thither and buy grain for us from thence, in order that we may live, and not die. ³And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy grain out of Egypt. ⁴But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest mischief may befall him. ⁵So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶And Joseph, he was the governor over the land—he it was that sold the corn to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down to him, the face to the earth.

⁷And Joseph saw his brethren, and knew them; but he made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them, and said to them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. ⁸And Joseph knew his brethren, but they did not know him. ⁹And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamt of them; and he said to them, Ye are spies: to see the exposed places of the land ye are come. ¹⁰And they said to him, No, my lord; but to buy food are thy servants come. ¹¹We are all one man’s sons; we are honest: thy servants are not spies. ¹²And he said to them, No; but to see the exposed places of the land are ye come. ¹³And they said, Thy servants were twelve brethren, sons of one man, in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. ¹⁴And Joseph said to them, That is it that I have spoken to you, saying, Ye are spies. ¹⁵By this ye shall be put to the proof: as Pharaoh lives, ye shall not go forth hence, unless your youngest brother come hither! ¹⁶Send one of you, that he may fetch your brother, but ye shall be imprisoned, and your words shall be put to the proof, whether the truth is in you; and if not, as Pharaoh lives, ye are spies. ¹⁷And he put them in custody three days. ¹⁸And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, that ye may live: I fear God. ¹⁹If ye are honest, let one of your brethren remain bound in the house of your prison, but go ye, carry grain for the hunger of your households; ²⁰and bring your youngest brother to me, in order that your words be verified, and that ye may not die. And they did so.

²¹Then they said one to another, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw when he besought us, and we did not hearken; therefore this distress is come upon us. ²²And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the lad? But ye did not hearken; and now behold, his blood also is required. ²³And they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them. ²⁴And he turned away 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. ²⁵And Joseph gave orders to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way. And thus did they to them. ²⁶And they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed thence. ²⁷And one of them opened his sack to give his ass food in the inn, and saw his money, and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸And he said to his brethren, My money is returned to me, and behold, it is even in my sack. And their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God has done to us?

²⁹And they came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father, and told him all that had befallen them, saying, ³⁰The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and treated us as spies of the land. ³¹And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies: ³²we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. ³³And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Hereby shall I know that ye are honest: leave one of your brethren with me, and take for the hunger of your households, and go, ³⁴and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that ye are not spies, but are honest. Your brother will I give up to you; and ye may trade in the land. ³⁵And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man had his bundle of money in his sack; and they saw their bundles of money, they and their father, and were afraid. ³⁶And Jacob their father said to them, Ye have bereaved me of children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin! All these things are against me. ³⁷And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not back to thee: give him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. ³⁸But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left; and if mischief should befall him by the way in which ye go, then would ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.

Chapter 43

¹And the famine was grievous in the land. ²And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food. ³And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you. ⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food; ⁵but if thou do not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you. ⁶And Israel said, Why did ye deal so ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? ⁷And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down? ⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones. ⁹I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever. ¹⁰For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.

¹¹And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds. ¹²And take other money in your hand, and the money that was returned to you in the mouth of your sacks, carry back in your hand: perhaps it is an oversight. ¹³And take your brother, and arise, go again to the man. ¹⁴And the Almighty •God give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.

¹⁵And the men took that gift, and took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and came before Joseph. ¹⁶And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the man who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon. ¹⁷And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house, and said, Because of the money that was returned to us in our sacks at the beginning are we brought in, that he may turn against us, and fall upon us and take us for bondmen, and our asses. ¹⁹And they came up to the man that was over Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, Ah! my lord, we came indeed down at the first to buy food. ²¹And it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money according to its weight; and we have brought it again in our hand. ²²And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks. ²³And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food. ²⁵And they made ready the gift for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift that was in their hand, into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. ²⁷And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well—the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive? ²⁸And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And they bowed, and made obeisance. ²⁹And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son! ³⁰And Joseph made haste, for his bowels burned for his brother; and he sought a place to weep, and he went into the chamber, and wept there. ³¹And he washed his face, and came out, and controlled himself, and said, Set on bread. ³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. ³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another. ³⁴And he had portions carried to them from before him. And Benjamin’s portion was five times greater than the portions of them all. And they drank, and made merry with him.

Read in Logos

Public Domain