Genesis 42–45

42Now when ^aJacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? ²And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may ^blive, and not die. ³And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. ⁴But Benjamin, ^cJoseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, ^dLest peradventure mischief befall him. ⁵And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶And Joseph was the governor ^eover the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and ^fbowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. ⁷And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake ^†roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. ⁸And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. ⁹And Joseph ^gremembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are ^hspies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. ¹⁰And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. ¹¹We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. ¹²And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. ¹³And they said, Thy 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 ⁱis not. ¹⁴And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: ¹⁵Hereby ye shall be proved: ^kBy the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. ¹⁶Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be ^†kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. ¹⁷And he ^†put them all together into ward three days. ¹⁸And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; ^lfor I fear God: ¹⁹If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: ²⁰But ^mbring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. ²¹And they said one to another, ⁿWe are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. ²²And Reuben answered them, saying, ^oSpake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is ^prequired. ²³And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for ^†he spake unto them by ^qan interpreter. ²⁴And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

²⁶And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. ²⁷And as ^rone of them opened his sack to give his ass provender ^sin the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth. ²⁸And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart ^†failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? ²⁹And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying, ³⁰The man, who is the lord of the land, spake ^†roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies: ³²We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one ^tis not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. ³³And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, ^uHereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take ^xfood for the famine of your households, and be gone: ³⁴And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall ^ytraffick in the land. ³⁵And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye ^zbereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. ³⁷And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay ^amy two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. ³⁸And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his ^bbrother is dead, and he is left alone: if ^cmischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye ^dbring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

43And the famine was ^asore in the land. ²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. ³And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man ^†did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your ^bbrother be with you. ⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: ⁵But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. ⁶And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? ⁷And they said, The man ^†asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the ^†tenor of these words: ^†could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? ⁸And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may ^clive, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. ⁹I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: ^dif I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: ¹⁰For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned ^||this second time. ¹¹And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little ^ebalm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: ¹²And take double money in your hand; and the money ^fthat was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: ¹³Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: ¹⁴And ^gGod Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. ^||If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

¹⁵And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ^hruler of his house, Bring these men home, and ^||slay, and make ready; for these men shall ^†dine with me at noon. ¹⁷And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹⁸And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may ^†seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. ¹⁹And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, ²⁰And said, O sir, ^i†we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: ²¹And ^kit 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 in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. ²²And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. ²³And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: ^†I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. ²⁴And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and ^lgave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. ²⁵And they made ready ^mthe present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. ²⁶And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and ⁿbowed themselves to him to the earth. ²⁷And he asked them of their ^†welfare, and said, ^†Is your father well, the old man ^oof whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? ²⁸And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. ²⁹And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, ^phis mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, ^qof whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. ³⁰And Joseph made haste; for ^rhis bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and ^swept there. ³¹And he washed his face, and went out, and ^trefrained himself, and said, Set on bread. ³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is ^uan 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 took and sent ^xmesses unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was ^yfive times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and ^†were…