Genesis 42–45

CHAPTER 42

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

¹Now ^aJacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

²Then he said, “Behold, ^aI have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from there, ^bso that we may live and not die.”

³So ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.

⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^aBenjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^bLest any harm befall him.”

⁵So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^afor the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

⁶Now ^aJoseph was the one in power over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^bbowed down to him with their ¹faces to the ground.

⁷And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^aspoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸But Joseph recognized his brothers, although ^athey did not recognize him.

⁹And Joseph ^aremembered the dreams which he ¹had about them and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ²nakedness of the land.”

¹⁰Then they said to him, “No, ^amy lord, but your servants have come to buy food.

¹¹“We are all sons of one man; we are ^ahonest men; your servants are not spies.”

¹²And he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ¹nakedness of our land!”

¹³So they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^aour father today, and ^bone is no more.”

¹⁴And Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ¹to you, you are spies;

¹⁵by this you will be tested: ^aby the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!

¹⁶“Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is ^atruth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

¹⁷Then he put them all together in ^aprison for three days.

¹⁸And Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^aI fear God:

¹⁹if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ¹your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, bring grain for the famine of your households,

²⁰and ^abring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be proven true, and you will not die.” And they did so.

²¹Then they said to one another, “^aSurely we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”

²²And Reuben answered them, saying, “^aDid I not tell you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; yet you would not listen? ^bSo also his blood, behold, it is required of us.”

²³Now they did not know that Joseph was listening, for there was an interpreter between them.

²⁴And he turned away from them and ^awept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them. And he ^btook Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

^25aThen Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.

²⁶So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and went from there.

²⁷Then one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place. And he saw his ^amoney; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.

²⁸So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts ¹sank, and they turned ²trembling to one another, saying, “^aWhat is this that God has done to us?”

Jacob Is Bereaved

²⁹Then they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying,

³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, ^aspoke harshly with us and took us for spies of the country.

³¹“So we said to him, ‘We are ^ahonest men; we are not spies.

³²‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’

³³“Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^aBy this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go.

³⁴‘But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but ¹honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^atrade in the land.’”

³⁵Now it happened that they were emptying their sacks, and behold, ^aevery man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and they and their father saw their bundles of money, and they feared.

³⁶And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^abereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.”

³⁷Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.”

³⁸But ¹Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^abrother is dead, and he alone remains. ^bIf harm should befall him on the journey on which you are going, then you will ^cbring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

CHAPTER 43

The Brothers Return to Egypt

^1aNow the famine was heavy in the land.

²And it happened when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

³Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^aThe man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’

⁴“If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

⁵“But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly ¹by telling the man whether you still had another brother?”

⁷But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our kin, saying, ‘^aIs your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we told him concerning these things. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, ^athat we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.

⁹“^aI myself will be the guarantee for him; from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then ¹I shall bear the sin before you all my days.

¹⁰“For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ¹bags, and bring them down to the man ^aas a present, a little ^2bbalm and a little honey, ³aromatic gum and ⁴myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

¹²“Now take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^athe money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.

¹³“And take your brother also, and arise, return to the man;

¹⁴and may ^1aGod Almighty ^bgrant you compassion before the man, so that he will release to you ^cyour other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^dif I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵So the men took ^athis present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶Then Joseph saw Benjamin with them and said to his ^ahouse steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and prepare it; for the men are to eat with me at noon.”

¹⁷So the man did as Joseph said and ¹brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may ¹seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves with our donkeys.”

¹⁹So they came near to Joseph’s house steward and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,

²⁰and they said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

²¹and it happened when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^aeach man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in ¹full. So ^bwe have brought it back in our hand.

²²“We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³And he said, “¹Be well, do not be afraid. ^aYour God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money has come to me.” Then ^bhe brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^agave them water, and they ^bwashed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder.

²⁵So they prepared ^athe present ¹for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ²a meal there.

²⁶Then Joseph came home, and they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and ^abowed to the ground before him.

²⁷And he asked them about their ¹well-being and said, “^aIs your old father ²well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” ^aThey bowed down and prostrated themselves.

²⁹Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. And he said, “Is this ^ayour youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “^bMay God be gracious to you, my son.”

³⁰And Joseph hurried out for ^1ahe was deeply stirred with compassion over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and ^bwept there.

³¹Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^arestrained himself and said, “Set the ¹meal.”

³²So they set the meal for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians.

³³And they ¹were seated before him, ^athe firstborn…