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?”

²He said, “Behold, ^aI have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us ¹from that place, ^bso that we may live and not die.”

³Then 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, “^bI am afraid that harm may 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 ruler 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 faces to the ground.

⁷When Joseph saw his brothers he 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 had recognized his brothers, although ^athey did not recognize him.

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

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

¹³But 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 longer alive.”

¹⁴Joseph 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.”

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

¹⁸Now 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, carry grain for the famine of your households,

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

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

²²Reuben answered them, saying, “^aDid I not tell ¹you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^2bNow comes the reckoning for his blood.”

²³They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.

²⁴He turned away from them and ^awept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he ^btook Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

^25aThen Joseph gave orders 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 departed from there.

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

²⁸Then 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?”

Simeon Is Held Hostage

²⁹When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they 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“But we said to him, ‘We are ^ahonest men; we are not spies.

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

³³“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 came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, ^aevery man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed.

³⁶Their 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 ¹care, 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 is left. ^bIf harm should befall him on the journey ²you are taking, then you will ^cbring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

Chapter 43

The Return to Egypt

^1aNow the famine was severe in the land.

²So it came about 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 ¹us, ‘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 relatives, saying, ‘^aIs your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ¹answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the lad 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 surety for him; ¹you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then ²let me bear the blame before you forever.

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 carry down to the man ^aas a present, a little ^2bbalm and a little honey, ³aromatic gum and ⁴myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

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

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

¹⁴and may ^1aGod Almighty ^bgrant you compassion in the sight of 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; then they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his ^ahouse steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and make ready; for the men are to dine with me at noon.”

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

¹⁸Now 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 said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

²¹and it came about 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.”

²³He said, “¹Be at ease, do not be afraid. ^aYour God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; ²I had your money.” 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.

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

²⁷Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, “^aIs your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” ^aThey bowed down ¹in homage.

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

³⁰Joseph hurried out for ^1ahe was deeply stirred 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 ^acontrolled himself and said, “¹Serve the meal.”

³²So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is ^1aloathsome to the Egyptians.

³³Now they ¹were seated before him, ^athe firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in…