Genesis 42–43

Genesis 42–43 WEB

^42:1Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ²He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” ³Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” ⁵The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. ⁷Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” ⁸Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. ⁹Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.” ¹⁰They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.” ¹²He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!” ¹³They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.” ¹⁴Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” ¹⁷He put them all together into custody for three days. ¹⁸Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. ¹⁹If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so. ²¹They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²²Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” ²³They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them. ²⁶They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. ²⁷As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” ²⁹They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. ³²We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. ³⁴Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’” ³⁵As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.” ³⁷Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.” ³⁸He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

^43:1The famine was severe in the land. ²When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.” ³Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food; ⁵but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?” ⁷They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. ⁹I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever; ¹⁰for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.” ¹¹Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; ¹²and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. ¹⁴May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” ¹⁵The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” ¹⁹They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. ²¹When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. ²²We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. ²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to the earth before him. ²⁷He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?” ²⁸They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly. ²⁹He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. ³¹He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.” ³²They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled with one another. ³⁴He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.