Génesis 42
Nueva Versión Internacional (Castilian)
Los hermanos de José van a Egipto
42 Cuando Jacob se enteró de que había alimento en Egipto, les dijo a sus hijos: «¿Qué hacéis ahí parados, mirándoos unos a otros? 2 He sabido que hay alimento en Egipto. Id allí y comprad comida para nosotros, para que no muramos, sino que podamos sobrevivir».
3 Diez de los hermanos de José fueron a Egipto a comprar alimento. 4 Pero Jacob no dejó que Benjamín, el hermano de José, se fuera con ellos, porque pensó que podría sucederle alguna desgracia. 5 Fue así como los hijos de Israel fueron a comprar alimento, al igual que otros, porque el hambre se había apoderado de Canaán.
6 José era el gobernador del país, y el que vendía trigo a todo el mundo. Cuando sus hermanos llegaron ante él, se postraron rostro en tierra. 7 En cuanto José vio a sus hermanos, los reconoció; pero, fingiendo no conocerlos, les habló con rudeza:
―¡Y vosotros!, ¿de dónde venís?
―Venimos de Canaán, para comprar alimento —contestaron.
8 Aunque José los había reconocido, sus hermanos no lo reconocieron a él. 9 En ese momento se acordó José de los sueños que había tenido acerca de ellos, y les dijo:
―¡De seguro vosotros sois espías, y habéis venido para investigar las zonas desprotegidas del país!
10 ―¡No, señor! —respondieron—. Tus siervos hemos venido a comprar alimento. 11 Todos nosotros somos hijos de un mismo padre, y además somos gente honrada. ¡Tus siervos no somos espías!
12 ―¡No es verdad! —insistió José—. Vosotros habéis venido para investigar las zonas desprotegidas del país.
13 Pero ellos volvieron a responder:
―Nosotros, tus siervos, éramos doce hermanos, todos hijos de un mismo padre que vive en Canaán. El menor se ha quedado con nuestro padre, y el otro ya no vive.
14 Pero José los increpó una vez más:
―Es tal como os he dicho. ¡Vosotros sois espías! 15 Y con esto lo vamos a comprobar: Os juro por la vida del faraón que de aquí no saldréis con vida a menos que traigáis a vuestro hermano menor. 16 Mandad a uno de vosotros a buscar a vuestro hermano; los demás os quedaréis en la cárcel. Así sabremos si es verdad lo que decís. Y, si no es así, ¡por la vida del faraón, vosotros sois espías!
17 José los encerró en la cárcel durante tres días. 18 Al tercer día les dijo:
―Yo soy un hombre temeroso de Dios. Haced lo siguiente y salvaréis vuestra vida. 19 Si en verdad sois honrados, quédese uno de vosotros bajo custodia, e id los demás y llevad alimento para calmar el hambre de vuestras familias. 20 Pero traedme a vuestro hermano menor y probadme que decís la verdad. Así no moriréis.
Ellos aceptaron la propuesta, 21 pero se decían unos a otros:
―Sin duda estamos sufriendo las consecuencias de lo que hicimos con nuestro hermano. Aunque vimos su angustia cuando nos suplicaba que le tuviéramos compasión, no le hicimos caso. Por eso ahora nos vemos en aprietos.
22 Entonces habló Rubén:
―Yo os advertí que no le hicierais daño al muchacho, pero no me hicisteis caso. ¡Ahora tenemos que pagar el precio de su sangre!
23 Como José les hablaba por medio de un intérprete, ellos no sabían que él entendía todo lo que estaban diciendo. 24 José se apartó de ellos y se echó a llorar. Luego, cuando se controló y pudo hablarles, apartó a Simeón y ordenó que lo ataran en presencia de ellos.
25 José dio también la orden de que llenaran de alimentos sus costales, que repusieran en cada una de sus bolsas el dinero que habían pagado, y que les dieran provisiones para el viaje. Y así se hizo. 26 Entonces ellos cargaron el alimento sobre sus asnos y emprendieron el viaje de vuelta.
27 Cuando llegaron al lugar donde acamparon esa noche, uno de ellos abrió su bolsa para darle de comer a su asno, ¡y allí en la abertura descubrió su dinero! 28 Entonces les dijo a sus hermanos:
―¡Me devolvieron el dinero! Mirad, ¡aquí está, en mi bolsa!
Los otros se asustaron mucho y, temblando, se decían unos a otros:
―¿Qué es lo que Dios nos ha hecho?
29 Al llegar a Canaán, donde estaba su padre Jacob, le contaron todo lo que les había sucedido:
30 ―El hombre que gobierna aquel país nos trató con rudeza, hasta tal punto que nos acusó de ser espías. 31 Nosotros le dijimos: “Somos gente honrada. No somos espías”. 32 Además, le dijimos: “Somos doce hermanos, hijos de un mismo padre. Uno ya no vive, y el menor se ha quedado con nuestro padre en Canaán”.
33 »Entonces el hombre que gobierna aquel país nos dijo: “Con esto voy a comprobar si en verdad sois gente honrada. Dejad aquí conmigo a uno de vuestros hermanos, e id a llevar alimento para calmar el hambre de vuestras familias. 34 Pero a la vuelta traedme a vuestro hermano menor. Así comprobaré que no sois espías, y que en verdad sois gente honrada. Luego os entregaré de vuelta a vuestro hermano, y podréis moveros[a] con libertad por el país”».
35 Cuando comenzaron a vaciar sus costales, se encontraron con que la bolsa de dinero de cada uno estaba allí. Esto hizo que ellos y su padre se llenaran de temor. 36 Entonces Jacob, su padre, les dijo:
―¡Vosotros me vais a dejar sin hijos! José ya no está con nosotros, Simeón tampoco está aquí, ¡y ahora os queréis llevar a Benjamín! ¡Todo esto me perjudica!
37 Pero Rubén le dijo a su padre:
―Yo me hago cargo de Benjamín. Si no te lo devuelvo, podrás matar a mis dos hijos.
38 ―¡Mi hijo no se irá con vosotros! —replicó Jacob—. Su hermano José ya está muerto, y ahora solo él me queda. Si le llega a pasar una desgracia en el viaje que vais a emprender, vosotros tendréis la culpa de que este pobre viejo se muera de tristeza.
Footnotes
- 42:34 moveros. Alt. comerciar.
Genesis 42
EasyEnglish Bible
Joseph's brothers go to Egypt[a]
42 Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt. So he said to his sons, ‘There is no food here, so why are you just sitting there? 2 I have heard that there is food in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us. Then we may continue to live and not die.’
3 So ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy food. 4 But Jacob did not send his youngest son, Benjamin, with them. Jacob was afraid that something bad might happen to Benjamin. 5 Jacob's sons went to Egypt, as well as other people who went there to buy food. They all went to Egypt because there was a bad famine in Canaan.
6 Joseph had authority to rule Egypt at that time. He was the man who sold food to all the Egyptians. When Joseph's brothers arrived there, they bent down in front of him, with their faces to the ground.[b]
7 As soon as Joseph saw the men, he knew that they were his brothers. But he spoke to them as if they were strangers. He did not speak to them in a kind way. He asked them, ‘Where do you come from?’ They replied, ‘We come from the land of Canaan. We have come here to buy food.’ 8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.[c]
9 Then Joseph remembered the dream that he had dreamed about his brothers. He said to them, ‘You have come here secretly to see how your people can attack our land.’ 10 They replied ‘No, my lord, that is not true! We are your servants and we have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. We are honest men. We are not your enemies.’
12 But Joseph said, ‘No! You have come here to see if our country is weak so that you can attack us.’ 13 Joseph's brothers replied, ‘We belong to a family of 12 brothers. We are the sons of one man who lives in Canaan. Our youngest brother stayed at home with our father. One other brother is not with us any more.’ 14 Joseph said to them, ‘It is as I told you. You are our enemies! 15 I will see if what you say is true. This is what I will do. I promise by the life of Pharaoh himself, I will not let you leave this place.[d] You must first bring your youngest brother here. I will only let you go after that. 16 One of you must go to bring your brother here. I will keep you others in prison. In that way I will know if what you said is true. If your youngest brother does not come, then I will certainly know that you are enemies!’
17 Then Joseph put his brothers in prison for three days.
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘Do what I say. Then you will stay alive, because I respect God.[e] 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison. The other brothers can go back to Canaan. You may take food back with you, because your families are hungry. 20 But you must return to Egypt and you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that what you have said is true. Then you will not die.’ Joseph's brothers agreed to do what he told them.
21 The brothers said to each other, ‘This punishment is happening to us because of what we did to Joseph. We saw how upset he was when he asked us not to kill him. But we refused to be kind to him. That is why we have all this trouble.’ 22 Reuben said, ‘I told you not to do anything bad to the boy. But you would not agree! We killed him and now we must receive the punishment.’ 23 While they said all this, they did not know that Joseph could understand them. Joseph had been speaking in the Egyptian language and someone else told the brothers his message in Hebrew.[f]
24 Joseph went away from his brothers and he began to weep. But then he returned to speak to them again. While they watched, Joseph told his men to tie Simeon's hands and take him away. 25 Then Joseph told his servants to fill the brothers' bags with food. He also told them to put each man's money back into his bag.[g] He told them to give the brothers enough food for their journey. The servants did what Joseph told them. 26 Then the brothers put the bags of food on to their donkeys. Then they left.
27 They travelled until they reached a place to sleep that night. One of the brothers opened his bag to get food for his donkey. Then he saw his money inside his bag, at the top. 28 He said to his brothers, ‘They have given back my money! Here it is in my bag!’ All the brothers were upset and frightened. They asked each other, ‘What has God done to us?’
29 After some time they arrived back in Canaan. They went to their father, Jacob. They told him everything that had happened to them. 30 They said, ‘We met the man who is lord over Egypt. He spoke strong words to us. He thought that we were enemies who had come to find a way to attack Egypt. 31 But we said to him, “We are honest men. We are not your enemies. 32 We belong to a family of 12 brothers, all the sons of one father. One brother is not with us any more, and the youngest brother is at home with our father in Canaan.” 33 Then the man who is lord over Egypt said, “I want to know if you are honest men. This is what I will do. You must leave one of your brothers here, with me. Then take food for your hungry families and leave Egypt. 34 But then you must bring your youngest brother here to me. If you do that, I will know that you are really honest men. I will know that you are not our enemies. Then I will give your brother back to you. You will be able to stay in Egypt and you can buy and sell things here.” ’
35 The brothers started to take the food out of their bags. And in their bags, they found each man's money! When the brothers and their father saw the money, they were frightened. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, ‘You are taking my children away from me! Joseph is not here any more. Simeon also is not here. Now you want to take Benjamin away from me. Everything that happens is hurting me!’
37 Then Reuben said to his father, Jacob, ‘I will bring Benjamin back to you. If I do not, then you can kill both of my sons. Trust me to take care of him. I will bring him back.’ 38 But Jacob said, ‘My son will not go with you. His brother is already dead. Benjamin is the only one left. Something bad may happen to him on your journey. I am already an old man. If I lose Benjamin, I would be so sad that I would die.’[h]
Footnotes
- 42:1 Jacob is living in Canaan with his sons, except for Joseph. There is no food in Canaan, but Jacob knows that there is food in Egypt.
- 42:6 Joseph's first dream showed his brothers bending down to respect him.
- 42:8 Joseph was only 17 years old when they sold him as a slave. He now looked like an Egyptian. That is why they did not recognize him. Probably he spoke to his brothers in the language of Egypt. Then a man who could speak Hebrew told the brothers what Joseph had said.
- 42:15 Joseph made a promise ‘by the life of Pharaoh’. He wanted to show his brothers that he meant what he said.
- 42:18 Joseph showed his brothers that he was under God's authority, so he would not cheat them.
- 42:23 The brothers still did not know that the important officer was Joseph. They thought that he was an Egyptian. They did not know that he spoke Hebrew too.
- 42:25 The brothers had brought the money to pay for the food.
- 42:38 Benjamin is Jacob's youngest son. Benjamin's mother was Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved his other wives. Jacob thinks that Joseph, Rachel's other son is dead. Jacob shows that he loves Benjamin more than he loves his other sons. Even when Simeon is in prison, Jacob does not want Benjamin to go to Egypt.
Genesis 42
King James Version
42 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
2 And 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 live, and not die.
3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7 And 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.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
13 And 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 is not.
14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
16 Send 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.
17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
19 If 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:
20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21 And they said one to another, We 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.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
24 And 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.
25 Then 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.
26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
28 And 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?
29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
32 We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:
34 And 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 traffick in the land.
35 And 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.
36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
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