The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now before the year of famine came, ^(A)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^[a]On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn ^[b]Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.” ⁵² And he named the second ^[c]Ephraim; “For,” he said, “^(B)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵⁷ Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^(A)the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42 Now ^(A)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ² Then he said, “Look, ^(B)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from ^[a]that place, ^(C)so that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^(D)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^(E)I am afraid that harm may happen to him.” ⁵ So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^(F)because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now ^(G)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(H)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

¹³ But 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 ^(A)our father today, and ^(B)one is no longer alive.”

²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(A)Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “^(B)Did I not tell ^[a]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[b](C)Now justice for his blood is required.”

³⁶ And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^(A)deprived me of my sons: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷ Then 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 ^[a]care, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But ^[b]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^(B)brother is dead, and he alone is left. ^(C)If harm should happen to him on the journey ^[c]you are taking, then you will ^(D)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(A)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (B)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^[a]me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^[b]you can let me take the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹⁴ and may ^[a](A)God Almighty ^(B)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(C)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(D)if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!”

¹⁸ Now 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, so that he may ^[a]attack us and ^[b]overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they approached Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹ and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(A)each man’s money was in the opening of his sack, our money in ^[c]full. So ^(B)we 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.” ²³ But he said, “Peace be to you, do not be afraid. ^(C)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your ^[d]money was in my possession.” Then ^(D)he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^(E)gave them water, and they ^(F)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵ So they prepared ^(G)the gift ^[e]for Joseph’s arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^[f]a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the gift which was in their hand, and they ^(H)bowed down to the ground before him.