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

⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although ^(J)they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph ^(K)remembered the dreams which he ^[b]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ^[c]undefended parts of our land.” ¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, ^(L)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of one man; we are ^(M)honest men, your servants are not spies.” ¹² Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ^[d]undefended parts of our land!” 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 ^(N)our father today, and ^(O)one is no longer alive.” ¹⁴ Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ^[e]to you, you are spies; ¹⁵ by this you will be tested: ^(P)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is ^(Q)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in ^(R)prison for three days.

¹⁸ Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^(S)I fear God: ¹⁹ if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ^[f]your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰ and ^(T)bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(U)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, “^(V)Did I not tell ^[g]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[h](W)Now justice for his blood is required.” ²³ They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ Then he turned away from them and ^(X)wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he ^(Y)took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ^25 (Z)Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, but also to return every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And that is what was done for them.

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.”

³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^(A)The man sternly warned ^[a]us, ‘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.’” ⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, ^[b]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘^(B)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ^[c]answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(C)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (D)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^[d]me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^[e]you can let me take the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

³³ Now they ^[a]were seated before him, from ^(A)the firstborn according to his birthright to the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴ Then he took portions to them from ^[b]his own table, ^(B)but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.

The Brothers Are Brought Back

44 ^(A)Then he commanded his house steward, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the opening of his sack. ² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain.” And he did ^[a]as Joseph had told him. ^3 [b]As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys. ⁴ They had just left ^(B)the city, and were not far away, when Joseph said to his house steward, “Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

¹² And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and ^(A)the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they ^(B)tore their clothes in grief, and when each man had loaded his donkey, they returned to ^(C)the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there, and ^(D)they fell down to the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not know that a man who is like me can indeed practice ^(E)divination?” ¹⁶ So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What words can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s ^(F)slaves, both we and the one in whose ^[a]possession the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose ^[b]possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and ^[c](G)do not be angry with your servant; for ^(H)you are equal to Pharaoh.

³³ So now, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear that I may see the evil that would ^[a]overtake my father.”

⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.