Genesis 42
Lexham English Bible
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt for Food
42 When Jacob realized that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 Then he said, “Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die.” 3 And the ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, for he feared harm would come to him.[a] 5 Then the sons of Israel went to buy grain amid those other people who went as well, for there was famine in the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph was the governor over the land. He was the one who sold food to all the people of the land. And the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them. And he spoke with them harshly and said to them, “From where have you come?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed concerning them, and he said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!” 10 And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We all are sons of one man. We are honest men. We, your servants, are not spies.” 12 Then he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 13 Then they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, but behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is what I said to you—you are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh you will not go out from here unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, but you will be kept in prison so that your words might be tested to see if there is truth with you. And if not, by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” 17 Then he gathered them into the prison for three days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live; I fear God. 19 If you are honest, let one of your brothers be kept in prison where you are now being kept,[b] but the rest of you go, carry grain for the famine for your households. 20 You must bring your youngest brother to me, and then your words will be confirmed and you will not die.” And they did so. 21 Then each said to his brother, “Surely we are guilty on account of our brother when we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded for mercy to us and we would not listen. Therefore this trouble has come to us.” 22 Then Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not say to you, do not sin against the boy? But you did not listen, and now, behold, his blood has been sought.” 23 Now they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them. 24 And he turned away from them and wept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them, and took Simeon from them and tied him up in front of them. 25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to return their money to each sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. 26 Then they loaded their grain upon their donkeys and went away from there. 27 And one of them later opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the lodging place and saw his money—behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 And he said to his brothers, “My money was returned and moreover, behold, it is in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them[c] and each of them trembled and said, “What is this God has done to us?”
29 And when they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan they told him everything that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us as if we were spying out the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, the sons of our father. One is no more and the youngest is with our father now in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest. Leave one brother with me, and take food for the famine in your households and go. 34 And bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies but you are honest. And I will give your brother back to you, and you will trade in the land.’” 35 And it happened that when they emptied their sacks, behold, each one’s pouch of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw the pouches of their money, they were greatly distressed. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me—Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you would take! All of this is against me! 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hand and I myself will return him to you.” 38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone remains. If harm meets him on the journey that you would take, you would bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 42:4 Literally “he thought, lest harm encounter him”
- Genesis 42:19 Literally “in the house of your custody”
- Genesis 42:28 Literally “their heart went out”
Genesis 42
International Standard Version
Joseph’s Brothers Visit Egypt
42 Eventually, Jacob observed that there was grain in Egypt, so he asked his sons, “Why do you keep on staring at one another? 2 Pay attention now! I’ve heard that there is grain in Egypt, so go down there and buy some grain for us, so we can live, instead of dying.”
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers left to buy grain from Egypt. 4 Jacob would not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin to accompany them, because he was saying, “I’m afraid that he’ll come to some kind of harm.” 5 Israel’s sons went in a caravan that included others who were going to Egypt to buy grain, because the famine pervaded the land of Canaan, too.
Joseph’s Brothers Encounter Joseph
6 Meanwhile, Joseph continued to be ruler over the land, in charge of selling to everyone in the land. Joseph’s brothers appeared and bowed down to him, face down.[a] 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he remained disguised and asked them gruffly, “Where are you from?”
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We’re here[b] to buy food.”
8 But Joseph had already recognized his brothers, even though they had not recognized him. 9 Furthermore, Joseph remembered the dreams that he had about them. So he accused them, “You’re spies! You’ve come here to spy on our undefended territories!”[c]
10 “No, your majesty,” they replied. “Your servants have come here to buy food. 11 We’re all sons of a common father. We’re honest men, your majesty. We’re[d] not spies!”
12 But Joseph[e] kept insisting, “It’s just as I’ve said—you’ve come here to spy on our unguarded[f] territories!”
13 “But your majesty,” they pleaded, “your servants include twelve brothers, the sons of a common father back in the land of Canaan. Please! Our youngest brother[g] remains with our father, and the other one[h] is no longer alive.”
14 “I’m right!” Joseph insisted. “Just as I said, you’re spies! 15 So here’s how we’ll test you. You can bet the life of Pharaoh that you’re not leaving here until your youngest brother comes here! 16 One of you is to be sent back so he can get your brother while the rest of[i] you remain in custody. That way, we’ll test whether or not you’re telling the truth. If you’re not, as surely as the Pharaoh lives, you’re spies!”
17 Then Joseph locked them all together in prison for three days. 18 Three days later, Joseph told them, “I fear God, so do this and you’ll live. 19 If you’re honest men, leave one of your brothers here in custody, then the rest of[j] you can leave and take some grain with you[k] to alleviate the famine that’s affecting your households. 20 Just be sure to bring your youngest brother back to me so what you’ve claimed can be verified. That way, you won’t die.”
Joseph’s Brothers Mull over Their Predicament
21 “We’re all guilty because of what we did to[l] our brother!” they told each other. “We kept on watching his suffering while he pleaded with us! We’re in this mess because we wouldn’t listen!”
22 “Didn’t I tell you!” Reuben replied. “‘Don’t wrong the kid!’ I said, but would you listen? No! Now it’s payback time!”
23 Meanwhile, they had no idea that Joseph could understand them, since he was talking to them through an interpreter. 24 He turned away from them and began to weep.
Joseph Arrests Simeon
When he returned, he spoke with them, but then he took Simeon away from them and had him placed under arrest[m] right in front of them. 25 After this, Joseph gave orders to fill up their sacks with grain, to return each man’s money to his own sack, and to supply each of them with provisions for their return journey. All of this was done for them.
Joseph’s Brothers Leave for Canaan
26 Then they each mounted up, their donkeys having been loaded with grain, and left from there. 27 Later on, one of them opened up his sack to give his donkey some fodder after they had stopped at the place where they intended to lodge for the night. There, in the mouth of his sack, was all of his money! 28 He reported to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It’s right here in my sack!”
Trembling with mounting consternation, each of them asked one another, “What is God doing to us?”
Jacob Learns What Happened in Egypt
29 As soon as they had returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them. 30 “The man who was in charge[n] of the land spoke harshly to us,” they said. “He accused us of being spies![o] 31 But we told him, ‘No! We’re honest men! We’re not spies! 32 Our father has twelve sons, but one of us isn’t alive anymore, and our youngest brother is with our father today back home in[p] Canaan.’ 33 But the man who was in charge of the land responded, ‘I’m going to test your honesty. Leave one of your brothers with me, take some grain for the famine that’s afflicting your households, and leave. 34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I can be sure that you’re honest men, and not spies. Then I’ll return your brother to you, and you’ll be allowed to trade anywhere in the land.’”
35 Later on, as they went about unloading their sacks, each man’s bundle of money was found in each man’s sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were greatly distressed. 36 Their father Jacob told them, “You’re causing me to lose my children! Joseph is gone. Now Simeon is gone, and you’re planning to take Benjamin, too. Everything’s going against me!”
37 “Feel free to put my own two sons to death,” Reuben responded to his father, “if I don’t bring him back to you. Trust me—I’ll bring him back to you.”
38 But Jacob replied, “My son isn’t going back with you, since his brother is dead and he’s the only one left. If something should harm him as you travel, then it’ll be death for me and my sad, gray hair!”[q]
Footnotes
- Genesis 42:6 Lit. faces to the ground
- Genesis 42:7 The Heb. lacks We’re here
- Genesis 42:9 Lit. to scout the nakedness of the land
- Genesis 42:11 Lit. Your servants are
- Genesis 42:12 Lit. he
- Genesis 42:12 Lit. naked
- Genesis 42:13 The Heb. lacks brother
- Genesis 42:13 The Heb. lacks one
- Genesis 42:16 The Heb. lacks the rest of
- Genesis 42:19 The Heb. lacks the rest of
- Genesis 42:19 The Heb. lacks with you
- Genesis 42:21 The Heb. lacks what we did to
- Genesis 42:24 Lit. him bound
- Genesis 42:30 Lit. was lord; and so in v. 33
- Genesis 42:30 Lit. spies of the land
- Genesis 42:32 Lit. today in the land of
- Genesis 42:38 Lit. then you’ll send me and my gray hair to Sheol; i.e. to the realm of the dead
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