Genesis 42:18-43:34

New Life Version

¹⁸ Then Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God. ¹⁹ If you are men who do not lie, let one of your brothers stay here in prison for all of you. But you others go and carry grain for your hungry families. ²⁰ Then bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be proven true. And you will live.” So they did what he said. ²¹ They said to one another, “For sure we are guilty for what we did to our brother. We saw the suffering of his soul while he begged us. But we would not listen. So this trouble has come to us.”

²² Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy?’ But you would not listen. Now we must pay for his blood.” ²³ They did not know that Joseph understood them. For there was a man between them to tell the meaning of each other’s language. ²⁴ Joseph went away from them and cried. Then he returned to speak with them. And he took Simeon from them and put chains on him in front of his brothers.

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵ Then Joseph had their bags filled with grain. He had each man’s money returned to his bag, to buy what was needed as they traveled. So this was done for them. ²⁶ Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain, and left. ²⁷ When one of them opened his bag to give his donkey food at the place where they were staying the night, he saw his money. It was there at the top of his bag. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! It is inside my bag!” Then their hearts became full of fear. They turned to each other, shaking in fear, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, ³⁰ “The man who is ruler of the land spoke sharp words to us. He thought that we had gone there to find the weak places in the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We do not lie. We are not working against you in secret. ³² We are twelve brothers, the sons of our father. One is no more. And the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man who is ruler of the land said to us, ‘I will know that you are telling the truth by this test. Leave one of your brothers with me. Take grain for your hungry families and go. ³⁴ But bring your youngest brother to me, so I will know you are not spies, but honest men telling the truth. Then I will return your brother to you. And then you may trade in the land.’”

³⁵ When they took the grain out of their bags, they found that every man’s money was in his bag. And when they and their father saw the money, they were afraid. ³⁶ Their father Jacob said to them, “You have taken my children from me! Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more. And now you would take Benjamin! All this has come upon me!”

³⁷ Then Reuben told his father, “You may kill my two sons if I do not return him to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But Jacob said, “My son will not go with you. For his brother is dead, and only he is left. If something were to happen to him during your traveling, you would bring my white hair down to the grave in sorrow.”

Jacob’s Brothers Go to Egypt the Second Time

43 The time of no food was hard in the land. ² When they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again and buy us a little food.” ³ But Judah told him, “The man said to us with sharp words, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go to Egypt and buy you food. ⁵ But if you do not send him, we will not go. For the man said, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶ Israel said, “Why did you do me such a wrong by telling the man that you had another brother?” ⁷ And they said, “The man asked questions about us and our family. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

⁸ Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. And we will get up and go, so we and you and our children may live and not die. ⁹ I will put myself as trust for him. You may put him in my care. If I do not return him to you and set him in front of you, then let the blame be on me forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not waited, we would have returned twice by now.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best things of the land in your bags. Carry them to the man as a gift. Give him perfume and honey and spices and special things to eat. ¹² Take twice as much money with you to take the place of the money that was returned in your bags. It may be that it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also. Get up, and return to the man. ¹⁴ May the All-powerful God give you such favor with the man that he may let your other brother and Benjamin return. If my children are taken from me, I am filled with sorrow.”

¹⁵ So the men took the gift, and twice as much money, and Benjamin. They got up and went to Egypt, and stood in front of Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the man who took care of his house, “Bring the men into the house. And kill an animal and make it ready. For the men will eat with me at noon.” ¹⁷ So the man did what Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ The men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our bags the first time we came. He is looking for something against us. He will come down on us and take us for servants with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they came near the man who took care of Joseph’s house, and spoke to him at the door of the house. ²⁰ They said, “O, my lord, we came here the first time to buy food. ²¹ When we came to the place where we stayed the night, we opened our bags. And we found that the full weight of each man’s money was at the top of the bag. So we have brought it again with us. ²² We have brought other money with us also to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our bags.”

²³ But he answered, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you riches in your bags. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ The man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet. And he fed their donkeys. ²⁵ So they made the gift ready to give to Joseph when he came at noon. For they had heard that they were to eat there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they gave him the gift they had brought with them. They bowed to the ground in front of him. ²⁷ Then Joseph asked them about their well-being. He said, “Is your father well, the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ And they said, “Your servant, our father is well. He is still alive.” Then they bowed their heads low in honor to Joseph.

²⁹ As he looked up, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. He said, “Is this your youngest brother whom you told me about? May God show you loving-favor, my son.” ³⁰ Then Joseph went out in a hurry. For he had much feeling for his brother. He went in his room and cried. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. Hiding his feelings, he said, “Bring the food.”

³² So they brought food to Joseph by himself, and to them by themselves, and to the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves. The Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews because they thought it would be sinful. ³³ Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him by the way they were born, from the oldest to the youngest. And the men looked at each other in wonder. ³⁴ Joseph took food to them from his own table. But Benjamin’s food was five times as much as any of theirs. And they were free in eating and drinking with him.