Genesis 42
Revised Geneva Translation
42 Then Jacob saw that there was food in Egypt; and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you stare at each other?”
2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is food in Egypt. Go down there and buy us food, so that we may live and not die.”3 So, Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy corn from the Egyptians.
4 But Jacob would not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers. For he said, “Lest death should befall him.”
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy food among those who came. For there was famine in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor of the land, who sold to all the people of the land. Then Joseph’s brothers came and bowed their faces to the ground before him.
7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he knew them. But he acted as a stranger toward them, and spoke to them roughly, and said to them, “From where have you come?” Who answered, “Out of the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 Now Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them; and he said to them, “You are spies, come to see the weakness of the land!”
10 But they said to him, “No, my lord! But your servants have come to buy food.
11 “We are all one man’s sons. We are honest! And your servants are not spies.”
12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the weakness of the land!”
13 And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”
14 Again Joseph said to them, “This is that which I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies.’
15 “By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from here unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 “Send one of you to fetch your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested (whether there is truth in you). Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are but spies!”
17 So, he put them in prison for three days.
18 Then Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live. For I fear God.
19 “If you are true men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison house; and you go and carry food for the famine of your houses.
20 “But, bring your younger brother to me, so that your words may be tested and that you do not die.” And they did so.
21 And they said to one another, “Truly, we have sinned against our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us and we would not hear him. Therefore, this trouble has come upon us.”
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not warn you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the child,’ and you would not hear? And lo, his blood is now required.”
23 And they were not aware that Joseph understood them. For he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24 Then, he turned from them and wept, and turned to them again and communed with them, and took Simeon from among them and bound him before their eyes.
25 So, Joseph commanded that they should fill their sacks with wheat and put every man’s money back in his sack and give them food for the journey. And he did this to them.
26 And they laid their food upon their donkeys and left there.
27 And, as one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey at the inn, he saw his money (for lo, it was in his sack’s mouth).
28 Then he said to his brothers, “My money is restored! For lo, it is here in my sack!” And their hearts failed them; and they were astonished and said to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 And they came to Jacob, their father (to the land of Canaan) and told him all that had befallen them, saying,
30 “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us and put us in prison as spies of the country.
31 “And we said to him, ‘We are honest men, and are not spies.
32 ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’
33 “Then the lord of the country said to us, ‘By this I shall know if you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me and take food for the famine of your houses and depart;
34 ‘and bring your youngest brother to me, so that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. Then I will release your brother and you shall occupy the land.’”
35 And as they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw the bundles of their money, they were afraid.
36 Then Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have robbed me of my children! Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more! And you would take Benjamin! All these things are against me!”
37 Then Reuben answered his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands and I will bring him back to you.”
38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you. For his brother is dead; and he is left alone. If death comes to him by the way which you go, then you shall bring my gray head to the grave with sorrow.”
Genesis 42
New King James Version
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When (A)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may (B)live and not die.”
3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, (C)“Lest some calamity befall him.” 5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was (D)in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor (E)over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and (F)bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as (G)a stranger to them and spoke [a]roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Then Joseph (H)remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the [b]nakedness of the land!”
10 And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”
12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one (I)is no more.”
14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 15 In this manner you shall be tested: (J)By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be [c]kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” 17 So he [d]put them all together in prison (K)three days.
18 Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, (L)for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. 20 And (M)bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.”
And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, (N)“We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; (O)therefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, (P)“Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now (Q)required of us.” 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself away from them and (R)wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took (S)Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
The Brothers Return to Canaan
25 Then Joseph (T)gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to (U)restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. (V)Thus he did for them. 26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. 27 But as (W)one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. 28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts [e]failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: 30 “The man who is lord of the land (X)spoke [f]roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, (Y)‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. 34 And bring your (Z)youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may (AA)trade in the land.’ ”
35 Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly (AB)each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have (AC)bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take (AD)Benjamin. All these things are against me.”
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for (AE)his brother is dead, and he is left alone. (AF)If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would (AG)bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 42:7 harshly
- Genesis 42:9 Exposed parts
- Genesis 42:16 Lit. bound
- Genesis 42:17 Lit. gathered
- Genesis 42:28 sank
- Genesis 42:30 harshly
Genesis 42
English Standard Version
Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When (A)Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may (B)live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, (C)Joseph's brother, with his brothers, for (D)he feared that harm might happen to him. 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor (E)over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and (F)bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and (G)spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. 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 (H)remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. (I)And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”
12 He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one (J)is no more.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days.
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, (K)for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry (L)grain for the famine of your households, 20 and (M)bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21 Then they said to one another, (N)“In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, (O)“Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now (P)there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and (Q)wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 (R)And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27 And as (S)one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at (T)the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 28 He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, (U)spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One (V)is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, (W)‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take (X)grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall (Y)trade in the land.’”
35 (Z)As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have (AA)bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill (AB)my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” 38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for (AC)his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. (AD)If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, (AE)you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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