Genesis
Chapter 42: 1-38
Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt
1 When Jacob learned
that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at
each other?" 2 He continued, "I have heard that
there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not
die."
3 Then ten of Joseph's
brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did
not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm
might come to him. 5 So Israel's sons were among those who
went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
6 Now Joseph was the
governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers
arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger
and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked.
"From the land of Canaan," they replied,
"to buy food."
8 Although Joseph
recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he
remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to
see where our land is unprotected."
10 "No, my
lord," they answered. "Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men,
not spies."
12 "No!" he
said to them. "You have come to see where our land is unprotected."
13 But they replied,
"Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of
Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more."
14 Joseph said to them,
"It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 And this is
how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless
your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number
to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be
tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh
lives, you are spies!" 17 And he put them all in custody
for three days.
18 On the third day,
Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in
prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your
words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do.
21 They said to one
another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed
he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this
distress has come upon us."
22 Reuben replied,
"Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must
give an accounting for his blood." 23 They did not
realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
24 He turned away from
them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken
from them and bound before their eyes.
25 Joseph gave orders to
fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them
provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26
they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
27 At the place where
they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he
saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28 "My silver
has been returned," he said to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack."
Their hearts sank and they turned to each other
trembling and said, "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 lord over the land spoke
harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31
But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies. 32
We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with
our father in Canaan.'
33 "Then the man
who is lord over the land said to us, 'This is how I will know whether you are honest men:
Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and
go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know
that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you
can trade in the land.' "
35 As they were emptying
their sacks, there in each man's sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father
saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 36 Their father
Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and
Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!"
37 Then Reuben said to
his father, "You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you.
Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back."
38 But Jacob said,
"My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one
left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down
to the grave in sorrow."
