Genesis 42

Modern

Literal

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

¹When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

¹And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”

²“Look,” he added, “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.”

²And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy for us from there, and we shall live and not die.”

³So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

³And ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.

⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”

⁴And Jacob did not send Benjamin, brother of Joseph, with his brothers, for he said, “Lest harm befall him.”

⁵So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

⁵And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst the ones coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

⁶And Joseph—he was the ruler over the land; he was the one selling to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came, and they bowed themselves before him, noses to the earth.

⁷And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

⁷And Joseph saw his brothers and he recognized them, and he made himself strange to them, and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “From where have you come?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

⁸And Joseph recognized his brothers, and they did not recognize him.

⁹Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

⁹And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹⁰“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.

¹⁰And they said to him, “No, my lord, and your servants have come to buy food.

¹¹We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

¹¹We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.”

¹²“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

¹²And he said to them, “No! But rather, you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹³But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

¹³And they said, “Two and ten are your servants, we are brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is with our father today, and the one is no more.”

¹⁴Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!

¹⁴And Joseph said to them, “It is that which I spoke to you, saying, You are spies!

¹⁵And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁵By this you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go forth from this, except if your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

¹⁶Send one of you and let him bring your brother, and you shall be confined, and your words shall be tested, whether truth is with you. And if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

¹⁷So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

¹⁷And he put them all together in custody three days.

¹⁸and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

¹⁸And Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and you will live; I fear God:

¹⁹If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

¹⁹If you are honest, let one of your brothers be confined in the house of your custody, and you go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.

²⁰Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.”

And to this they consented.

²⁰And you shall bring your youngest brother to me, and your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.

²¹Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

²¹And they said each man to his brother, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we did not listen. Upon thus, this distress has come upon us.”

²²And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

²²And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’? and you did not listen! And also, his blood, behold, it is required.”

²³They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

²³And they did not know that Joseph was listening, for the interpreter was between them.

²⁴And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

²⁴And he turned himself away from them and wept, and he returned to them and spoke to them, and he took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes.

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver^a to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

²⁵And Joseph commanded, and they filled their vessels with grain, and to return their silver, each man to his sack, and to give to them provisions for the journey. And he did so. For them

²⁶and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.

²⁶and they lifted the grain upon their donkeys and departed from there.

²⁷At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

²⁷And the one opened his sack to give feed to his donkey at the lodging place, and he saw his silver, and behold, it was in the mouth of his bag.

²⁸“My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.”

Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁸And he said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned, and also, behold, it is in my bag.” And their hearts went out, and they trembled, saying each man to his brother, “What is this God has done to us?”

²⁹When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

²⁹And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, and they told him all that had happened to them, saying,

³⁰“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, spoke to us harshly and treated us as spies of the land.

³¹But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies.

³¹And we said to him, ‘We are honest; we are not spies.

³²We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’

³²We are two and ten brothers, sons of our father. The one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’

³³Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

³³And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest: Your one brother leave with me, and take food for the famine of your houses and go.

³⁴But bring your youngest brother back 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.’”

³⁴And bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest. Your brother I will give to you, and you may trade in the land.’”

³⁵As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.

³⁵And it came to pass, they were empyting their sacks, and behold, each man’s bundle of his silver was in his sack; and they saw their bundles of silver, they and their father, and they were afraid.

³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

³⁶And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you will take. All these things are against me!”

³⁷Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

³⁷And Reuben said to his father, saying, “My two sons you will put to death, if I do not bring him back to you! Put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.”

³⁸But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

³⁸And he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. And if harm should befall him in the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair in sorrow to Sheol.”