42:1 Once Jacob learned
there was grain in
he said to his sons:
What are you doing
just looking at one other?
42:2 Then he said:
Look, I hear there is grain in
Go over there and buy some for us
so we may survive and not pass away.
42:3 Then ten of Joseph's brothers
left to buy grain from
42:4 Yet Joseph's brother Benjamin
Was not sent with his brothers
as he feared he might be harmed.
42:5 Thus
to buy grain for there was famine in
42:6 Joseph was governor of the land
and so he sold grain to all its people.
So when Joseph's brothers arrived
they bowed down to him
with their heads on the ground.
42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers
he recognized them
but pretended to be a stranger.
He spoke sternly to them:
Where do you come from?
They replied:
We are from the
Here to buy food.
42:8 While Joseph recognized his brothers
they recognized him not.
42:9 Then Joseph remembered his dreams
concerning them and spoke to them:
You are spies!
You have come to see
our people’s weaknesses.
42:10 They replied to him:
No my sir.
Your servants come to buy food.
42:11 We are all the sons of the same man.
We are honest – your servants are not spies.
42:12 He responded to them:
No. you have come to see our weaknesses.
42:13 Then they said:
Your servants were twelve brothers
the sons of the same man
from the
Today the youngest is with our father
and one of us is not with us.
42:14 Then Joseph said to them:
Just as I said you are spies!
42:15 This is how you will prove yourselves:
By the life of Pharaoh
you will not be able to leave
until your youngest brother arrives.
42:16 Send one of you
and get your brother
while the others are retained.
Thus your words will be proven
to see if you speak the truth.
If not by the life of Pharaoh
you are surely spies!
42:17 Then he put them together
in custody for three days.
42:18 On the third day
Joseph told them:
Do this to survive
for I revere God:
42:19 If you men are truly honest
let one brother stay here
in house arrest
and go take some grain
to your hungry families.
42:20 But then you must bring
your youngest brother back
so that what you said is confirmed
and you won’t pass away.
This is what they did.
42:21 They said to one another:
Surely we are to blame
regarding our brother.
We knew his anguish
as he pleaded for his life
but we didn’t listen.
This is why this trouble
has happened to us.
42:22 Then Reuben responded:
Didn’t I say not to harm the boy?
But you would just not listen.
Now we have to pay for his blood.
42:23 They didn’t realize
Joseph could understand them
since he spoke to them
through an interpreter.
42:24 He turned around from them
and began to weep
but then returned and spoke
to them once again.
He had Simeon removed from them
and was bound before their eyes.
42:25 Then Joseph ordered them
to fill their bags with grain
and put their money back in their packs
and give them provisions
for their journey back.
After this was done for them
42:26 they loaded the grain
on to their donkeys and departed.
42:27 When they stopped at an inn
and opened the sack to feed their donkey
he saw his money in the sack’s pouch.
42:28 He then said to his brothers:
My money was returned to me.
It is here in my sack.
Their hearts were astonished
as they turned to each other and said:
My God what is happening to us?
42:29 When they got to their father
Jacob in the
they told him everything
that had happened to them.
They said:
42:30 The man who is the ruler
over the region spoke harshly to us
and treated us like we were spying
on the country.
42:31 We told him we are honest men
and we are not spies.
42:32 That we are twelve brothers
the sons of the same father.
One is gone and the youngest
is now in
42:33 Then the man who governs
the people said to us:
If you men are truly honest
leave one of your brothers here.
Go and deliver food
to your hungry families.
42:34 And bring your youngest brother
back to me so I shall know
you are not spies but honest men.
Then I will give you your brother
and you can travel freely.
42:35 Once they emptied their packs
they found their money
packed away.
When they and their father
saw the money
they were astonished.
42:36 Their father Jacob said to them:
I am losing some of my children.
Joseph is gone
and Simeon is gone
and now you want to take Benjamin.
All these things are beyond me.
42:37 Then Reuben told his father:
I swear on the lives of my sons
I will bring him back to you.
Trust him to come with me
and I will return him to you.
42:38 But Jacob told him:
My son shall not go with you.
His brother is dead
and he is the only one left.
If he is harmed during the journey
you will take my gray hair
down to the grave in sorrow
