Genesis 42 (ENGLEE)

1And when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look at one another?When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

2And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us provision from there, that we may live, and not die.“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.”

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

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

5And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

6And Joseph—he was the governor over the land, it was he that sold corn to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves down before him with the face to the earth.Now 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.

7And Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them; but made himself strange unto them and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.And 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.”

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

9And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed concerning them, and he said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land are ye come.Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

10And they said unto him, No, my lord, thy servants are only come to buy food.“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.

11We are all sons of one man; we are true men; thy servants have never been spies.We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

12And he said unto them, No! but to see the nakedness of the land are ye come.“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

13And they said, We, thy servants, are twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.But 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.”

14And Joseph said unto them, It is as I have spoken unto you, saying, Ye are spies;Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!

15Hereby shall ye be proved: By the life of Pharaoh, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

16Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether the truth be with you; and if not, by the life of Pharaoh, ye are surely spies.Send 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!”

17And he put them together into ward three days.So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

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

19If ye be true men, let one of your brothers remain imprisoned in the house of your confinement; but ye, go, carry home what you have bought for the want of your household.If 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.

20But your youngest brother bring unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

21And they said to one another, Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.Then 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.”

22And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not say unto you, thus, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? and behold, his blood also is now required.And 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!”

23And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spoke unto them by an interpreter.They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

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

25And Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and he did unto them thus.Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

26And they loaded their asses with their corn, and departed thence.and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.

27And one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn: when he espied his money, for, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.At 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.

28And he said unto his brothers, My money hath been restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?“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?”

29And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and they told him all that had befallen them; saying,When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

30The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us as though we were espying the country.“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

31And we said unto him, We are true men; we have never been spies:But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies.

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

33And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brothers here with me, and the food for the want of your households take ye and be gone;Then 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.

34And bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men; your brother I will give up to you, and in the land ye shall be allowed to traffic.But 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.’”

35And it came to pass as they were emptying their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when they saw the bundles of their money, they and their father, they were afraid.As 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.

36And Jacob their father said unto them, Me ye have bereaved of my children: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and Benjamin ye will take away; all these things are against me.Their 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!”

37And Reuben said unto his father, thus, Two of my sons shalt thou slay, if I bring him not to thee; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to thee.Then 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.”

38And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left: and if mischief befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.But 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.”

Genesis 42

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

You’ve read Genesis 42

Go deeper

Genesis 42

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

You’ve read Genesis 42

Go deeper