GENESIS 42
1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you keep looking at one another?
2 I have heard," he
said, "that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there,
that we may live and not die."
3 So ten of Joseph's
brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send
Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come
to him.
5 Thus the sons of Israel
were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached
the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor
over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's
brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the
ground.
7 When Joseph saw his brothers,
he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to
them. "Where do you come from?" he said. They said, "From the
land of Canaan, to buy food."
8 Although Joseph had
recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
9 Joseph also remembered the
dreams that he had dreamed about them. 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 But he said to them,
"No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!"
13 They said, "We, your
servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan;
the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more."
14 But Joseph said to them,
"It is just as I have said to you; you are spies!
15 Here is how you shall be
tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest
brother comes here!
16 Let one of you go and
bring your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison, in order that your
words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh lives,
surely you are spies."
17 And he put them all
together in prison 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 where you are imprisoned. The rest of you
shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households,
20 and bring your youngest
brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die."
And they agreed to do so.
21 They said to one another,
"Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw
his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this
anguish has come upon us."
22 Then Reuben answered
them, "Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen.
So now there comes a reckoning for his blood."
23 They did not know that
Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter.
24 He turned away from them
and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. And he picked out Simeon and had
him bound before their eyes.
25 Joseph then gave orders
to fill their bags with grain, to return every man's money to his sack, and to
give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them.
26 They loaded their donkeys with
their grain, and departed.
27 When one of them opened
his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money at
the top of the sack.
28 He said to his brothers,
"My money has been put back; here it is in my sack!" At this they
lost heart and turned trembling to one another, saying, "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,
saying,
30 "The man, the lord
of the land, spoke harshly to us, and charged us with spying on the land.
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 now with our father in
the land of Canaan.'
33 Then the man, the lord of
the land, said to us, "By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave
one of your brothers with me, take grain for the famine of your households, and
go your way.
34 Bring your youngest
brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I
will release your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.' "
35 As they were emptying
their sacks, there in each one's sack was his bag of money. When they and their
father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed.
36 And their father Jacob
said to them, "I am the one you have bereaved of children: Joseph is no
more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has
happened to me!"
37 Then Reuben said to his
father, "You may 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 alone is left. If
harm should come to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring
down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol."
GENESIS 43
1 Now the famine was severe
in the land.
2 And when they had eaten up
the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go
again, buy us a little more food."
3 But Judah said to him,
"The man solemnly warned us, saying, "You shall not see my face
unless your brother is with you.'
4 If you will send our
brother with us, we will go down and buy you food;
5 but if you will not send
him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, "You shall not see my
face, unless your brother is with you.' "
6 Israel said, "Why did
you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another
brother?"
7 They replied, "The
man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, "Is
your father still alive? Have you another brother?' What we told him was in
answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say,
"Bring your brother down'?"
8 Then Judah said to his
father Israel, "Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we
may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones.
9 I myself will be surety
for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you
and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
10 If we had not delayed, we
would now have returned twice."
11 Then their father Israel
said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice
fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a
little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12 Take double the money
with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your
sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.
13 Take your brother also,
and be on your way again to the man;
14 may God Almighty grant
you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and
Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am
bereaved."
15 So the men took the
present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then
they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin
with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the
house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me
at noon."
17 The man did as Joseph
said, and brought the men to Joseph's house.
18 Now the men were afraid
because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, "It is because
of the money, replaced in our sacks the first time, that we have been brought
in, so that he may have an opportunity to fall upon us, to make slaves of us
and take our donkeys."
19 So they went up to the
steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the entrance to the
house.
20 They said, "Oh, my
lord, we came down the first time to buy food;
21 and when we came to the
lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each one's money in the top of
his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it back with us.
22 Moreover we have brought
down with us additional money to buy food. We do not know who put our money in
our sacks."
23 He replied, "Rest
assured, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father must have put
treasure in your sacks for you; I received your money." Then he brought
Simeon out to them.
24 When the steward had
brought the men into Joseph's house, and given them water, and they had washed
their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder,
25 they made the present
ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for they had heard that they would dine
there.
26 When Joseph came home,
they brought him the present that they had carried into the house, and bowed to
the ground before him.
27 He inquired about their
welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is
he still alive?"
28 They said, "Your
servant our father is well; he is still alive." And they bowed their heads
and did obeisance.
29 Then he looked up and saw
his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest
brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!"
30 With that, Joseph hurried
out, because he was overcome with affection for his brother, and he was about
to weep. So he went into a private room and wept there.
31 Then he washed his face
and came out; and controlling himself he said, "Serve the
meal."
32 They served him by
himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by
themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is
an abomination to the Egyptians.
33 When they were seated
before him, the firstborn according to his birth-right and the youngest
according to his youth, the men looked at one another in amazement.
34 Portions were taken to
them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any
of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.
GENESIS 44
1 Then he commanded the
steward of his house, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can
carry, and put each man's money in the top of his sack.
2 put my cup, the silver
cup, in the top of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the
grain." And he did as Joseph told him.
3 As soon as the morning was
light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.
4 When they had gone only a
short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, "Go, follow
after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, "Why have you
returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?
5 Is it not from this that
my lord drinks? Does he not indeed use it for divination? You have done wrong
in doing this.' "
6 When he overtook them, he
repeated these words to them.
7 They said to him, "Why
does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they
should do such a thing!
8 Look, the money that we
found at the top of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan;
why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?
9 Should it be found with any one
of your servants, let him die; moreover the rest of us will become my lord's
slaves."
10 He said, "Even so;
in accordance with your words, let it be: he with whom it is found shall become
my slave, but the rest of you shall go free."
11 Then each one quickly
lowered his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.
12 He searched, beginning
with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in
Benjamin's sack.
13 At this they tore their
clothes. Then each one loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
14 Judah and his brothers
came to Joseph's house while he was still there; and they fell to the ground
before him.
15 Joseph said to them,
"What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that one such as I
can practice divination?"
16 And Judah said,
"What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear
ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; here we are then, my
lord's slaves, both we and also the one in whose possession the cup has been
found."
17 But he said, "Far be
it from me that I should do so! Only the one in whose possession the cup was
found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your
father."
18 Then Judah stepped up to
him and said, "O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my
lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh
himself.
19 My lord asked his
servants, saying, "Have you a father or a brother?'
20 And we said to my lord,
"We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old
age. His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother's children, and his
father loves him.'
21 Then you said to your
servants, "Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.'
22 We said to my lord,
"The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his
father would die.'
23 Then you said to your
servants, "Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see
my face no more.'
24When we went back to your
servant my father we told him the words of my lord.
25 And when our father said,
"Go again; buy us a little food,'
26 we said, "We cannot
go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we
cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'
27 Then your servant my
father said to us, "You know that my wife bore me two sons;
28 one left me, and I said, surely
he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since.
29 If you take this one also
from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my grey hairs in sorrow to
Sheol.'
30 Now therefore, when I
come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is
bound up in the boy's life,
31 when he sees that the boy
is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the grey hairs
of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.
32 For your servant became
surety for the boy to my father, saying, "If I do not bring him back to
you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.'
33 Now therefore, please let
your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy
go back with his brothers.
34 For how can I go back to
my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would
come upon my father."
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