Genesis 42:1 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

Joseph’s brothers go down to Egypt

1 Jacob found out that there was corn in Egypt. So he said to his sons, ‘Why do you just keep looking at one another?’ 2 He continued, ‘I’ve heard there’s corn in Egypt. Go down there. Buy some for us. Then we’ll live and not die.’ 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to buy corn there. 4 But Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with them. He was afraid Benjamin might be harmed. 5 Israel’s sons were among the people who went to buy corn. There wasn’t enough food in the land of Canaan. 6 Joseph was the governor of the land. He was the one who sold corn to all its people. 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 recognised them. But he pretended to be a stranger. He spoke to them in a mean way. ‘Where do you come from?’ he asked. ‘From the land of Canaan,’ they replied. ‘We’ve come to buy food.’ 8 Joseph recognised his brothers, but they didn’t recognise him. 9 Then Joseph remembered his dreams about them. So he said to them, ‘You are spies! You have come to see the places where our land isn’t guarded very well.’ 10 ‘No, sir,’ they answered. ‘We’ve come to buy food. 11 All of us are the sons of one man. We’re honest men. We aren’t spies.’ 12 ‘No!’ he said to them. ‘You have come to see the places where our land isn’t guarded very well.’ 13 But they replied, ‘We were 12 brothers. All of us were the sons of one man. He lives in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is now with our father. And one brother is gone.’ 14 Joseph said to them, ‘I still say you are spies! 15 So I’m going to test you. And here’s the test. You can be sure that you won’t leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. You can be just as sure of this as you are sure that Pharaoh lives. I give you my word that you won’t leave here unless your brother comes. 16 Send one of you back to get your brother. The rest of you will be kept in prison. I’ll test your words. Then we’ll find out whether you are telling the truth. You can be sure that Pharaoh lives. And you can be just as sure that if you aren’t telling the truth, we’ll know that you are spies!’ 17 So Joseph kept all of them under guard for three days. 18 On the third day, Joseph spoke to them again. He said, ‘Do what I say. Then you will live, because I have respect for God. 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison. The rest of you may go and take corn back to your hungry families. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me. That will prove that your words are true. Then you won’t die.’ So they did what he said. 21 They said to one another, ‘God is surely punishing us because of our brother. We saw how upset he was when he begged us to let him live. But we wouldn’t listen. That’s why all this trouble has come to us.’ 22 Reuben replied, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we’re being paid back for killing him.’ 23 They didn’t realise that Joseph could understand what they were saying. He was using someone else to explain their words to him in the Egyptian language. 24 Joseph turned away from his brothers and began to weep. Then he came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken and tied up right there in front of them. 25 Joseph gave orders to have their bags filled with corn. He had each man’s money put back into his sack. He also made sure they were given food for their journey. 26 Then the brothers loaded their corn on their donkeys and left. 27 When night came, they stopped. One of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey. He saw his money in the top of his sack. 28 ‘My money has been given back,’ he said to his brothers. ‘Here it is in my sack.’ They had a sinking feeling in their hearts. They began to tremble. They turned to one another and said, ‘What has God done to us?’ 29 They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him everything that had happened to them. They said, 30 ‘The man who is the governor of the land spoke to us in a mean way. He treated us as if we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, “We’re honest men. We aren’t spies. 32 We were 12 brothers. All of us were the sons of one father. But now one brother is gone. And our youngest brother is with our father in Canaan.” 33 ‘Then the man who is the governor of the land spoke to us. He said, “Here’s how I will know whether you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me. Take food for your hungry families and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me. Then I’ll know that you are honest men and not spies. I’ll give your brother back to you. And you will be free to trade in the land.” ’ 35 They began emptying their sacks. There in each man’s sack was his bag of money! When they and their father saw the money bags, they were scared to death. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, ‘You have taken my children away from me. Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!’ 37 Then Reuben spoke to his father. He said, ‘You can put both of my sons to death if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. Trust me to take care of him. I’ll bring him back.’ 38 But Jacob said, ‘My son will not go down there with you. His brother is dead. He’s the only one left here with me. Suppose he’s harmed on the journey you are taking. Then I would die as a sad old man.’

English Standard Version

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” (Ac 7:12) 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” (Ge 43:8) 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. (Ge 35:18; Ge 42:38) 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one 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. (Ge 37:7; Ge 37:9; Ge 41:41) 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” (Ge 42:30) 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” (Ge 37:5; Ge 37:9; Ge 42:7; Ge 42:30)

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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 He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” (Ge 37:30; Ge 42:32) 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: (Le 25:43; Ne 5:15) 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, (Ge 42:33) 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. (Ge 42:34; Ge 43:5; Ge 44:23) 21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” (Ge 37:23; Job 36:8) 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” (Ge 9:5; Ge 37:21; 1Ki 2:32; 2Ch 24:22; Ps 9:12; Lu 11:50)

Ge 9:5Ge 37:211Ki 2:322Ch 24:22Ps 9:12Lu 11:50

23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. (Ge 43:30) 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them. (Ge 44:1) 26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. (Ge 42:35; Ge 43:21; Ex 4:24; Jer 9:2)

Ge 42:35Ge 43:21Ex 4:24Jer 9:2

28 He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. (Ge 42:7; Ge 42:9) 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ (Ge 42:13) 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, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. (Ge 42:15; Ge 42:19) 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’” (Ge 34:10; Ge 34:21) 35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. (Ge 42:27; Ge 43:21) 36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” (Ge 43:14) 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “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.” (Ge 46:9) 38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” (Ge 37:33; Ge 37:35; Ge 42:4; Ge 42:13; Ge 42:32; Ge 42:36; Ge 44:28; Ge 44:29; Ge 44:31)

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