Genesis 42
42
Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt
1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you just keep looking at each other?’ 2He continued, ‘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.’
3Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.
6Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognised them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. ‘Where do you come from?’ he asked.
‘From the land of Canaan,’ they replied, ‘to buy food.’
8Although Joseph recognised his brothers, they did not recognise him. 9Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, ‘You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.’
10‘No, my lord,’ they answered. ‘Your servants have come to buy food. 11We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.’
12‘No!’ he said to them. ‘You have come to see where our land is unprotected.’
13But they replied, ‘Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.’
14Joseph said to them, ‘It is just as I told you: you are spies! 15And this is how you will be tested: as surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!’ 17And he put them all in custody for three days.
18On the third day, Joseph said to them, ‘Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.’ This they proceeded to do.
21They said to one another, ‘Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.’
22Reuben replied, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.’ 23They did not realise that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
24He turned away from them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.
25Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
27At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28‘My silver has been returned,’ he said to his brothers. ‘Here it is in my sack.’
Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’
29When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30‘The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31But we said to him, “We are honest men; we are not spies. 32We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.”
33‘Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, “This is how I will know whether you are honest men: leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 34But bring your youngest brother 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#42:34 Or move about freely in the land.” ’
35As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 36Their father Jacob said to them, ‘You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!’
37Then Reuben said to his father, ‘You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.’
38But Jacob said, ‘My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my grey head down to the grave in sorrow.’
Currently Selected:
Genesis 42: NIVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
Genesis 42
42
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
1Now when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” # Ac 7:12 2And he said, “Behold, 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.” # Ge 43:8
3Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers for he said, “Perhaps some harm might happen to him.” # Ge 42:38 5Thus the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. # Ge 12:10; 41:57
6Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. So Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the ground. 7Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them. # Ge 42:30 He said to them, “From where do you come?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him. 9Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. # Ge 37:5–9 He said to them, “You are spies! You came to see the nakedness of the land!”
10They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come only to buy food. 11We are all one man’s sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
12But he said to them, “No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
13They said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, # Ge 37:30; 42:32 the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer living.”
14Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, ‘You are spies!’ 15Here is how you will be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, # 1Sa 17:55 you will not leave here unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested, whether there be any truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are surely spies.” 17He put them all together in custody for three days. # Ge 40:4, 7
18Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God. # Lev 25:43; Ne 5:15 19If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison house. The rest of you go and carry grain for the famine of your households. 20Nevertheless, bring your youngest brother to me so that your words may be verified and you shall not die.” # Ge 42:34; 43:5 And they did so.
21Then they said one to another, “We are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. Therefore, this distress has come upon us.” # Ge 37:23–28; Hos 5:15
22Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore, his blood is now required of us.” # 1Ki 2:32; 2Ch 24:22 23They did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24He turned himself away from them and wept, # Ge 43:30 but then turned back to them again and spoke with them. Then he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25Joseph then gave the command to fill their sacks with grain and to restore every man’s money to his sack and to give them provisions for the way. # 1Pe 3:9 And it was done for them.
Joseph’s Brothers Return Home
26They loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
27As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed in the lodging place, he saw his money. It was in the mouth of his sack. 28And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned. Here it is in my sack!”
Then their hearts sank, and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29They came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30“The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and took us for spies of the country. # Ge 42:7 31And we said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are not spies. 32We are twelve brothers, all sons of our father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
33“The man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘Here is how I may know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me, # Ge 42:15, 19–20 take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. 34But bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will deliver your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ” # Ge 34:10, 21
35As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. 36Then Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you will take Benjamin away. # Ge 43:14 All these things are against me.”
37Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I fail to bring him to you. # Ge 46:9 Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
38But Jacob said, “My son must not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. # Ge 37:33; 42:4 If harm should happen to him on the journey you are to make, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.” # Ge 37:35
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.