B'resheet (Gen) 42
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1Now Ya‘akov saw that there was grain in Egypt; so Ya‘akov said to his sons, “Why are you staring at each other? 2Look,” he said, “I’ve heard that there’s grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us from there, so that we can stay alive and not die!” 3Thus Yosef’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt, 4except for Binyamin, Yosef’s brother. Ya‘akov did not send him with his brothers, because he was afraid something might happen to him.
5The sons of Isra’el came to buy along with the others that came, since the famine extended to the land of Kena‘an. 6Yosef was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. Now when Yosef’s brothers came and prostrated themselves before him on the ground, 7Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them; but he acted toward them as if he were a stranger and spoke harshly with them. He asked them, “Where are you from?” They answered, “From the land of Kena‘an to buy food.” 8So Yosef recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him.
9Remembering the dreams he had had about them, Yosef said to them, “You are spies! You’ve come to spot our country’s weaknesses!” 10“No, my lord,” they replied, “your servants have come to buy food. 11We’re all the sons of one man, we’re upright men; your servants aren’t spies.” 12“No,” he said to them, “you’ve come to spy out our country’s weaknesses.” 13They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kena‘an; the youngest stayed with our father, and another one is gone.” 14“Just as I said,” replied Yosef, “you’re spies! 15Here’s how you can prove you’re not lying: as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave here unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of you, and let him bring your brother. Meanwhile, you will be kept in custody. This will prove whether there is any truth in what you say. Otherwise, as Pharaoh lives, you are certainly spies.” 17Then he put all of them together in prison for three days.
18On the third day, Yosef said to them, “Do what I say, and stay alive, for I fear God. (v) 19If you are upright men, let one of your brothers remain incarcerated in the prison you’re being kept in, while you go and carry grain back to relieve the famine in your homes. 20But bring your youngest brother to me. In this way your statements will be verified, and you won’t die.”
So they did it. 21They said to each other, “We are in fact guilty concerning our brother. He was in distress and pleaded with us; we saw it and wouldn’t listen. That’s why this distress has come upon us now.” 22Re’uven answered them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t wrong the boy’? But you wouldn’t hear of it. Now comes the reckoning for his blood!” 23They had no idea that Yosef understood them, since an interpreter was translating for them. 24Yosef turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. He took Shim‘on from among them and put him in prison before their eyes. 25Next he ordered that their containers be filled with grain, that every man’s money be put back in his pack and that they be given provisions for the journey. When these things had been done for them, 26they loaded their grain on their donkeys and departed.
27But at camp that night, as one of them opened his pack to give fodder to his donkey, he noticed his money — there it was, just inside his pack. 28He said to his brothers, “My money has been restored — there it is, right in my pack!” At that, their hearts sank; they turned, trembling, to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29They returned to Ya‘akov their father in the land of Kena‘an and told him all that had happened to them. 30“The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us. He took us for spies in his country. 31We said to him, ‘We are upright men, we’re not spies; 32we are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is gone, and the youngest stayed with our father in the land of Kena‘an.’ 33But the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘Here is how I will know that you are upright men: leave one of your brothers with me, take grain to relieve the famine in your homes, and go on your way; 34but bring your youngest brother to me. By this I will know that you aren’t spies, but are upright men; then I will return your brother to you; and you will do business in the land.’”
35Next, as they emptied their packs, there was each man’s bag of money in his pack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they became afraid. 36Ya‘akov their father said to them, “You have robbed me of my children! Yosef is gone, Shim‘on is gone, now you’re taking Binyamin away — it all falls on me!” 37Re’uven said to his father, “If I don’t bring him back to you, you can kill my own two sons! Put him in my care; I will return him to you.” 38But he replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead, and he alone is left. If anything were to happen to him while traveling with you, you would bring my gray hair down to Sh’ol with grief.”
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Genesis 42
1¶ Now when Jacob saw that there was food in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why are ye looking upon one another?
2And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is food in Egypt; go down there and buy for us from there that we may live, and not die.
3And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy wheat in Egypt.
4But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure disaster befall him.
5And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6And Joseph was the lord over the land, and he it was that sold the wheat to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7¶ And when Joseph saw his brethren, he knew them, but made himself strange unto them and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Where have you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8And Joseph knew his brethren but they did not know him.
9Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
10And they said unto him, No, my lord, but to buy food are thy slaves come.
11We are all one man’s sons; we are men of the truth, thy slaves have never been spies.
12And he said unto them, No, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
13And they said, Thy slaves are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14And Joseph said unto them, That is it that which I spoke unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
15Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth from here unless your youngest brother comes here.
16Send one of you and let him bring your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison that your words may be proved, whether there is any truth in you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
17And he put them all together into prison for three days.
18And Joseph said unto them the third day, Do this and live, for I fear God.
19If ye are men of the truth, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison; go ye, carry food for the famine of your houses
20but bring your youngest brother unto me, so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21¶ And they said one to another, We are truly 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.
22Then Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak unto you, saying, Do not sin against the young man, and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, his blood is also required.
23And they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke unto them by an interpreter.
24And he turned himself about from them and wept and returned to them again and spoke with them and took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with wheat and to restore each man’s money into his sack and to give them provisions for the way; and thus it was done unto them.
26And they laded their asses with the wheat and departed from there.
27And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass fodder in the inn, he saw his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.
28And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, behold, it is even in my sack. And their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God has done unto us?
29¶ And they came unto Jacob, their father, unto the land of Canaan and told him all that had befallen them, saying,
30The man, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us for spies of the country.
31And we said unto him, We are men of the truth; we have never been spies.
32We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby I shall know that ye are men of the truth; leave one of your brethren here with me and take food for the famine of your households and go
34and bring your youngest brother unto me; then I shall know that ye are not spies, but that ye are men of the truth; thus I will deliver you your brother, and ye shall trade in the land.
35And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36And Jacob, their father, said unto them, Ye have bereaved me of my sons: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are upon me.
37And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I do not bring him to thee; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
38And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left; if some disaster should befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring my gray hairs with sorrow down to Sheol.
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International