Bereshis 42
42
1Now when Ya'akov saw that there was shever (grain) in Mitzrayim, Ya'akov said unto his banim, Why do ye look one upon another?
2And he said, Hinei, I have heard that there is shever (grain) in Mitzrayim; get you down to there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.
3Achei Yosef asarah (Yosefʼs ten brothers) then went down to buy grain in Mitzrayim.
4But Binyamin, achi Yosef, Ya'akov sent not with his achim; for he said, Lest ason (evil, harm) befall him.
5And the Bnei Yisroel came to make purchase among those that were coming; for the ra'av (famine) was in Eretz Kena'an.
6And Yosef was the Shalit Al HaAretz, and he it was that sold to kol Am HaAretz: and Achei Yosef came, and prostrated themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
7And Yosef saw his achim, and he recognized them, but made himself a stranger unto them, and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, From where come ye? And they said, From Eretz Kena'an to buy ochel.
8And Yosef recognized his achim, but they recognized not him.
9And Yosef remembered the chalomot which he dreamed about them, and said unto them, Ye are meragelim (spies); to see the ervat ha'aretz (nakedness of the land) ye came.
10And they said unto him, Lo, adoni, but to buy okhel are thy avadim come.
11We are all bnei ish echad; we are truthful ones, thy avadim are no meragelim.
12And he said unto them, Lo, but to see the ervat ha'aretz ye came.
13And they said, Thy avadim are Shneym Asar Achim, the bnei ish echad in Eretz Kena'an; and, hinei, the katon is today with Avinu, and one is not.
14And Yosef said unto them, That is it just as I spoke unto you, Ye are meragelim;
15Hereby ye shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth from here, except achichem hakaton (your youngest brother) come here.
16Send one of you, and let him bring back achichem, and ye shall be kept prisoner, that your words may be tested, whether there be any emes in you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are meragelim (spies).
17And he put them all together el-mishmar (in custody) shloshet yamim.
18And Yosef said unto them on the Yom HaShlishi,#42:18 See 1C 15:4 This do, and live; for I fear HaElohim:
19If ye be truthful ones, let one of your achim be bound in your bais mishmar; go ye, carry grain for the ra'avon (famine of) bateichem (your house);
20But bring achichem hakaton unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21And they said one to another, Surely we are ashemim (guilty ones) because of achinu (our brother), in that we saw the tzoros of his nefesh, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this tzoros come upon us.
22And Reuven answered them, saying, Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the yeled; and ye would not hear? Therefore, hinei, the accounting for his dahm is required [of us].#42:22 See Mt 27:25
23And they had no da'as that Yosef understood them; for he spoke unto them by the melitz (go-between, interpreter).
24And he turned himself away from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and spoke with them, and took from them Shim'on, and bound him before their eyes.
25Then Yosef commanded to fill their kelim with grain, and to restore every manʼs kesef into his sack, and to give them provision for the derech; and thus did he unto them.
26And they loaded their chamorim with the grain, and departed from there.
27And as one of them opened his sack to get feed for his chamor in the malon (inn), he saw his kesef; for, hinei, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28And he said unto his achim, My kesef is restored; and, hinei, it is even in my sack; and their lev failed them, and they shook with fear, saying one to another, What is this that Elohim hath done unto us?
29And they came unto Ya'akov Avihem in Eretz Kena'an, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30The ish, who is adonei HaAretz, spoke roughly to us, and took us for meragelim HaAretz.
31And we said unto him, We are truthful ones; we are no meragelim;
32We are Shneym Asar Achim, Bnei Avinu; one is not, and the katon is today with Avinu in Eretz Kena'an.
33And the ish, adonei HaAretz, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are truthful ones; leave one of your achim here with me, and that which is needful for the ra'avon bateichem (famine of your houses), take and be gone;
34And bring achichem hakaton unto me; then shall I know that ye are not meragelim, but that ye are truthful ones: so will I restore you achichem, and ye shall freely trade in the land.
35And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, hinei, every manʼs pouch of kesef was in his sack; and when both they and Avihem saw the pouches of kesef, they were afraid.
36And Ya'akov Avihem said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Yosef is not, and Shim'on is not, and ye will take Binyamin away; all these things are against me.
37And Reuven spoke unto Aviv, saying, Slay my two banim, if I bring him not to thee; entrust him into my yad, and I will bring him to thee again.
38And he said, Beni (my son) shall not go down with you; for achiv is dead, and he is left alone; if ason (harm, evil) befall him on the derech in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hair in yagon (sorrow) to Sheol.
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 42
42
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
1When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? 2I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”
3So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. 4But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. 5So Jacob’s#42:5 Hebrew Israel’s. See note on 35:21. sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.
6Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. 7Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”
8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. 9And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”
10“No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. 11We are all brothers—members of the same family. We are honest men, sir! We are not spies!”
12“Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”
13“Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”
14But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies! 15This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! 16One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.”
17So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. 18On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. 19If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. 20But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed.
21Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”
22“Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!”
23Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. 24Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.
25Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. He also gave them supplies for their journey home. 26So the brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain and headed for home.
27But when they stopped for the night and one of them opened his sack to get grain for his donkey, he found his money in the top of his sack. 28“Look!” he exclaimed to his brothers. “My money has been returned; it’s here in my sack!” Then their hearts sank. Trembling, they said to each other, “What has God done to us?”
29When the brothers came to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them. 30“The man who is governor of the land spoke very harshly to us,” they told him. “He accused us of being spies scouting the land. 31But we said, ‘We are honest men, not spies. 32We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One brother is no longer with us, and the youngest is at home with our father in the land of Canaan.’
33“Then the man who is governor of the land told us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take grain for your starving families and go on home. 34But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I will know you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give you back your brother, and you may trade freely in the land.’”
35As they emptied out their sacks, there in each man’s sack was the bag of money he had paid for the grain! The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money. 36Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”
37Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. I’ll be responsible for him, and I promise to bring him back.”
38But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on your journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.#42:38 Hebrew to Sheol.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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