42:1 Once Jacob learned
there was grain in
he
said to his sons:
What
are you doing
just
looking at one other?
42:2 Then he said:
Look,
I hear there is grain in
Go
over there and buy some for us
so
we may survive and not pass away.
42:3 Then ten of Joseph's brothers
left
to buy grain from
42:4 Yet Joseph's brother Benjamin
Was
not sent with his brothers
as
he feared he might be harmed.
42:5 Thus
to
buy grain for there was famine in
42:6 Joseph was governor of the land
and
so he sold grain to all its people.
So
when Joseph's brothers arrived
they
bowed down to him
with
their heads on the ground.
42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers
he
recognized them
but
pretended to be a stranger.
He
spoke sternly to them:
Where
do you come from?
They
replied:
We
are from the
Here
to buy food.
42:8 While Joseph recognized his brothers
they
recognized him not.
42:9 Then Joseph remembered his dreams
concerning
them and spoke to them:
You
are spies!
You
have come to see
our
people’s weaknesses.
42:10 They replied to him:
No
my sir.
Your
servants come to buy food.
42:11 We are all the sons of the same man.
We
are honest – your servants are not spies.
42:12 He responded to them:
No.
you have come to see our weaknesses.
42:13 Then they said:
Your
servants were twelve brothers
the
sons of the same man
from
the
Today
the youngest is with our father
and
one of us is not with us.
42:14 Then Joseph said to them:
Just
as I said you are spies!
42:15 This is how you will prove yourselves:
By
the life of Pharaoh
you
will not be able to leave
until
your youngest brother arrives.
42:16 Send one of you
and
get your brother
while
the others are retained.
Thus
your words will be proven
to
see if you speak the truth.
If
not by the life of Pharaoh
you
are surely spies!
42:17 Then he put them together
in
custody for three days.
42:18 On the third day
Joseph
told them:
Do
this to survive
for
I revere God:
42:19 If you men are truly honest
let
one brother stay here
in
house arrest
and
go take some grain
to
your hungry families.
42:20 But then you must bring
your
youngest brother back
so
that what you said is confirmed
and
you won’t pass away.
This
is what they did.
42:21 They said to one another:
Surely
we are to blame
regarding
our brother.
We
knew his anguish
as
he pleaded for his life
but
we didn’t listen.
This
is why this trouble
has
happened to us.
42:22 Then Reuben responded:
Didn’t
I say not to harm the boy?
But
you would just not listen.
Now
we have to pay for his blood.
42:23 They didn’t realize
Joseph
could understand them
since
he spoke to them
through
an interpreter.
42:24 He turned around from them
and
began to weep
but
then returned and spoke
to
them once again.
He
had Simeon removed from them
and
was bound before their eyes.
42:25 Then Joseph ordered them
to
fill their bags with grain
and
put their money back in their packs
and
give them provisions
for
their journey back.
After
this was done for them
42:26 they loaded the grain
on
to their donkeys and departed.
42:27 When they stopped at an inn
and
opened the sack to feed their donkey
he
saw his money in the sack’s pouch.
42:28 He then said to his brothers:
My
money was returned to me.
It
is here in my sack.
Their
hearts were astonished
as
they turned to each other and said:
My
God what is happening to us?
42:29 When they got to their father
Jacob
in the
they
told him everything
that
had happened to them.
They
said:
42:30 The man who is the ruler
over
the region spoke harshly to us
and
treated us like we were spying
on
the country.
42:31 We told him we are honest men
and
we are not spies.
42:32 That we are twelve brothers
the
sons of the same father.
One
is gone and the youngest
is
now in
42:33 Then the man who governs
the
people said to us:
If
you men are truly honest
leave
one of your brothers here.
Go
and deliver food
to
your hungry families.
42:34 And bring your youngest brother
back
to me so I shall know
you
are not spies but honest men.
Then
I will give you your brother
and
you can travel freely.
42:35 Once they emptied their packs
they
found their money
packed
away.
When
they and their father
saw
the money
they
were astonished.
42:36 Their father Jacob said to them:
I
am losing some of my children.
Joseph
is gone
and
Simeon is gone
and
now you want to take Benjamin.
All
these things are beyond me.
42:37 Then Reuben told his father:
I
swear on the lives of my sons
I
will bring him back to you.
Trust
him to come with me
and
I will return him to you.
42:38 But Jacob told him:
My
son shall not go with you.
His
brother is dead
and
he is the only one left.
If
he is harmed during the journey
you
will take my gray hair
down
to the grave in sorrow
