< Genesis 42 >
1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do all of you look one upon another?
2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest possibly mischief befall him.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold 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 Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come all of you? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, All of you are spies; to see the nakedness of the land all of you are come.
10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are your servants come.
11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, your servants are no spies.
12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land all of you are come.
13 And they said, Your servants 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.
14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spoke unto you, saying, All of you are spies:
15 Hereby all of you shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh all of you shall not go forth behind, except your youngest brother come here.
16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and all of you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely all of you are spies.
17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
19 If all of you be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go all of you, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and all of you shall not die. And they did so.
21 And they said one to another, We are verily 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.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and all of you would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spoke unto them by an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass animal food in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, 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 befell unto them; saying,
30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
32 We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that all of you are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:
34 And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that all of you are no spies, but that all of you are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and all of you shall trade in the land.
35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have all of you bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and all of you will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
37 And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to you: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to you again.
38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which all of you go, then shall all of you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. (Sheol )
