(BA) Genesis 42

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The text below is adapted from the ASV, with some alterations.

1 Now Jacob saw there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?

2 And he said, See, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die. 3 And Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers, because he said, Lest some harm befall him.

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, because the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph was the governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves down with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but he made himself a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. And he said to them, Where do you come from?

And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.

8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them, and said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.

10 And they said to him, No, my lord, but to by food your servants have come. 11 We are all one man's sons. We are honest men; your servants are not spies.

12 And he said to them, No, but to see the nakedness of the land you have come.

13 And they said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, but our youngest is with our father today, and one is gone.

14 And Joseph said to them, It is as I said to you, You are spies. 15 This is how you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh you will not leave here, unless your younger brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you will be bound, so that your words may be tested, whether you are truthful. Otherwise, by the life of Pharaoh, you are surely spies. 17 And he put them all together in custody three days.

18 And Joseph said to them the third day, Do this and live, because I fear God. 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison-house, but you go, carry grain for the famine to your houses. 20 Then bring me your youngest brother. That is how your words will be verified, and you will not die. And they did so.

21 And they said to one another, Surely we are guilty concerning our brother, because he saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we would not hear. That is why this distress has come upon us.

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the child? But you would not listen. Now, then, his blood is required. 23 And they did not know that Joseph understood them, because there was an interpreter between them. 24 And he turned away from them, and wept, and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph commanded that their vessels be filled with grain, and to return every man's money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey, and so it was done for them.

26 And they loaded their donkeys with their grain and left. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the lodging-place, he saw his money, and there it was, in the mouth of the sack. 28 And he said to his brothers, My money has been returned. Here it is in my sack.

And their heart failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, What is this that God has done to us? 29 And they 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 roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 And we said to him, We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is gone, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, This is how I can know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine in your houses, and go your way; 34 and bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will give you your brother, and you may do business in the land.

35 Then, as they emptied their sacks, there was each man's bundle of money in his sack, and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And their father Jacob said to them, You have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and you will take Benjamin away. Everything is against me.

37 And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Kill my two sons if I do not bring him to you. Give him into my hand, and I will bring back to you. 38 And he said, My son will not go down with you, because his brother is dead, and only he is left. If harm befalls him on the way as you go, then you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol with sorrow.

ASV. The American Standard Version, as printed in 1901 by Thomas Nelson and Sons. This text serves as the basis of the text above, although I have made various alterations, often referring to the World English Bible while doing so.

WEB. The World English Bible has been used to make some checks on my renderings. In some places I adopt its readings.

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