1 October 2022 draft-bible
1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?
2 And he said, Behold, 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 perhaps some harm should befall him. 5 And the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for 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 to him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly to them. And he said to them, Where have 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 dreamed about 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 your servants have come to buy food. 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 you have come to see the nakedness of the land!
13 And they said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.
14 And Joseph said to them, It is as I told you, saying, You are spies! 15 By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh you are surely spies. 17 And he put them all together into custody for three days.
18 And Joseph said to them the third day, Do this, and live, for I fear God. 19 If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. 20 And bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you will not die. And they did so.
21 And they said to one another, We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he pleaded with us, and we would not listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not tell you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and you would not listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required. 23 And they did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 And he turned himself 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 gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. And thus it was done for them.
26 And they loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder in the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 And he said to his brothers, My money is returned—here it is, in my sack! And their hearts 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, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen 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 fathers; one is no more, and the youngest today is with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. 34 And bright your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.
35 And as they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack, and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob, their father, said to them, You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you want to take away. All these things are against me.
37 And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Kill my two sons, if I do not bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, 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 only he is left. If harm should befall him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
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