Genesis 42-45

Genesis 42

¹And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

²And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down thither and buy grain for us from thence, in order that we may live, and not die.

³And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy grain out of Egypt.

⁴But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest mischief may befall him.

⁵So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶And Joseph, he was the governor over the land -- he it was that sold the corn to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down to him, the face to the earth.

⁷And Joseph saw his brethren, and knew them; but he made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them, and said to them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.

⁸And Joseph knew his brethren, but they did not know him.

⁹And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamt of them; and he said to them, Ye are spies: to see the exposed places of the land ye are come.

¹⁰And they said to him, No, my lord; but to buy food are thy servants come.

¹¹We are all one man's sons; we are honest: thy servants are not spies.

¹²And he said to them, No; but to see the exposed places of the land are ye come.

¹³And they said, Thy servants were twelve brethren, sons of one man, in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

¹⁴And Joseph said to them, That is it that I have spoken to you, saying, Ye are spies.

¹⁵By this ye shall be put to the proof: as Pharaoh lives, ye shall not go forth hence, unless your youngest brother come hither!

¹⁶Send one of you, that he may fetch your brother, but ye shall be imprisoned, and your words shall be put to the proof, whether the truth is in you; and if not, as Pharaoh lives, ye are spies.

¹⁷And he put them in custody three days.

¹⁸And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, that ye may live: I fear God.

¹⁹If ye are honest, let one of your brethren remain bound in the house of your prison, but go ye, carry grain for the hunger of your households;

²⁰and bring your youngest brother to me, in order that your words be verified, and that ye may not die. And they did so.

²¹Then they said one to another, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw when he besought us, and we did not hearken; therefore this distress is come upon us.

²²And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the lad? But ye did not hearken; and now behold, his blood also is required.

²³And they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And Joseph gave orders to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way. And thus did they to them.

²⁶And they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed thence.

²⁷And one of them opened his sack to give his ass food in the inn, and saw his money, and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.

²⁸And he said to his brethren, My money is returned to me, and behold, 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 to us?

²⁹And they came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,

³⁰The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and treated us as spies of the land.

³¹And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies:

³²we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Hereby shall I know that ye are honest: leave one of your brethren with me, and take for the hunger of your households, and go,

³⁴and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that ye are not spies, but are honest. Your brother will I give up to you; and ye may trade in the land.

³⁵And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man had his bundle of money in his sack; and they saw their bundles of money, they and their father, and were afraid.

³⁶And Jacob their father said to them, Ye have bereaved me of children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin! All these things are against me.

³⁷And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not back to thee: give him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

³⁸But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left; and if mischief should befall him by the way in which ye go, then would ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.

Genesis 43

¹And the famine was grievous in the land.

²And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.

³And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.

⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;

⁵but if thou do not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.

⁶And Israel said, Why did ye deal so ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

⁷And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones.

⁹I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.

¹⁰For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.

¹¹And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.

¹²And take other money in your hand, and the money that was returned to you in the mouth of your sacks, carry back in your hand: perhaps it is an oversight.

¹³And take your brother, and arise, go again to the man.

¹⁴And the Almighty God give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.

¹⁵And the men took that gift, and took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and came before Joseph.

¹⁶And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the man who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.

¹⁷And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and said, Because of the money that was returned to us in our sacks at the beginning are we brought in, that he may turn against us, and fall upon us and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

¹⁹And they came up to the man that was over Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,

²⁰and said, Ah! my lord, we came indeed down at the first to buy food.

²¹And it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money according to its weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.

²²And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.

²³And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food.

²⁵And they made ready the gift for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift that was in their hand, into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

²⁷And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well -- the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?

²⁸And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And they bowed, and made obeisance.

²⁹And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son!

³⁰And Joseph made haste, for his bowels burned for his brother; and he sought a place to weep, and he went into the chamber, and wept there.

³¹And he washed his face, and came out, and controlled himself, and said, Set on bread.

³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another.

³⁴And he had portions carried to them from before him. And Benjamin's portion was five times greater than the portions of them all. And they drank, and made merry with him.

Genesis 44

¹And he commanded him who was over his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry; and put every man's money in the mouth of his sack.

²And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain-money. And he did according to the word of Joseph which he had spoken.

³In the morning, when it was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

⁴They were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, when Joseph said to him who was over his house, Up! follow after the men; and when thou overtakest them, thou shalt say to them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good?

⁵Is not this it in which my lord drinks, and in which indeed he divines? Ye have done evil in what ye have done.

⁶And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these words.

⁷And they said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from thy servants to do such a thing!

⁸Behold, the money that we found in our sacks' mouths we have brought again to thee from the land of Canaan; and how should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?

⁹With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

¹⁰And he said, Now also let it be according to your words: let him with whom it is found be my bondman, but ye shall be blameless.

¹¹And they hasted and laid down every man his sack on the ground, and opened every man his sack.

¹²And he searched carefully: he began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

¹³Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was still there; and they fell down before him to the ground.

¹⁵And Joseph said to them, What deed is this which ye have done? Did ye not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?

¹⁶And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak, and how justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he in whose hand the cup has been found.

¹⁷And he said, Far be it from me to do so! The man in whose hand the cup has been found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.

¹⁸Then Judah came near to him, and said, Ah! my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

¹⁹My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

²⁰And we said to my lord, We have an aged father, and a child born to him in his old age, yet young; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.

²¹And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set mine eye on him.

²²And we said to my lord, The youth cannot leave his father: if he should leave his father, his father would die.

²³And thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

²⁴And it came to pass when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food.

²⁶But we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.

²⁷And thy servant my father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons;

²⁸and the one went out from me, and I said, He must certainly have been torn in pieces; and I have not seen him again hitherto.

²⁹And if ye take this one also from me, and mischief should befall him, ye will bring down my grey hairs with misery to Sheol.

³⁰And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us, -- seeing that his life is bound up with his life,

³¹it will come to pass when he sees that the lad is not there, that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.

³²For thy servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, then I shall be guilty toward my father all my days.

³³And now, let thy servant stay, I pray thee, instead of the lad a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren;

³⁴for how should I go up to my father if the lad were not with me? -- lest I see the evil that would come on my father.

Genesis 45

¹And Joseph could not control himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, Put every man out from me! And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brethren.

²And he raised his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

³And Joseph said to his brethren, I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence.

⁴And Joseph said to his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

⁵And now, be not grieved, and be not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

⁶For the famine has been these two years in the land; and yet there are five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.

⁷So God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.

⁸And now it was not you that sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and governor over all the land of Egypt.

⁹Haste and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus says thy son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, tarry not.

¹⁰And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near to me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons' sons, and thy sheep, and thy cattle, and all that thou hast.

¹¹And there will I maintain thee; for yet there are five years of famine; in order that thou be not impoverished, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast.

¹²And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth which speaks to you.

¹³And tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen, and haste and bring down my father hither.

¹⁴And he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.

¹⁵And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him.

¹⁶And the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come. And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his bondmen.

¹⁷And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to thy brethren, Do this: load your beasts and depart, go into the land of Canaan,

¹⁸and take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

¹⁹And thou art commanded -- this do: take waggons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and take up your father, and come.

²⁰And let not your eye regret your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt shall be yours.

²¹And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them waggons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

²²To each one of them all he gave changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

²³And to his father he sent this: ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread, and food for his father by the way.

²⁴And he sent his brethren away, and they departed. And he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way.

²⁵And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father.

²⁶And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them.

²⁷And they spoke to him all the words of Joseph, which he had spoken to them. And he saw the waggons that Joseph had sent to carry him. And the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

²⁸And Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.