CHAPTER 42
When Jacob
learned
that
there was
grain
in Egypt,
he
said
to his sons,
“Why
are you staring at one another?”
“Look,”
he added,
“I have heard
that
there is
grain
in Egypt.
Go down
there
and buy
some for us,
so that we may live
and not
die.”
But Jacob
did not
send
Joseph’s
brother
Benjamin
with
his brothers,
for
he said,
“I am afraid that
harm
might befall him.”
So the sons
of Israel
were among
those who
came
to buy grain,
since
the famine
had also spread
to the land
of Canaan.
Now Joseph
was the ruler
of
the land,
who
sold grain
to all
its
people.
So when his
brothers
arrived,
they bowed down
before him
with their faces
to the ground.
When Joseph
saw
his brothers,
he recognized them,
but he treated them as strangers
and spoke
harshly
to them.
“Where
have you come from?”
he asked.
“From the land
of Canaan,”
they replied.
“We are here to buy
food.”
Joseph
remembered
his dreams
about them
and said,
“You
are spies!
You have come
to see
if our land
is vulnerable.”
But they answered,
“Your servants
are twelve
brothers,
the sons
of one
man
in the land
of Canaan.
The youngest
is now
with
our father,
and one
is no more.”
And this is how
you will be tested:
As surely as Pharaoh
lives,
you shall not
leave
this
place unless
your youngest
brother
comes
here.
Send
one
of your number
to get
your brother;
the rest of you
will be confined
so that the truth
of your words
may be tested.
If
they are untrue,
then as surely as Pharaoh
lives,
you
are spies!”
If
you
are honest,
leave one
of your brothers in custody
while the rest of you
go
and take back
grain
to relieve the hunger
of your households.
Then
bring
your youngest
brother
to me
so that your words
can be verified,
that you may not
die.”
And to this
they consented.
Then they said
to
one
another,
“Surely
we
are being punished
because of
our brother.
We saw
his
anguish
when he pleaded
with us,
but we would not
listen.
That is why
this
distress
has come
upon us."
But Reuben
replied:
“Didn’t
I tell
you not
to sin against
the boy?
But you would not
listen.
Now
we must account for
his blood!”
And he turned away
from
them and wept.
When he turned back
and spoke
to them,
he took
Simeon
from them
and had him bound
before their eyes.
Then Joseph
gave orders
to fill their bags
with
grain,
return
each
man’s silver
to
his sack,
and give
them provisions
for their journey.
This
order was carried out,
At the place where they lodged for the n
one
of them opened
his sack
to get
feed
for his donkey,
and he saw
his silver
in the mouth
of the sack.
“My money
has been returned!”
he said
to
his brothers.
“It is here
in my sack.”
Their hearts
sank,
and trembling,
they turned to
one
another
and said,
“What
is this
that God
has done
to us?”
When they reached
their father
Jacob
in the land
of Canaan,
they described
to
him all
that had happened to them:
“The man
who is the lord
of the land
spoke
harshly
to us
and accused us of spying
on the country.
We
are twelve
brothers,
sons
of one father.
One
is no more,
and the youngest
is now
with
our father
in the land
of Canaan.’
Then the man
who is the lord
of the land
said
to us,
‘This is how
I will know
whether
you
are honest:
Leave
one
brother
with me,
take
food to relieve the hunger
of your households,
and go.
But bring
your youngest
brother
back to me
so I will know
that
you
are not
spies
but
honest men.
Then I will give your brother
back to you,
and you can trade
in the land.’”
As they
began emptying
their sacks,
there
in each man’s
sack
was his bag
of silver!
And when they
and their father
saw
the bags
of money,
they were dismayed.
Their father
Jacob
said
to them,
“You have deprived me of my sons.
Joseph
is gone
and Simeon
is no more.
Now you want to take
Benjamin.
Everything
is happening
against me!”
Then Reuben
said
to
his father,
“You may kill
my two
sons
if
I fail
to bring him back
to you.
Put
him in
my care,
and I
will return him.”
But Jacob replied,
“My son
will not
go down there
with you,
for
his brother
is dead,
and he
alone
is left.
If any harm comes
to him on your
journey,
you will bring my gray hairs
down
to Sheol
in sorrow.”