Joseph's Brothers Come to Egypt
Genesis 42, verse 1. When Jacob found out there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing idle?” Genesis 42, verse 2. Then he said, “Indeed, I heard there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” Genesis 42, verse 3. So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. Genesis 42, verse 4. But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” Genesis 42, verse 5. Thus the sons of Israel went to buy grain with those who were going there, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Genesis 42, verse 6. Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. So Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. Genesis 42, verse 7. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” Genesis 42, verse 8. So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Genesis 42, verse 9. Then Joseph remembered the dreams he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to map out the roads of the country.” Genesis 42, verse 10. But they said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. Genesis 42, verse 11. We are all one man's sons; we are men of peace; your servants are not spies.” Genesis 42, verse 12. But he said to them, “No, but you have come to map out the roads of the land.” Genesis 42, verse 13. Then they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” Genesis 42, verse 14. But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, namely, ‘You are spies!’ Genesis 42, verse 15. In this manner you shall be manifested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Genesis 42, verse 16. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” Genesis 42, verse 17. So he put them all together in prison three days. Genesis 42, verse 18. Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God. Genesis 42, verse 19. If you are men of peace, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. Genesis 42, verse 20. But bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” So they did so. Genesis 42, verse 21. Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” Genesis 42, verse 22. Reuben then answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen? Therefore, behold, his blood is now required of us.” Genesis 42, verse 23. But they did not know Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. Genesis 42, verse 24. Then Joseph turned himself away from them and wept. So he returned to them again, and talked with them; and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes. Genesis 42, verse 25. Joseph then gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them.
The Brothers Depart for Canaan
Genesis 42, verse 26. So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. Genesis 42, verse 27. But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. Genesis 42, verse 28. So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned to me, and there it is, in my sack.” Then their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this God has done to us?” Genesis 42, verse 29. Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that happened to them, saying, Genesis 42, verse 30. “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. Genesis 42, verse 31. But we said to him, ‘We are men of peace; we are not spies. Genesis 42, verse 32. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ Genesis 42, verse 33. Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know you are men of peace: leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for your households, and be gone. Genesis 42, verse 34. Now, bring your youngest brother to me; then I shall know you are not spies, but men of peace. I will then grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’” Genesis 42, verse 35. Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. Genesis 42, verse 36. So Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more; Simeon is no more; and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.” Genesis 42, verse 37. Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” Genesis 42, verse 38. But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”