Genesis, Chapter 42:

Verses from Genesis, Chapter 42 of the Book of Genesis of the Bible.

Joseph's brothers go to Egypt

• 1. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you looking at one another?”
• 2. He said, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us, so that we can live and not die of hunger.”
• 3. Ten of Joseph's brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain.
• 4. However, Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers, because he was afraid that some disaster would happen to him.
• 5. So the children of Israel went to buy grain among others who were also starving, for the famine was in Canaan.
• 6. Joseph was governor of that land; He was the one who sold grain to all the people of that land. When his brothers arrived, they prostrated themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
• 7. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted as if he were a stranger and spoke harshly to them. He asked them: “Where do you come from?” They replied, “From the country of Canaan, to buy grain.”
• 8. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
• 9. Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said to them, “You are spies! They came to see where our land is unprotected.”
• 10. They answered him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy grain.
• 11. We are all children of the same man. We are honest men, your servants were never spies.”
• 12. But he insisted: “No! You have come to see where the land is unprotected.”
• 13. They answered, “Your servants were twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and the other is no more.”
• 14. But Joseph insisted: “It's just like I said, you are spies!
• 15. And with this I will test you: I swear by the name of Pharaoh that you will not leave here until your youngest brother comes here.
• 16. Send one of you to look for your brother, and the others will remain in prison, so that what you said can be proven true. If not, I swear by the name of Pharaoh that you are spies.”
• 17. Then Joseph put them in prison together for three days.
• 18. On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do these things and you will live, for I fear God:
• 19. If you are honest men, leave one of you as security here in prison, while the others will take grain for the needs of their families.
• 20. But bring me your youngest brother, so that it may be proved that you are not spies, but honest men. In this way, I will give you your brother back and you will be able to move freely on earth.”
• 21. As they came to one another, they said, “Indeed, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish as he begged us for mercy, but we did not hear him. That is why this affliction has come upon us.”
• 22. Reuben answered them, “I did not tell you, 'Do not sin against the child,' but you did not listen to me. Now your life is being demanded of us.”
• 23. They did not know that Joseph could understand them, as he used an interpreter.
• 24. Joseph turned and left them to weep. He came back and spoke to them; then he chose Simeon from among them and had him bound before his eyes.
• 25. Then Joseph ordered the men's bags to be filled with grain, and each man's money was to be restored, and provisions were to be given for the journey. So it was done.
• 26. They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left from there.
• 27. When they landed for the night, one of them opened the bag to feed his donkey and saw that the money he had paid was in his grain bag.
• 28. He said to his brothers, “They gave me my money back! Here it is; It’s in my bag.” Their hearts fainted, and in fear they asked one another, “What has God done to us?”
• 29. When they arrived at the house of their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them. They said:
• 30. “The man who rules that land treated us roughly and treated us as spies of the land.
• 31. But We said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies.
• 32. We are twelve brothers, children of the same father. The youngest is now with our father, and the other no longer exists.'
• 33. Then the man who rules that land said to us: 'Now I will see if you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the needs of your families.
• 34. Go back with the younger brother, and then I can see if you are honest men or if you are spies. Only then will I give you your brother back and you will be able to move freely on earth' “.
• 35. When they emptied their sacks, there was each man's bundle of money in their grain sacks. When they and their father saw the bundle of money, they were scared.
• 36. Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph no longer exists, Simeon no longer exists, and now you want to take Benjamin. All these things are happening to me!”
• 37. Reuben said to his father, “Send them both with me; If I don't bring him back, you might kill my two sons. Give him into my hands, and I will bring him back.”
• 38. But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, because his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on the path you are going to take, you will bring down my gray hairs to the grave, full of sadness.”

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