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Genesis 42
Young's Literal Translation
Genesis 42
Young's Literal Translation
42 And Jacob seeth that there is corn in Egypt, and Jacob saith to his sons, `Why do you look at each other?'
2 he saith also, `Lo, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, go down thither, and buy for us from thence, and we live and do not die;'
3 and the ten brethren of Joseph go down to buy corn in Egypt,
4 and Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob hath not sent with his brethren, for he said, `Lest mischief meet him.'
5 And the sons of Israel come to buy in the midst of those coming, for the famine hath been in the land of Canaan,
6 and Joseph is the ruler over the land, he who is selling to all the people of the land, and Joseph's brethren come and bow themselves to him -- face to the earth.
7 And Joseph seeth his brethren, and discerneth them, and maketh himself strange unto them, and speaketh with them sharp things, and saith unto them, `From whence have ye come?' and they say, `From the land of Canaan -- to buy food.'
8 And Joseph discerneth his brethren, but they have not discerned him,
9 and Joseph remembereth the dreams which he dreamed of them, and saith unto them, `Ye [are] spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye have come.'
10 And they say unto him, `No, my lord, but thy servants have come to buy food;
11 we [are] all of us sons of one man, we [are] right men; thy servants have not been spies;'
12 and he saith unto them, `No, but the nakedness of the land ye have come to see;'
13 and they say, `Thy servants [are] twelve brethren; we [are] sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and lo, the young one [is] with our father to-day, and the one is not.'
14 And Joseph saith unto them, `This [is] that which I have spoken unto you, saying, Ye [are] spies,
15 by this ye are proved: Pharaoh liveth! if ye go out from this -- except by your young brother coming hither;
16 send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and ye, remain ye bound, and let your words be proved, whether truth be with you: and if not -- Pharaoh liveth! surely ye [are] spies;'
17 and he removeth them unto charge three days.
18 And Joseph saith unto them on the third day, `This do and live; God I fear!
19 if ye [are] right men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your ward, and ye, go, carry in corn [for] the famine of your houses,
20 and your young brother ye bring unto me, and your words are established, and ye die not;' and they do so.
21 And they say one unto another, `Verily we [are] guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul, in his making supplication unto us, and we did not hearken: therefore hath this distress come upon us.'
22 And Reuben answereth them, saying, `Spake I not unto you, saying, Sin not against the lad? and ye hearkened not; and his blood also, lo, it is required.'
23 And they have not known that Joseph understandeth, for the interpreter [is] between them;
24 and he turneth round from them, and weepeth, and turneth back unto them, and speaketh unto them, and taketh from them Simeon, and bindeth him before their eyes.
25 And Joseph commandeth, and they fill their vessels [with] corn, also to put back the money of each unto his sack, and to give to them provision for the way; and one doth to them so.
26 And they lift up their corn upon their asses, and go from thence,
27 and the one openeth his sack to give provender to his ass at a lodging-place, and he seeth his money, and lo, it [is] in the mouth of his bag,
28 and he saith unto his brethren, `My money hath been put back, and also, lo, in my bag:' and their heart goeth out, and they tremble, one to another saying, `What [is] this God hath done to us!'
29 And they come in unto Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and they declare to him all the things meeting them, saying,
30 `The man, the lord of the land, hath spoken with us sharp things, and maketh us as spies of the land;
31 and we say unto him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,
32 we [are] twelve brethren, sons of our father, the one is not, and the young one [is] to-day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33 `And the man, the lord of the land, saith unto us, By this I know that ye [are] right men -- one of your brethren leave with me, and [for] the famine of your houses take ye and go,
34 and bring your young brother unto me, and I know that ye [are] not spies, but ye [are] right men; your brother I give to you, and ye trade with the land.'
35 And it cometh to pass, they are emptying their sacks, and lo, the bundle of each man's silver [is] in his sack, and they see their bundles of silver, they and their father, and are afraid;
36 and Jacob their father saith unto them, `Me ye have bereaved; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and Benjamin ye take -- against me have been all these.'
37 And Reuben speaketh unto his father, saying, `My two sons thou dost put to death, if I bring him not in unto thee; give him into my hand, and I -- I bring him back unto thee;'
38 and he saith, `My son doth not go down with you, for his brother [is] dead, and he by himself is left; when mischief hath met him in the way in which ye go, then ye have brought down my grey hairs in sorrow to sheol.'
Genesis 42
New International Version
Genesis 42
New International Version
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt,(A) he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us,(B) so that we may live and not die.”(C)
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain(D) from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin,(E) Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.(F) 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain,(G) for there was famine in the land of Canaan(H) also.(I)
6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land,(J) the person who sold grain to all its people.(K) So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.(L) 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them.(M) “Where do you come from?”(N) he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.(O) 9 Then he remembered his dreams(P) about them and said to them, “You are spies!(Q) You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”(R)
10 “No, my lord,(S)” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food.(T) 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants(U) are honest men,(V) not spies.(W)”
12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”(X)
13 But they replied, “Your servants(Y) were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan.(Z) The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”(AA)
14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies!(AB) 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives,(AC) you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.(AD) 16 Send one of your number to get your brother;(AE) the rest of you will be kept in prison,(AF) so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth.(AG) If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!(AH)” 17 And he put them all in custody(AI) for three days.
18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:(AJ) 19 If you are honest men,(AK) let one of your brothers stay here in prison,(AL) while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.(AM) 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me,(AN) so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.
21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother.(AO) We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress(AP) has come on us.”
22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?(AQ) But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting(AR) for his blood.”(AS) 23 They did not realize(AT) that Joseph could understand them,(AU) since he was using an interpreter.
24 He turned away from them and began to weep,(AV) but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.(AW)
25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain,(AX) to put each man’s silver back in his sack,(AY) and to give them provisions(AZ) for their journey.(BA) After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys(BB) and left.
27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey,(BC) and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack.(BD) 28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.”
Their hearts sank(BE) and they turned to each other trembling(BF) and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”(BG)
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan,(BH) they told him all that had happened to them.(BI) They said, 30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us(BJ) and treated us as though we were spying on the land.(BK) 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.(BL) 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’(BM)
33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.(BN) 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men.(BO) Then I will give your brother back to you,(BP) and you can trade[a] in the land.(BQ)’”
35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver!(BR) When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened.(BS) 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more,(BT) and now you want to take Benjamin.(BU) Everything is against me!(BV)”
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care,(BW) and I will bring him back.”(BX)
38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead(BY) and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him(BZ) on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave(CA) in sorrow.(CB)”
Footnotes
- Genesis 42:34 Or move about freely
New International Version (NIV) 
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