Chapter 42

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

  And 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.  

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

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

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

  And 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.  

  And 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.  

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

  And 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.  

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

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

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

  And 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.  

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

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

  Send 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.  

  And he put them in custody three days.  

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

  If 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;  

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

  Then 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.  

  And 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.  

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

  And 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.  

  And 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.  

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

  And 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.  

  And 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?  

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

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

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

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

  And 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,  

  and 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.  

  And 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.  

  And 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.  

  And 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.  

  But 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.