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Genesis 42
1 Now when Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Why
are you looking at each other?
2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down to that place
and buy for us from there, that we may live and not die.
3 And Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought,
Lest he encounter some harm.
5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine
was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was lord over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land.
And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him, their faces to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them
and spoke harshly to them, and he said to them, Where have you come from? And they
said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to
them, You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!
10 And they said to him, No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 We are all sons of one man; we are honest; your servants are not spies.
12 And he said to them, No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.
13 And they said, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of
Canaan; and lo, the youngest is with our father today, and one is not.
14 And Joseph said to them, It is as I have spoken to you, saying, You are spies!
15 In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place
unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that
your words may be proven to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of
Pharaoh, surely you are spies!
17 So he put them all together in prison three days.
18 And Joseph said to them the third day, Do this and live, for I fear God:
19 If you are honest, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you,
go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20 And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall
not die. And they did so.
21 And 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 listen; therefore this
distress has come upon us.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against
the boy; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.
23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an
interpreter.
24 And he turned himself away from them and wept, and returned to them again, and
talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25 And Joseph commanded 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.
26 And they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the lodging, he saw his
money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28 And he said to his brothers, My money has been restored, and lo, it is in my sack! And
their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, What is this that God
has done to us?
29 And they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had
befallen them, saying:
30 The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us, and took us for spies in the land.
31 And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies.
32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is with our
father this day in the land of Canaan.
33 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I will know that you are
honest: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your houses,
and go.
34 And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that
you are honest. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.
35 And it happened as they emptied their sacks, that behold, each man's bundle of money
was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were
afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me: Joseph is not, Simeon is
not, and you would take Benjamin. All these things are against me.
37 And 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.
38 But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left
alone. If any harm should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring
down my gray hair in sorrow to Sheol.
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