42:1 When Jacob saw¹ that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?² 42:2 And he said, “Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy grain for us from there, that we may live³ and not die.⁴

42:3 So ten of the brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. 42:4 But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers, for he said,⁵ “What if some accident⁶ happens⁷ to him.” 42:5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among those that came, for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land, the one who sold grain to all the people of the land.⁸ And the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down⁹ before him with¹⁰ their faces to the ground. 42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers,¹¹ he recognized them; but he pretended to be a stranger¹² to them, and spoke with them harshly. And he said, “Where do you come from?” And they answered,¹³ “From the land of Canaan to buy grain for food.”¹⁴

42:8 Joseph recognized¹⁵ his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 42:9 Then Joseph remembered¹⁶ the dreams that he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the weakness¹⁷ of the land.”

42:10 But they said to him, “No my lord; your servants have come to buy grain for food. 42:11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

42:12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the weakness¹⁸ of the land.” 42:13 And they said, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest is today with our father, and one is no longer living.”¹⁹

42:14 And Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you,²⁰ you are spies. 42:15 You will be tested in this way: By the life of Pharaoh²¹ you will not go out from this place unless your younger brother comes here. 42:16 Send one of you that he may fetch²² your brother, while²³ you remain bound, that your words may be tested to see if²⁴ the truth is in you. If not, then by the life of Pharaoh you are surely spies.” 42:17 And he put them all in custody²⁵ for three days. 42:18 And Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live,²⁶ for I fear God:²⁷ 42:19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison-house while you go²⁸ and take grain back for the hunger of your households. 42:20 But you must bring²⁹ your youngest brother to me so that³⁰ your words may be verified³¹ and that you not die.”

42:21 And they said to each other,³² “Surely we are being punished³³ because of our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he cried to us for mercy, but we would not listen; that is why this distress has come on us.” 42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not say to you, `Don’t sin against the boy’, but you did not listen. So now we must pay³⁴ for his blood.” 42:23 Now they did not know that Joseph could understand³⁵ them, for there was an interpreter³⁶ between them.³⁷ 42:24 And he turned away from them and wept. When he spoke to them again,³⁸ he took Simeon³⁹ from them and bound him before their eyes.

42:25 And Joseph commanded that they fill⁴⁰ their bags with grain, and return⁴¹ every man’s money to his sack, and give them provisions for the way. And they did so for them. 42:26 So they loaded their grain on the donkeys and departed from there.

42:27 When⁴² one opened his sack to give feed to his donkey at the place where they spent the night,⁴³ he saw his money, that it was in the mouth of the sack. 42:28 And he said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” And their hearts sank,⁴⁴ and they turned trembling one to another,⁴⁵ saying, “What is this⁴⁶ God has done to us?”

42:29 So they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying, 42:30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and treated us⁴⁷ as if we were⁴⁸ spying the land. 42:31 But we said to him, `We are honest men, we are not spies. 42:32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer living,⁴⁹ and the youngest today is with our father in the land of Canaan.’

42:33 Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, `In this way I will know if you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain⁵⁰ for the hunger of your households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know⁵¹ that you are not spies, that you are honest men. I will give your brother to you; and you may move about freely in the land’.”⁵²

42:35 And when they were emptying their sacks, there was every man’s bag of money in his sack! When⁵³ they and their father saw the money bags, they were afraid. 42:36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You are making me childless. Joseph is gone.⁵⁴ Simeon is gone. And now you want to take⁵⁵ Benjamin! Everything is against me.”⁵⁶

42:37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may⁵⁷ put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care⁵⁸ and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But he said, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left;⁵⁹ and if an accident happens to him on the way you are going, then you will bring down my gray hair⁶⁰ in sorrow to the grave.”⁶¹