|
Chapter 42 |
| 1 | Now when Jacob
saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one
upon another? |
|
2 | And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn
in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live,
and not die. |
| 3
| And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in
Egypt. |
| 4 |
But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his
brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him. |
| 5 | And
the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was
in the land of Canaan. |
| 6 | And Joseph was the governor over the land,
and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren
came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
|
| 7 | And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange
unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye?
And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. |
| 8 | And Joseph
knew his brethren, but they knew not him. |
|
9 | And Joseph remembered the
dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the
nakedness of the land ye are come. |
| 10 | And they said unto him, Nay,
my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. |
| 11 | We are all
one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. |
| 12 | And he
said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
|
| 13 | And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in
the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and
one is not. |
|
14 | And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake
unto you, saying, Ye are spies: |
| 15 | Hereby ye shall be proved: By
the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother
come hither. |
|
16 | Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother,
and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be
any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
|
| 17 | And he put them all together into ward three days. |
| 18 | And
Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
|
| 19 | If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of
your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: |
| 20 | But
bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye
shall not die. And they did so. |
| 21 | And they said one to another,
We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his
soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress
come upon us. |
|
22 | And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto
you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore,
behold, also his blood is required. |
| 23 | And they knew not that Joseph
understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. |
| 24 | And he
turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and
communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their
eyes. |
| 25 |
Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to
restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the
way: and thus did he unto them. |
| 26 | And they laded their asses
with the corn, and departed thence. |
| 27 | And as one of them opened his
sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it
was in his sack's mouth. |
|
28 | And he said unto his brethren, My
money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them,
and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done
unto us? |
| 29
| And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of
Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying, |
| 30 | The man, who
is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the
country. |
| 31
| And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no
spies: |
| 32
| We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not,
and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. |
| 33 |
And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye
are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the
famine of your households, and be gone: |
|
34 | And bring your youngest
brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true
men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the
land. |
| 35 |
And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold,
every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their
father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. |
| 36 | And Jacob
their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not,
and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against
me. |
| 37 |
And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if
I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee
again. |
| 38
| And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his
brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the
which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the
grave. |
