Genesis 42

The Dreams Come True

1 Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, so he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here looking at one another?2 I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us to eat, so that we will live and not die.”

3 
So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with them, because he was afraid that something terrible might happen to him.5 Along with many other people, the sons of Israel went to Egypt to buy grain, because the people in the land of Canaan were also hungry.

6 
Now Joseph was governor over Egypt. He was the one who sold the grain to people who came to buy it. So Joseph’s brothers came to him and bowed facedown on the ground before him.

7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he acted as if he didn’t know them. He asked unkindly, “Where do you come from?”
They answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”

8 
Joseph knew they were his brothers, but they did not know who he was.9 And Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers bowing to him. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to learn where the nation is weak!”10 But his brothers said to him, “No, my master. We come as your servants just to buy food.11 We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies.”12 Then Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to learn where this nation is weak!”13 And they said, “We are ten of twelve brothers, sons of the same father, and we live in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father right now, and our other brother is gone.”14 But Joseph said to them, “I can see I was right! You are spies!15 But I will give you a way to prove you are telling the truth. As surely as the king lives, you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here.16 One of you must go and get your brother. The rest of you will stay here in prison. We will see if you are telling the truth. If not, as surely as the king lives, you are spies.”17 Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. Do this and I will let you live:19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison while the rest of you go and carry grain back to feed your hungry families.

20 Then bring your youngest brother back here to me. If you do this, I will know you are telling the truth, and you will not die.”
The brothers agreed to this.21 They said to each other, “We are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his trouble, and he begged us to save him, but we refused to listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”

22 
Then Reuben said to them, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you refused to listen to me. So now we are being punished for what we did to him.”

23 
When Joseph talked to his brothers, he used an interpreter, so they did not know that Joseph understood what they were saying.24 Then Joseph left them and cried. After a short time he went back and spoke to them. He took Simeon and tied him up while the other brothers watched.25 Joseph told his servants to fill his brothers’ bags with grain and to put the money the brothers had paid for the grain back in their bags. The servants were also to give them what they would need for their trip back home. And the servants did this.

26 
So the brothers put the grain on their donkeys and left.27 When they stopped for the night, one of the brothers opened his sack to get food for his donkey. Then he saw his money in the top of the sack.

28 He said to the other brothers, “The money I paid for the grain has been put back. Here it is in my sack!”
The brothers were very frightened. They said to each other, “What has God done to us?”

The Brothers Return to Jacob

29 

The brothers went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him everything that had happened.30 They said, “The master of that land spoke unkindly to us. He accused us of spying on his country,31 but we told him that we were honest men, not spies.32 We told him that we were ten of twelve brothers—sons of one father. We said that one of our brothers was gone and that our youngest brother was with our father in Canaan.

33 
“Then the master of the land said to us, ‘Here is a way I can know you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain to feed your hungry families, and go.34 And bring your youngest brother to me so I will know you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give you back your brother whom you leave with me, and you can move about freely in our land.’ ”

35 
As the brothers emptied their sacks, each of them found his money in his sack. When they and their father saw it, they were afraid.

36 
Their father Jacob said to them, “You are robbing me of all my children. Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away, too. Everything is against me.”

37 
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. Trust him to my care, and I will bring him back to you.”

38 
But Jacob said, “I will not allow Benjamin to go with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only son left from my wife Rachel. I am afraid something terrible might happen to him during the trip to Egypt. Then I would be sad until the day I die.”

Genesis 43

The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

1 Still no food grew in the land of Canaan.2 When Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more grain for us to eat.”

3 
But Judah said to Jacob, “The governor of that country strongly warned us, ‘If you don’t bring your brother back with you, you will not be allowed to see me.’4 If you will send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy food for you.5 But if you refuse to send Benjamin, we will not go. The governor of that country warned us that we would not see him if we didn’t bring Benjamin with us.”

6 
Israel said, “Why did you tell the man you had another brother? You have caused me a lot of trouble.”

7 
The brothers answered, “He questioned us carefully about ourselves and our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. How could we know he would ask us to bring our other brother to him?”

8 
Then Judah said to his father Jacob, “Send Benjamin with me, and we will go at once so that we, you, and our children may live and not die.9 I will guarantee you that he will be safe, and I will be personally responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life.10 If we had not wasted all this time, we could have already made two trips.”11 Then their father Jacob said to them, “If it has to be that way, then do this: Take some of the best foods in our land in your packs. Give them to the man as a gift: some balm, some honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.12 Take twice as much money with you this time, and take back the money that was returned to you in your sacks last time. Maybe it was a mistake.13 And take Benjamin with you. Now leave and go to the man.14 I pray that God Almighty will cause the governor to be merciful to you and that he will allow Simeon and Benjamin to come back with you. If I am robbed of my children, then I am robbed of them!”15 So the brothers took the gifts. They also took twice as much money as they had taken the first time, and they took Benjamin. They hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Bring those men into my house. Kill an animal and prepare a meal. Those men will eat with me today at noon.”17 The servant did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.18 The brothers were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house and thought, “We were brought here because of the money that was put in our sacks on the first trip. He wants to attack us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.”19 So the brothers went to the servant in charge of Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the door of the house.20 They said, “Master, we came here once before to buy food.21 While we were going home, we stopped for the night and when we opened our sacks each of us found all his money in his sack. We brought that money with us to give it back to you.22 And we have brought more money to pay for the food we want to buy this time. We don’t know who put that money in our sacks.”

23 
But the servant answered, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks. I got the money you paid me for the grain last time.” Then the servant brought Simeon out to them.

24 
The servant led the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys food to eat.25 The men prepared their gift to give to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had heard they were going to eat with him there.

26 
When Joseph came home, the brothers gave him the gift they had brought into the house and bowed down to the ground in front of him.27 Joseph asked them how they were doing. He said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

28 
The brothers answered, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed low before Joseph to show him respect.

29 
When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, who had the same mother as he, Joseph asked, “Is this your youngest brother you told me about?” Then he said to Benjamin, “God be good to you, my son!”30 Then Joseph hurried off because he had to hold back the tears when he saw his brother Benjamin. So Joseph went into his room and cried there.31 Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”

32 
So they served Joseph at one table, his brothers at another table, and the Egyptians who ate with him at another table. This was because Egyptians did not like Hebrews and never ate with them.33 Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him in order of their ages, from oldest to youngest. They looked at each other because they were so amazed.34 Food from Joseph’s table was taken to them, but Benjamin was given five times more food than the others. Joseph’s brothers ate and drank freely with him.

Genesis 44

Joseph Sets a Trap

1 Then Joseph gave a command to the servant in charge of his house. He said, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money into his sack with the grain.2 Put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother, along with his money for the grain.” The servant did what Joseph told him.

3 
At dawn the brothers were sent away with their donkeys.4 They were not far from the city when Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Go after the men. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good?5 The cup you have stolen is the one my master uses for drinking and for explaining dreams. You have done a very wicked thing!’ ”

6 
So the servant caught up with the brothers and said to them what Joseph had told him to say.

7 
But the brothers said to the servant, “Why do you say these things? We would not do anything like that!8 We brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in our sacks. So surely we would not steal silver or gold from your master’s house.9 If you find that silver cup in the sack of one of us, then let him die, and we will be your slaves.”10 The servant said, “We will do as you say, but only the man who has taken the cup will become my slave. The rest of you may go free.”11 Then every brother quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.12 The servant searched the sacks, going from the oldest brother to the youngest, and found the cup in Benjamin’s sack.13 The brothers tore their clothes to show they were afraid. Then they put their sacks back on the donkeys and returned to the city.14 When Judah and his brothers went back to Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there, so the brothers bowed facedown on the ground before him.15 Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man like me can learn things by signs and dreams?”16 Judah said, “Master, what can we say? And how can we show we are not guilty? God has uncovered our guilt, so all of us will be your slaves, not just Benjamin.”17 But Joseph said, “I will not make you all slaves! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safely to your father.”18 Then Judah went to Joseph and said, “Master, please let me speak plainly to you, and please don’t be angry with me. I know that you are as powerful as the king of Egypt himself.19 When we were here before, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’20 And we answered you, ‘We have an old father. And we have a younger brother, who was born when our father was old. This youngest son’s brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left alive, and our father loves him very much.’21 Then you said to us, ‘Bring that brother to me. I want to see him.’22 And we said to you, ‘That young boy cannot leave his father, because if he leaves him, his father would die.’23 But you said to us, ‘If you don’t bring your youngest brother, you will not be allowed to see me again.’24 So we went back to our father and told him what you had said.

25 
“Later, our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little more food.’26 We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our youngest brother. Without our youngest brother, we will not be allowed to see the governor.’27 Then my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel gave me two sons.28 When one son left me, I thought, “Surely he has been torn apart by a wild animal,” and I haven’t seen him since.29 Now you want to take this son away from me also. But something terrible might happen to him, and I would be miserable until the day I die.’30 Now what will happen if we go home to our father without our youngest brother? He is so important in our father’s life that31 when our father sees the young boy is not with us, he will die. And it will be our fault. We will cause the great sorrow that kills our father.

32 
“I gave my father a guarantee that the young boy would be safe. I said to my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life.’33 So now, please allow me to stay here and be your slave, and let the young boy go back home with his brothers.34 I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn’t stand to see my father that sad.”