Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt

Shorter

42 Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, and he said to his sons, ‘Why do you stand looking at each other? 2 I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt; go down there and buy for us, so that we may live and not die.’ 3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s own brother, with his brothers; for he feared that some harm might come to him. 5 So the sons of Jacob went among others to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 Now Joseph was the governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. Therefore Joseph’s brothers came and bowed before him with their faces to the earth. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers he knew them, but he acted as a stranger toward them and spoke harshly to them and said, ‘Where do you come from?’ They said, ‘From the land of Canaan to buy food.’ 8 So Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not know him.

9 Joseph also remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them and said to them, ‘You spies! You have come to find out the weaknesses of the land.’ 10 But they said to him, ‘No my lord; your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.’ 12 But he said to them, ‘No, you have come to see the weaknesses of the land.’ 13 They replied, ‘We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.’ 14 Joseph said to them, ‘It is just as I said to you, you are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: as sure as Pharaoh lives you shall not go away unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain in prison, that it may be proved whether you are telling the truth or not. Or else, as sure as Pharaoh lives, you are indeed spies.’ 17 So he put them all into prison for three days.

18 Then Joseph said to them on the third day, ‘Do this, and live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain in prison, but you go, carry grain to supply the needs of your households 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So shall your words be verified, and you shall not die.’

21 They did as Joseph commanded, but they said to one another, ‘We are indeed guilty because of the way we treated our brother, for when we saw his distress and when he pleaded with us, we would not listen; therefore this trouble has come upon us.’ 22 Reuben added, ‘Did I not say to you, “Do not sin against the boy,” but you would not listen? Therefore now his very blood is required.’ 23 They did not know, however, that Joseph understood them, for he had spoken to them through an interpreter. 24 But he turned away from them and wept; then he turned back and spoke to them, and, taking Simeon from among them, bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their vessels with grain and to restore each man’s money to his sack and to give them provision for the journey; and it was done to them.

26 So they loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed. 27 When they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw the silver at the top of the sack. 28 He said to his brothers, ‘My silver has been returned; here it is in my pack.’ They were dismayed and fearful, and said to one another, ‘What has God done to us?’

29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened, saying, 30 ‘The man who is master in that land spoke harshly to us and imprisoned us as spies. 31 We said to him, “We are honest men; we are not spies; 32 we are twelve brothers, sons of the same father; one is no longer living, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.” 33 But the man who is master in that land said to us, “This is how I will discover if you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take the grain to supply the needs of your households and depart. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men; and I will restore your brother to you and you shall be free to go about in the land.”’

35 As they were emptying their sacks, they found that each man’s purse of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their purses filled with money, they were afraid. 36 Jacob their father said to them, ‘You have robbed me of my children: Joseph is no longer living and Simeon is no longer here, and you would take Benjamin also. All this misfortune has overtaken me!’ 37 But Reuben said to his father, ‘You may put my two sons to death, if I do not return him to you. Put him in my charge and I will bring him back to you.’ 38 But Jacob said, ‘My son must not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he only is left. If harm should come to him on the way by which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.’

Shorter

43 The famine was severe in the land; 2 and when Joseph’s brothers had eaten all the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, ‘Go again, and buy us some more grain.’ 3 But Judah replied, ‘The man warned us: “You will not be able to see me unless your brother is with you.” 4 If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and buy you food, 5 but if you will not let him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, “You will not be able to see me unless your brother is with you.”’ 6 Jacob said, ‘Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man you had another brother?’ 7 They replied, ‘The man asked particularly about us and our relatives, saying, “Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?” So we answered his questions as he asked them. How were we to know that he would say, “Bring your brother down”?’

8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, ‘Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that both we and you and our little ones may live and not die. 9 I will be surety for him, you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever; 10 for if we had not lingered, surely we would now have returned the second time.’ 11 Therefore their father said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the products of the land in your jars and carry down a present to the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take twice as much money with you, carrying back the money that was returned in your sacks; perhaps there was a mistake. 13 Take also your brother and go again to the man, 14 and may God Almighty grant that the man may be merciful to you and release Benjamin and your other brother. But if I am robbed of my sons, I am bereaved indeed!’ 15 So the men took the present and twice as much money and Benjamin, and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, ‘Bring the men into the house, kill animals, and prepare the meal, for these men will eat with me at noon.’ 17 He did as Joseph directed, and brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18 But the brothers were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house, and they said, ‘We are being brought in on account of the money that was returned in our grain-saeks at our first visit, so that he can overpower and arrest us and take us as slaves, together with our donkeys.’

19 So when they came near to Joseph’s steward, they spoke to him at the door of the house 20 and said, ‘Oh, my lord, we came down the first time only to buy food; 21 and when we reached home, we opened our sacks and discovered every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in its full weight; and we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought down with us other money with which to buy food; we do not know who put our money into our sacks.’ 23 He replied, ‘Be calm, don’t be afraid; your God and the God of your father has given you the treasure in your sacks; I received your full payment.’

Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The steward also conducted the men to Joseph’s house and gave them water with which to wash their feet, and he gave their donkeys fodder. 25 Then they made ready the present in anticipation of Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they were to eat there.

26 When Joseph came into the house, they gave him the present which they had brought and bowed down low before him. 27 He asked them regarding their welfare and said, ‘Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still living?’ 28 They replied, ‘Your servant, our father, is well; he is still alive.’ Then they bowed their heads and made obeisance.

29 When Joseph looked up and saw Benjamin his brother, his own mother’s son, he said. ‘Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?’ and he added, ‘God be gracious to you, my son.’ 30 Then because he was overcome with emotion for his brother he sought a place to weep; and he went into his room and wept there. 31 Then he bathed his face and came out and controlling himself he said, ‘Bring on the food.’ 32 So they brought food for him by himself and for them by themselves and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for to do so is abhorrent to the Egyptians. 33 Joseph’s brothers were seated before him, the eldest according to his right as the oldest and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at each other in astonishment. 34 Then Joseph had portions served to them from the food before him; but Benjamin’s portions were five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

Shorter

44 Then he gave this command to the steward of his household: ‘Fill the men’s grain-sacks with food, as much as they can carry, 2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest and the money too that he paid for his grain.’ He did as Joseph commanded.

3 As soon as the morning light appeared, the men were sent away, together with their donkeys. 4 When they had gone out of the city, but were not yet far away, Joseph commanded his steward, ‘Follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, “Why have you returned evil for good? 5 Why have you stolen my silver cup, that from which my master drinks and by which he divines the future? You have done wrong in so doing!”’

6 So the steward overtook them and said these words to them. 7 They said to him, ‘Why does my lord speak such words as this? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! 8 Remember that we brought back to you from the hind of Canaan the money which we found in our sacks. Why then should we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If one of us is found with the goblet then let him die, and we will be my lord’s slaves.’ 10 He said, ‘Let it now be as you have said: he with whom it is found will be my slave; but the rest may go free.’ 11 Then each one hastily took down his sack to the ground and opened it; 12 and the steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes in sorrow, and every man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

14 When Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they threw themselves before him on the ground. 15 Joseph said to them, ‘What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can divine secrets?’ 16 Judah replied, ‘What can we say, my lord? What can we plead or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. See, both we and he also in whose possession the cup was found are my lord’s slaves.’ 17 But Joseph said, ‘Far be it from me that I should do such a thing! The man in whose possession the cup was found must be my slave; but you yourselves go up in peace to your father.’

18 Then Judah came close to him and said, ‘My lord, let your servant, I beg of you, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger be kindled against your servant; for you are as great as Pharaoh. 19 My lord, you asked us, “Have you a father or a brother?” 20 And we said to you, “We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one. Since his brother is dead, he is the only son of his mother who is left; and his father loves him.” 21 You said to us, “Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.” 22 But we said to you, my lord, “The boy cannot leave his father. If he should leave his father, his father would die.” 23 Then you said to us, “Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not be able to see me again.” 24 When we went up to your servant, my father, we told him your words, my lord; 25 and our father said, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 26 But we said, “We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go; for we cannot see the man unless our youngest brother is with us.” 27 And your servant, my father, said to us, “You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28 and one went missing, and I said that surely he was torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since. 29 If you take this one also from me, and harm befall him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.” 30 Now if I return to your servant, my father, and the boy with whose life his heart is bound up is not with us, 31 then when he sees that there is no boy, he will die, and we, your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 32 Indeed, my lord, I personally became surety for the boy to my father, when I said, “If I do not bring him to you, then I will bear the blame in my father’s eyes forever.” 33 Now therefore let me, I beg of you, remain instead of the boy as your slave, my lord, but let the boy go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father, if the boy is not with me, and see the pain and sorrow that would come upon my father.’

Shorter

45 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who were standing by him; so he cried out, ‘Let everyone leave me.’ So nobody stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s court heard.

3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him for they were frightened in his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, I beg of you.’ So they came near. And he said, ‘I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. 5 Do not be troubled nor angry with yourselves that you sold me here, because God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has already been two years in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. 7 God sent me before you to keep you alive through a great deliverance and give you descendants on the earth. 8 So now it clear that it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me like a father to Pharaoh and master of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

9 ‘Go up quickly to my father and say to him, “Your son Joseph says: God has made me master of all Egypt, come down to me without delay. 10 You will live in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me with your children and children’s children, with your flocks and your herds and all that you have, 11 and there I will provide for you. Otherwise you, together with your household and all that you have, will starve; for there will be five more years of famine.” 12 Now you and my brother Benjamin see that it is really me, Joseph, who is speaking to you. 13 Tell my father all about my honour in Egypt and what you have seen, and you must quickly bring him down here.’

14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 He also kissed all his brothers and wept with them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

16 The report that Joseph’s brothers had arrived spread in Pharaoh’s palace, and it pleased Pharaoh and his servants greatly. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Say to your brothers, “Do this: load your beasts, go to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the best that the land affords. 19 Now you are commanded to do this: take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come. 20 Also pay no attention to your household goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.”’ 21 The sons of Jacob did as commanded.

So Joseph gave them wagons according to Pharaoh’s orders and provisions for the journey. 22 To each of them he gave a change of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23 To his father he sent the following gifts: ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father on the journey.

24 So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ‘See that you do not quarrel on the journey!’ 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. 26 They told him, ‘Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!’ Then Jacob’s heart stood still, for he could not believe them. 27 But when they told him all that Joseph had said to them and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived, 28 and he, Israel, said, ‘It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’