Through My Bible Year 03 – April 21

genesis 42

Joseph and his brothers

¹ When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing here looking at one another?” ² He also said, “Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us, so that we may not die, but live.” ³ So Joseph’s ten brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his other brothers because he said that something bad might happen to him.

⁵ The sons of Israel were also among those who came to buy grain because of the famine in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Yusuf was the governor of the country. He was the one who sold grains to all the people of the country. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph saw and recognized his brothers, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. He asked them, “Where have you come from?”

They said, “Buy food from the land of Canaan.”

⁸ Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹ Joseph remembered the dream he had seen about them, and said to them, You are spies, you have come to see where the land is open.

¹⁰ They said to him, No, Lord, your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of the same man. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

¹² He said to them, “No, you have come to see where the land is open!”

¹³ They said, We are your servants twelve brothers, and sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Listen, at this time the younger child lives with our father only, and there is no one left.

¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It’s just as I said. You are spies! ¹⁵ Your test will be like this: I swear on the life of Pharaoh, you will never leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you to call your brother. The rest of you will be kept under house arrest, so that your words can be tested to see whether you are telling the truth or not. Otherwise, as the Pharaoh lives, you are a spy. ¹⁷ He kept them all imprisoned for three days.

¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, Do what I tell you, and you will live, for I fear God. ¹⁹ If you are an honest man, then put one of your brothers in prison, but the rest go and deliver food to their homes to relieve the famine. ²⁰ Bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be confirmed, and you will not die.” So they did as he said.

²¹ They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty about our brother, because we saw the plight of his soul when he pleaded with us, but we did not listen to him; that is why this disaster has come on us.”

²² Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now we are being demanded for his blood.”

²³ They did not know that Joseph understood them, because an interpreter was being used between them. ²⁴ Joseph turned away from them and started crying. And he returned and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them and bound him before them. ²⁵ Then Joseph ordered to fill their vessels with grain, and put each man’s money in his sack, and give them food for the journey. So all this was done for them.

²⁶ They loaded grains on their donkeys and left from there. ²⁷ When one of them opened his sack at the hideout to give food to his donkey, he saw money in it. It was right there at the mouth of his bag. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money is back! Look, it’s in my bag!” Their hearts were troubled, and they turned to one another trembling, saying, What has God done to us?

²⁹ They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him everything that had happened to them. He said, ³⁰ “The man, who was the master of the country, spoke harshly to us and accused us of being spies against the country. ³¹ We told them, ‘We are honest men. We are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One brother is no more and the youngest brother is currently with our father in the country of Canaan. ³³ That man, that is, the lord of that country, said to us, This is how I will know that you are a true man: Leave one of your brothers with me. Take food to your homes to relieve famine, and go on your way. ³⁴ Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not a spy, but an honest man. Then I will leave your brother in your hands, and you will be allowed to do business in that country.”

³⁵ Then when they emptied their sacks, they were astonished to see that there was a bag of money in each one’s sack. When he and his father saw his money bag they were scared.

³⁶ Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children! Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more. And now you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Reuben said to his father, If I do not bring him to you, you must kill both my sons. Commit him to my care, and I will bring him back to you.

³⁸ Jacob said, “My son will not go with you, because his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any harm happens to him on the journey on which you are going, you will bring my gray hair to the grave with sorrow.”