The Dreams Come True

42 Jacob ·learned [^Lsaw] 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 [a fatal accident; harm; tragedy] might happen to him. ⁵ Along with many other people, the sons of Israel [^CJacob’s other name] went to Egypt to buy grain, because ·the people in the land of Canaan were also hungry [^Lthere was famine in the land of Canaan].

⁶ Now Joseph was ·governor [administrator] over ·Egypt [^Lthe land]. He was the one who sold the grain to people ·who came to buy it [^Lof the land/earth]. 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 [recognized them], but he ·acted as if he didn’t know them [treated them as strangers/foreigners]. He asked ·unkindly [harshly], “Where do you come from?”

They answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ Joseph ·knew they were [recognized] his brothers, but they did not ·know who he was [recognize him]. ⁹ And Joseph remembered his dreams ·about his brothers bowing to him [^Lwhich he dreamed about them; 37:5–11]. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to ·learn where the nation is weak [^Lsee the nakedness of the land]!”

¹⁰ But his brothers said to him, “No, my ·master [lord]. 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 [^Lsee the nakedness of the land]!”

¹³ And they said, “·We [^LYour servants] are ·ten of twelve [^Ltwelve] brothers, sons of the same father, and we live in the land of Canaan. Our ·youngest [smallest] brother is there with our father right now, and ·our other brother is gone [^Lone is no more].”

¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “·I can see I was right [^LIt is as I spoke to you]! You are spies! ¹⁵ But ·I will give you a way to prove you are telling the truth [^Lin this way you will be tested]. As surely as ·the king [^LPharaoh] lives, you will not ·leave [go out from] this place ·until [or unless] your ·youngest [smallest] 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 [^Ltest your words/statements]. If not, as surely as ·the king [^LPharaoh] lives, you are spies.” ¹⁷ Then Joseph put them all in ·prison [the guardhouse] for three days.

¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, “[^LFor] I ·am a God-fearing man [fear God]. Do this and I will let you live: ¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in ·prison [the guardhouse] while the rest of you go and carry grain ·back to feed your hungry families [^Lfor your families because of the famine]. ²⁰ Then bring your ·youngest [smallest] brother back here to me. If you do this, ·I will know you are telling the truth [^Lyour words will be confirmed], and you will not die.”

The brothers agreed to this. ²¹ They said to each other, “[^LAlas,] We are ·being punished [or guilty] for what we did to our brother. We saw ·his trouble [the distress of his soul], and he ·begged us to save him [pleaded with us], but we ·refused to [^Ldid not] listen. That is why we are in this ·trouble [distress] now.”

²² Then Reuben said to them, “·I told [^LDid I not tell…?] you not to ·harm [wrong; sin against] the ·boy [child], but you ·refused to [^Ldid not] listen to me. So now ·we are being punished for what we did to him [^Lthere is a reckoning for his blood].”

²³ When Joseph talked to his brothers, he used an ·interpreter [or intermediary], 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 [bound] him ·up while the other brothers watched [^Lbefore their eyes]. ²⁵ Joseph ·told his servants [^Lgave the command/order] to fill his brothers’ bags with grain and to put ·the money the brothers had paid for the grain [^Ltheir silver] back in their bags. ·The servants [^LThey] were also to give them ·what they would need [provisions] for their trip back home. And ·the servants [^Lthey] did this.

²⁶ So the brothers ·put [lifted] the grain on their donkeys and left. ²⁷ When ·they stopped for the night [at the lodging place], one of the brothers opened his sack to get ·food [fodder] for his donkey. Then he saw his ·money [silver] in the top of the sack. ²⁸ He said to the other brothers, “·The money I paid for the grain [^LMy money/silver] has been put back. Here it is in [^Lthe mouth of] my sack!”

The brothers ·were very frightened [^Llost heart and trembled]. 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 [harshly] 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 [^Lare twelve] brothers—sons of one father. We said that one of our brothers was ·gone [^Lno more] and that our ·youngest [smallest] 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 [^Lbecause of the famine for your] families, and go. ³⁴ And bring your ·youngest [smallest] 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 [or trade] in our land.’ ”

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

³⁶ Their father Jacob said to them, “You are ·robbing [bereaving] me of all my children. Joseph is ·gone [^Lno more], Simeon is ·gone [^Lno more], 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 [^LPut him in my hands], and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But Jacob said, “·I will not allow Benjamin to go [^LMy son will not go down] with you. His brother is dead, and he ·is the only son left from my wife Rachel [^Lalone is left]. I am afraid something ·terrible [disastrous; tragic] might happen to him during the trip to Egypt. Then ·I would be sad until the day I die [^Lyou would bring my gray hair down to Sheol in anguish].”