Previous Chapter Full Page Full Page Next Chapter

Genesis 42 :: New American Standard Bible 2020 (NASB20)

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

Gen 42:1

Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

Gen 42:2Then he said, “Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from [fn]that place, so that we may live and not die.”
Gen 42:3So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
Gen 42:4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may happen to him.”
Gen 42:5So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.
Gen 42:6

Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Gen 42:7When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
Gen 42:8

But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.

Gen 42:9And Joseph remembered the dreams which he [fn]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the [fn]undefended parts of our land.”
Gen 42:10And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
Gen 42:11“We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”
Gen 42:12Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the [fn]undefended parts of our land!”
Gen 42:13But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”
Gen 42:14Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said [fn]to you, you are spies;
Gen 42:15by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here!
Gen 42:16“Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!”
Gen 42:17So he put them all together in prison for three days.
Gen 42:18

Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God:

Gen 42:19if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in [fn]your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households,
Gen 42:20and bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.
Gen 42:21Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.”
Gen 42:22Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell [fn]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? [fn]Now justice for his blood is required.”
Gen 42:23They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.
Gen 42:24Then he turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
Gen 42:25Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, but also to return every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And that is what was done for them.
Gen 42:26

So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.

Gen 42:27But when one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the overnight campsite, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the opening of his sack!
Gen 42:28So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and look, it is right in my sack!” Then their hearts [fn]sank, and they turned [fn]trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

Simeon Is Held Hostage

Gen 42:29

When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying,

Gen 42:30“The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
Gen 42:31“But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
Gen 42:32‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
Gen 42:33“But the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go.
Gen 42:34‘But bring your youngest brother to me so that I may know that you are not spies, but [fn]honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’”
Gen 42:35

Now it came about, as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, every man’s bag of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they were afraid.

Gen 42:36And their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.”
Gen 42:37Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my [fn]care, and I will return him to you.”
Gen 42:38But [fn]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should happen to him on the journey [fn]you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
NASB20 Footnotes
Lit there
Lit had dreamed
Lit nakedness of the land
Lit nakedness of the land
Lit to you, saying
Lit the house of your prison
Lit you, saying,
Lit And behold, his blood also is required
Lit went out
Lit trembled
Lit you are honest
Lit hand
Lit he
Lit on which you are going
Translation Copyright Logo

New American Standard Bible 2020
Copyright (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved
https://www.lockman.org/new-american-standard-bible-nasb/

The "NASB," "NAS," "New American Standard Bible," and "New American Standard" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by The Lockman Foundation. Use of these trademarks requires the permission of The Lockman Foundation.

For Permission To Quote visit http://www.lockman.org

For more information on this translation, see the NASB20 Preface.

Genesis Chapter 42 — Additional Translations: