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Genesis 42 :: New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95)

Joseph's Brothers Sent to Egypt

Gen 42:1

Gen 42:1Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

Gen 42:2

Gen 42:2He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us [fn]from that place, so that we may live and not die.”

Gen 42:3

Gen 42:3Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.

Gen 42:4

Gen 42:4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.”

Gen 42:5

Gen 42:5So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

Gen 42:6

Gen 42:6Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Gen 42:7

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

Gen 42:8

Gen 42:8But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.

Gen 42:9

Gen 42:9Joseph remembered the dreams which he [fn]had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the [fn]undefended parts of our land.”

Gen 42:10

Gen 42:10Then they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.

Gen 42:11

Gen 42:11“We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”

Gen 42:12

Gen 42:12Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the [fn]undefended parts of our land!”

Gen 42:13

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 42:14

Gen 42:14Joseph said to them, “It is as I said [fn]to you, you are spies;

Gen 42:15

Gen 42:15by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!

Gen 42:16

Gen 42:16“Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

Gen 42:17

Gen 42:17So he put them all together in prison for three days.

Gen 42:18

Gen 42:18Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God:

Gen 42:19

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 42:20

Gen 42:20and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.

Gen 42:21

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; therefore this distress has come upon us.”

Gen 42:22

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 comes the reckoning for his blood.”

Gen 42:23

Gen 42:23They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.

Gen 42:24

Gen 42:24He 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 42:25

Gen 42:25Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.

Gen 42:26

Gen 42:26So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.

Gen 42:27

Gen 42:27As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.

Gen 42:28

Gen 42:28Then he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And 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

Gen 42:29When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,

Gen 42:30

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

Gen 42:31“But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.

Gen 42:32

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

Gen 42:33“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

Gen 42:34‘But bring your youngest brother to me 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

Gen 42:35Now it came about as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed.

Gen 42:36

Gen 42:36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.”

Gen 42:37

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 42:38

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 befall him on the journey [fn]you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
See the NASB95 Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NASB95 Footnotes
Literally: from there
Literally: had dreamed
Literally: nakedness of the land
Literally: nakedness of the land
Literally: to you, saying
Literally: the house of your prison
Literally: you saying
Literally: And behold, his blood also is required
Literally: went out
Literally: trembled
Literally: you are honest
Literally: hand
Literally: he
Literally: on which you are going
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New American Standard Bible 1995
Copyright (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved
https://www.lockman.org/new-american-standard-bible-nasb/

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

For more information on this translation, see the NASB95 Preface.

Genesis Chapter 42 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

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