BERESHITH (GENESIS) 42

Gen 42:1 And when Ya‛aqoḇ saw that there was grain in Mitsrayim,
Ya‛aqoḇ said to his sons, “Why do you look at each other?”
Gen 42:2 And he said, “See, I have heard that there is grain in Mitsrayim.
Go down to that place and buy for us there, and let us live and not die.”
Gen 42:3 And Yosĕph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Mitsrayim.
Gen 42:4 But Ya‛aqoḇ did not send Yosĕph’s brother Binyamin with his
brothers, for he said, “Lest some harm come to him.”
Gen 42:5 And the sons of Yisra’ĕl went to buy grain among those who
journeyed, for the scarcity of food was in the land of Kena‛an.
Gen 42:6 And Yosĕph was the governor over the land, he was the one who
sold to all the people of the land. And Yosĕph’s brothers came and bowed
down before him with their faces to the earth.
Gen 42:7 And Yosĕph saw his brothers and recognised them, but he acted as
a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly, and said to them, “Where do
you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Kena‛an to buy food.”
Gen 42:8 So Yosĕph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him.
Gen 42:9 And Yosĕph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about
them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness
of the land!”
Gen 42:10 And they said to him, “No, my master, but your servants have
come to buy food.
Gen 42:11 “We are all one man’s sons, we are trustworthy, your servants are
not spies.”
Gen 42:12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness
of the land.”
Gen 42:13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of
one man in the land of Kena‛an. And see, the youngest is with our father
today, and one is no more.”
Gen 42:14 And Yosĕph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You
are spies!’
Gen 42:15 “By this you shall be proven: By the life of Pharaoh, you do not
leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
Gen 42:16 “Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you are
kept in prison. So let your words be proven to see whether there is any truth
in you, or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies!”
Gen 42:17 And he put them all together in prison for three days.
Gen 42:18 Now Yosĕph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I
fear Elohim:
Gen 42:19 “If you are trustworthy, let one of your brothers be confined to
your prison house, and you, go, bring grain for the scarcity of food of your
houses.
Gen 42:20 “And bring your youngest brother to me, and let your words be
confirmed, and you do not die.” And so they did.
Gen 42:21 And they said to each other, “Truly, we are guilty concerning our
brother, for we saw the distress of his life when he pleaded with us, yet we
did not listen, that is why this distress has come upon us.”
Gen 42:22 And Re’uḇĕn answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you,
saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ and you would not listen? And see, his
blood is now required of us.”
Gen 42:23 And they did not know that Yosĕph understood them, for he spoke
to them through an interpreter.
Gen 42:24 And he turned himself away from them and wept, but came back
to them and spoke to them. And he took Shim‛on from them and bound him
before their eyes.
Gen 42:25 And Yosĕph commanded and they filled their sacks with grain,
also to put back every man’s silver to his sack, and to give them food for the
journey. And thus it was done for them.
Gen 42:26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and went from there.
Gen 42:27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at
the lodging place, he saw his silver, for there it was in the mouth of his sack!
Gen 42:28 And he said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned, and
there it is, in my sack!” And their hearts sank and they were afraid, saying to
each other, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?”
Gen 42:29 So they came to Ya‛aqoḇ their father in the land of Kena‛an and
reported to him all that befell them, saying,
Gen 42:30 “The man, the master of the land, spoke to us harshly, and took us
for spies of the land.
Gen 42:31 “But we said to him, ‘We are trustworthy, we are not spies.
Gen 42:32 ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and
the youngest is today with our father in the land of Kena‛an.’
Gen 42:33 “And the man, the master of the land, said to us, ‘By this I know
that you are trustworthy: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take
food for the scarcity of food of your households, and go.
Gen 42:34 ‘And bring your youngest brother to me, then I know that you are
not spies, but that you are trustworthy – I give your brother to you, and you
move about in the land.’ ”
Gen 42:35 And it came to be as they emptied their sacks, that look, the
bundle of each man’s silver was in his sack! And when they and their father
saw the bundles of silver, they were afraid.
Gen 42:36 And Ya‛aqoḇ their father said to them, “You have bereaved me –
Yosĕph is no more, and Shim‛on is no more, and you would take Binyamin!
All this is against me.”
Gen 42:37 So Re’uḇĕn spoke to his father, saying, “Take the lives of my two
sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I myself
bring him back to you.”
Gen 42:38 But he said, “My son is not going down with you, for his brother
is dead, and he is left alone. If any harm should come to him along the way in
which you go, then you would bring down my grey hair with sorrow to the
grave.”