Genesis 42 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 When Jacob found out grain was available in Egypt, he asked his sons, “Why do you keep on looking at each other to do something?
1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
2 I've heard there's grain in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us so we can stay alive—if not, we're going to die!”
2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.”
3 So ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy grain.
3 Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his other brothers, for he said, “I'm afraid something bad might happen to him.”
4 But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.”
5 So Israel's sons went to buy grain along with everyone else, because there was famine in Canaan too.
5 The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 Joseph was the governor of the country and he sold grain to all the people there. So Joseph's brothers went to him, and bowed low before him with their faces to the ground.
6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
7 Joseph recognized them as soon as he saw them, but he acted like a stranger towards them and spoke to them in a severe way, saying, “Where are you from?” “From the country of Canaan,” they replied. “We've come to buy food.”
7 Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 Even though Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn't recognize him.
8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him.
9 Joseph thought back to the dreams he'd had about them, and told them, “No! You're spies! You've come to discover our country's weaknesses!”
9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
10 “That's not true, my lord!” they responded. “We, your servants, have just come to buy food.
10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 We're all the sons of one man and we're honest. We're not spies!”
11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
12 “No! You've come to find our country's weaknesses!” he insisted.
12 He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
13 “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man living in the country of Canaan,” they explained. “The youngest is right now with our father, and one has passed away.”
13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”
14 “As I said before, you're spies!” Joseph declared.
14 Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
15 “This is how your story will be checked. I swear on Pharaoh's life that you'll never leave this country unless your younger brother comes here.
15 By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 One of you go back and bring your other brother here. The others of you will be kept here in prison until it's clear that you're telling the truth. If not, then I swear on Pharaoh's life it proves you're spies!”
16 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.”
17 So Joseph put all of them in prison for three days.
17 He put them all together into custody for three days.
18 On the third day he told them, “Since I'm someone who respects God, do as I tell you and you'll live.
18 Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God.
19 If you're truly honest, choose one of your brothers to stay here in prison. The rest of you can go back home with grain for your hungry families.
19 If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20 But you must bring your youngest brother here to me to prove what you're saying is true. If not, you will all die.” They agreed to do this.
20 Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so.
21 “Clearly we're being punished for what we did to our brother,” they said to each other. “We watched him in agony pleading with us for mercy, but we refused to listen to him. That's why we're in all this trouble.”
21 They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 Reuben said to them, “Didn't I tell you, ‘Don't harm the boy!’ But you didn't listen to me. Now we're paying the price for what we did to him.”
22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.”
23 They didn't realize that Joseph understood what they were saying because they were talking to him through an interpreter.
23 They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
24 Joseph stepped away from them because he started crying. He came back when he was able to speak to them again. He chose Simeon and had him tied up as they watched.
24 He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.
25 Joseph gave the order to fill up their sacks with grain, and also to return the money they had paid by placing it in the sacks as well. He also ordered that they should be provided with food for their journey home. All this was done.
25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.
26 The brothers loaded the grain onto their donkeys and then set off.
26 They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there.
27 On their way they stopped for the night, and one of them opened up his sack to give his donkey something to eat and saw his money there at the top of the sack.
27 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28 He told his brothers, “My money's been returned to me. It's right here at the top of my sack!” They were horrified! Trembling with fear they asked each other, “What is this that God's done to us?”
28 He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 When they arrived home in Canaan, they told their father Jacob everything that had happened.
29 They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying,
30 “The man who is the country's governor spoke to us in a severe way, and accused us of spying on the land,” they explained.
30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 “We told him, ‘We are honest men. We're not spies!
31 We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies.
32 We are twelve brothers, the sons of one father. One has passed away and the youngest is right now with our father in the country of Canaan.’
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 Canaan.’
33 Then the man who is the country's governor said to us, ‘This is how I'll find out if you're telling the truth: you are to leave one of your brothers here with me while the rest take grain home for your hungry families.
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 houses, and go your way.
34 Then bring your youngest brother to me. That way I'll know you're not spies but you're telling the truth. I'll release your brother to you, and you can stay in the country and trade.’”
34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”
35 As they emptied their sacks, each one's money bag was there in his sack! When they and their father saw the money bags, they were horrified.
35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 Jacob their father accused them, “You have taken Joseph from me—he's gone! Simeon is gone too! Now you want to take Benjamin away! I'm the one who's suffering from all of this!”
36 Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
37 “You can kill my two sons if I don't bring him back to you,” Reuben assured him. “Trust me with him, and I will bring him home to you myself.”
37 Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”
38 “My son won't go there with you!” Jacob declared. “His brother is dead, and he's the only one I have left. If anything bad happens to him on the journey you're planning, you'll send this old man to his grave in grief.”
38 He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Joseph
Betrayed and enslaved, he rose to rule Egypt and saved his family from famine.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 37; 39–50
Cross references (34)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Acts 7:12; Joshua 7:10; Exodus 20:18; Genesis 42:2; Exodus 5:19
- 2 Genesis 43:8; Matthew 4:4; Psalm 118:17; Genesis 43:2; Genesis 45:9
- 3 Genesis 42:13; Genesis 42:5
- 4 Genesis 42:38; Genesis 43:29; Genesis 3:22; Genesis 11:4; Genesis 35:16–19
- 5 Genesis 41:57; Genesis 12:10; Acts 7:11; Genesis 26:1; Acts 11:28
- 6 Genesis 41:55–56; Genesis 45:26; Acts 7:10; Genesis 19:1; Genesis 44:14
- 7 Genesis 42:30; Genesis 42:19–20; Genesis 42:14–17; Genesis 42:9–12; Matthew 15:23–26
- 8 Genesis 37:2; John 20:14; John 21:4; Luke 24:16
- 9 Genesis 37:5–9; Exodus 32:35; Genesis 42:34; Judges 1:24; Numbers 13:16–20
- 10 Genesis 37:8; Genesis 27:37; 1 Kings 18:7; Genesis 27:29; Genesis 44:9
- 11 2 Corinthians 6:4; Genesis 42:19; Genesis 42:33–34; John 7:18
- 13 Genesis 37:30; Genesis 44:20; Genesis 42:32; Genesis 43:7; Matthew 2:16
- 14 Matthew 15:21–28; Genesis 42:9–11; Job 13:24; Job 19:11
- 15 1 Samuel 17:55; Genesis 42:16; Genesis 42:30; Matthew 23:16–22; 1 Samuel 1:26
- 16 Genesis 42:11
- 17 Genesis 40:4; Hebrews 12:10; Genesis 40:7; Genesis 41:10; Isaiah 24:22
- 18 Leviticus 25:43; Nehemiah 5:15; Genesis 20:11; Luke 18:2; Luke 18:4
- 19 Genesis 42:26; Genesis 40:3; Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 42:22; Genesis 42:1–2
- 20 Genesis 42:34; Genesis 43:5; Genesis 44:23; Genesis 42:15; John 2:5
- 21 Hosea 5:15; Genesis 37:23–28; Job 36:8–9; Mark 9:43–45; 1 Kings 17:18
- 22 Psalm 9:12; 1 Kings 2:32; 2 Chronicles 24:22; Genesis 37:21–22; Genesis 9:5–6
- 23 2 Corinthians 5:20; John 16:13–14
- 24 Genesis 43:30; Genesis 43:14; Isaiah 63:9; Genesis 45:14–15; Luke 19:41
- 25 1 Peter 3:9; Romans 12:17–21; Genesis 45:21; Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 5:44
- 27 Exodus 4:24; Genesis 43:21–22; Luke 10:34; Genesis 44:11; Luke 2:7
- 28 Lamentations 3:37; Isaiah 45:7; Song of Songs 5:6; Lamentations 2:17; 1 Kings 10:5
- 30 Genesis 42:7
- 31 Genesis 42:11
- 33 Genesis 42:19–20; Genesis 42:15
- 34 Genesis 34:10; Genesis 34:21; 1 Kings 10:15; Ezekiel 17:4
- 35 Genesis 43:21; Genesis 43:15; Genesis 42:27–28; Genesis 43:12
- 36 Genesis 43:14; Romans 8:31; 1 Samuel 27:1; Matthew 14:31; Romans 8:28
- 37 Genesis 46:9; Micah 6:7; Genesis 43:9; Genesis 44:32–34
- 38 Genesis 37:35; Genesis 42:4; Genesis 37:33; Genesis 42:13; Genesis 35:16–18
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… brethren who detained her for ten days; Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptres (tribes), and the ten courts of the tabernacle, and the columns of ten cubits [high], and the ten sons of Jacob who were at first sent into Egypt to buy corn, and the ten apostles to whom the Lord appeared after His resurrection,--Thomas being absent,--represented, according …