Genesis · Literal Standard Version
Genesis 42 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And Jacob sees that there is grain in Egypt, and Jacob says to his sons, “Why do you look at each other?”
1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
2 He also says, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt, go down there, and buy for us from there, and we live and do not 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 and the ten brothers of Joseph go down to buy grain in Egypt,
3 Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 and Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob has not sent with his brothers, for he said, “Lest harm meet him.”
4 But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.”
5 And the sons of Israel come to buy in the midst of those coming, for the famine has been in the land of Canaan,
5 The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 and Joseph is the ruler over the land, he who is selling to all the people of the land, and Joseph’s brothers come and bow themselves to him—face to the earth.
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 And Joseph sees his brothers, and discerns them, and makes himself strange to them, and speaks sharp things with them, and says to them, “From where have you come?” And they say, “From the land of Canaan—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 And Joseph discerns his brothers, but they have not discerned him,
8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him.
9 and Joseph remembers the dreams which he dreamed of them and says to them, “You [are] spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
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 And they say to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food;
10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 we [are] all of us sons of one man, we [are] right men; your servants have not been spies”;
11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
12 and he says to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land”;
12 He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
13 and they say, “Your servants [are] twelve brothers; we [are] sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the young one [is] with our father today, and one is not.”
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 And Joseph says to them, “This [is] that which I have spoken to you, saying, You [are] spies,
14 Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
15 by this you are proved: [as] Pharaoh lives, if you go out from this—except by your young brother coming 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 send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you, remain bound, and let your words be proved, whether truth be with you: and if not, [as] Pharaoh lives, surely you [are] 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 and he gathers them into confinement [for] three days.
17 He put them all together into custody for three days.
18 And Joseph says to them on the third day, “Do this and live; I fear God!
18 Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God.
19 If you [are] right men, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your confinement, and you, go, carry in grain [for] the famine of your houses,
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 and you bring your young brother to me, and your words are established, and you do not die”; and they do so.
20 Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so.
21 And they say to one another, “Truly we [are] guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul, in his making supplication to us, and we did not listen: therefore this distress has come on us.”
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 And Reuben answers them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the boy? And you did not listen; and his blood also, behold, it is required.”
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 And they have not known that Joseph understands, for the interpreter [is] between them;
23 They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
24 and he turns around from them, and weeps, and turns back to them, and speaks to them, and takes Simeon from them, and binds him before their eyes.
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 And Joseph commands, and they fill their vessels [with] grain, also to put back the money of each of them into his sack, and to give to them provision for the way; and one does to them so.
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 And they lift up their grain on their donkeys, and go from there,
26 They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there.
27 and the one opens his sack to give provender to his donkey at a lodging-place, and he sees his money, and behold, it [is] in the mouth of his bag,
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 and he says to his brothers, “My money has been put back, and also, behold, in my bag”: and their heart goes out, and they tremble, to one another saying, “What [is] this God has 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 And they come to their father Jacob, to the land of Canaan, and they declare to him all the things meeting them, saying,
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, the lord of the land, has spoken with us sharp things, and makes us as spies of the land;
30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 and we say to him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,
31 We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies.
32 we [are] twelve brothers, sons of our father, one is not, and the young one [is] today with our father in the land 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 And the man, the lord of the land, says to us, By this I know that you [are] right men—leave one of your brothers with me, and take [for] the famine of your houses and go,
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 and bring your young brother to me, and I know that you [are] not spies, but you [are] right men; I give your brother to you, and you trade with the land.”
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 And it comes to pass, they are emptying their sacks, and behold, the bundle of each man’s silver [is] in his sack, and they see their bundles of silver, they and their father, and are afraid;
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 and their father Jacob says to them, “You have bereaved me; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and Benjamin you take—all these [things] have been against me.”
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 And Reuben speaks to his father, saying, “You put to death my two sons, if I do not bring him to you; give him into my hand, and I bring him back to you”;
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 and he says, “My son does not go down with you, for his brother [is] dead, and he by himself is left; when harm has met him in the way in which you go, then you have brought down my grey hairs in sorrow to Sheol.”
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 …