The sons of Jacob go down to Egypt
1 ① When Jacob heard there was wheat in Egypt he said to his sons, “Why do you stand looking at one another? 2I’ve heard there is grain in Egypt, so go down and buy some for us so that we may stay alive and not die!” 3Joseph’s brothers — ten of them — went down to Egypt to buy wheat 4but Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, for he said, “Something might happen to him.”
5So the sons of Israel were among those going to buy grain, for there was famine in Canaan. 6It was Joseph, as governor of the land, who sold the grain to all the people. When his brothers arrived they bowed before him, with their faces to the ground. 7Joseph recognized his brothers but did not make himself known and, instead, said harshly to them, “Where do you come from?” And they answered, “We come from the land of Canaan to buy grain for food.”
8Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him. 9And he remembered the dreams he once had concerning them. He told them, “You are spies, and it is to discover the weak points of the land that you have come.” 10They said, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy grain for food. 11We are all sons of the same man. We are honest men; your servants are not spies.” 12Joseph replied, “No, it is to find out the weak points of the country that you have come.” 13They said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest is today with our father and the other is no more.” 14But Joseph insisted, “It’s just as I said, you are spies! 15And this will be proved. By the life of Pharaoh you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16One of you is to go and fetch your brother. The others will be imprisoned while I verify whether you are telling the truth. If not, then as true as Pharaoh lives, you are spies.” 17And so he put them all in prison for three days.
18On the third day Joseph said to them, “I will help you to save yourselves, for I am a man who fears God. 19If you are sincere, let one of your brothers remain prisoner in the house of the guard where you now are, and the rest of you take the grain to save your families from famine. 20Then you will bring back your youngest brother; so the truth of what you say will be proved and your lives spared.” They did as they were ordered 21and said among themselves, “Alas! We are guilty because of the way we treated our brother when he pleaded with us for mercy, but we didn’t listen. That is why this trouble has come upon us.”
22Reuben answered them, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy. But you did not listen and now we are brought to account for his blood.” 23Now they did not know that Joseph understood them as there was an in terpreter between them. 24As for Joseph, he withdrew and wept. When he came back, he spoke to them and took Simeon and had him bound and put in prison while they looked on.
25Joseph ordered their sacks to be filled with wheat and their money replaced in the sack of each one and provisions be given them for the journey. All this was done; 26they loaded the grain on their donkeys and set off. 27But in the evening one of them emptied his sack to feed his donkey at the lodging place, and he saw his money at the mouth of the sack, so he said, 28“My money has been put back: here it is in my sack;” Their hearts failed them and they trembled and turned to each other and said, “What is this that God has done to us!”
29When they came back to Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him about all their adventures:
30“The man who is governor of the country spoke harshly to us and treated us as spies, 31but we said: ‘We are honest men, not spies. 32We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father; one is no more and the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33Then the man who is lord of the land said: By this I will know if you are honest. Leave one of your brothers here; take grain to save your families from the famine and go. 34Bring back your youngest brother and let me see you are not spies but honest men. Then I shall release your brother and you can trade in the land.”
35Now, when they emptied their sacks, each one found his money bag in his sack. When they saw this, they were afraid and their father as well. 36Jacob their father said to them, “You are taking my children from me. Joseph has gone; Simeon has gone and now you are taking Benjamin. I have all this to bear!”
37Then Reuben said to his father, “You may have the lives of my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to me and I shall see that he comes back.” 38But Jacob said, “My son will not go with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If he were to meet with some misfortune on the way, you would send my gray head to the land of Shadows in sorrow.”
- Gen 42,1 This is the beginning of the long story of Joseph's meeting with his brothers. Note how Joseph, the savior, forces his brothers to atone for the crime they had committed. One of them must sacrifice himself before his brother Joseph will reveal who he is. Forgiveness does not cancel out the necessity of making amends for the evil we have done.
