King James Bible

Christian Standard Bible

1Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you keep looking at each other?

2And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

2Listen," he went on, "I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die."

3And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

3So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

4But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

4But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, "Something might happen to him."

5And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

5The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

6Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

7And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

7When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked. "From the land of Canaan to buy food," they replied.

8And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

9And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

9Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land."

10And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

10"No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food," they said.

11We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

11"We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies."

12And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

12"No," he said to them. "You have come to see the weakness of the land."

13And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

13But they replied, "We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living."

14And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

14Then Joseph said to them, "I have spoken: 'You are spies!'

15Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

15This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

16Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

16Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"

17And he put them all together into ward three days.

17So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

18And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

18On the third day Joseph said to them, "I fear God--do this and you will live.

19If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

19If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

20But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

20Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won't die." And they consented to this.

21And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

21Then they said to each other, "Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us."

22And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

22But Reuben replied: "Didn't I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn't listen. Now we must account for his blood!"

23And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

23They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

24And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

24He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

25Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

25Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man's silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out.

26And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

26They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.

27And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.

27At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver there at the top of his bag.

28And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?

28He said to his brothers, "My silver has been returned! It's here in my bag." Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, "What is this that God has done to us?"

29And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

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

30The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

30"The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

31And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:

31But we told him: We are honest and not spies.

32We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

32We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.

33And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

33The man who is the lord of the country said to us, 'This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

34And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

34Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.'"

35And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

35As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man's sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid.

36And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

36Their father Jacob said to them, "It's me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!"

37And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

37Then Reuben said to his father, "You can kill my two sons if I don't bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you."

38And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

38But Jacob answered, "My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow."

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.