King James Bible

New Living Translation

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

1When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another?

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.

2I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”

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

3So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain.

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

4But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him.

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

5So Jacob’s sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.

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.

6Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed 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.

7Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”

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

8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t 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.

9And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

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

10“No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food.

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

11We are all brothers—members of the same family. We are honest men, sir! We are not spies!”

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

12“Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

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.

13“Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”

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

14But Joseph insisted, “As I said, 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 I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt 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.

16One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.”

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

17So Joseph put them all in prison 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 am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, 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 really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families.

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

20But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed.

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.

21Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”

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.

22“Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!”

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

23Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter.

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.

24Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right 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 ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. He also gave them supplies for their journey home.

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

26So the brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain and headed for home.

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.

27But when they stopped for the night and one of them opened his sack to get grain for his donkey, he found his money in the top of his sack.

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?

28“Look!” he exclaimed to his brothers. “My money has been returned; it’s here in my sack!” Then their hearts sank. Trembling, they said to each other, “What has God 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 the brothers came to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him everything 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 governor of the land spoke very harshly to us,” they told him. “He accused us of being spies scouting the land.

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

31But we said, ‘We are honest men, 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 are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One brother is no longer with us, and the youngest is at home 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:

33“Then the man who is governor of the land told us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take grain for your starving families and go on home.

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.

34But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I will know you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give you back your brother, and you may trade freely in the land.’”

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 emptied out their sacks, there in each man’s sack was the bag of money he had paid for the grain! The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money.

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.

36Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against 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 may kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. I’ll be responsible for him, and I promise to bring him back.”

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 replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on your journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave. ”

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.