International Standard Version

English Standard Version

1Eventually, Jacob observed that there was grain in Egypt, so he asked his sons, "Why do you keep on staring at one another?

1When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”

2Pay attention now! I've heard that there is grain in Egypt, so go down there and buy some grain for us, so we can live, instead of dying."

2And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”

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

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

4Jacob would not send Joseph's brother Benjamin to accompany them, because he was saying, "I'm afraid that he'll come to some kind of harm."

4But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.

5Israel's sons went in a caravan that included others who were going to Egypt to buy grain, because the famine pervaded the land of Canaan, too.

5Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6Meanwhile, Joseph continued to be ruler over the land, in charge of selling to everyone in the land. Joseph's brothers appeared and bowed down to him, face down.

6Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

7As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he remained disguised and asked them gruffly, "Where are you from?" "From the land of Canaan," they replied. "We're here to buy food."

7Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

8But Joseph had already recognized his brothers, even though they had not recognized him.

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

9Furthermore, Joseph remembered the dreams that he had about them. So he accused them, "You're spies! You've come here to spy on our undefended territories!"

9And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

10"No, your majesty," they replied. "Your servants have come here to buy food.

10They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food.

11We're all sons of a common father. We're honest men, your majesty. We're not spies!"

11We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”

12But Joseph kept insisting, "It's just as I've said—you've come here to spy on our unguarded territories!"

12He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.”

13"But your majesty," they pleaded, "your servants include twelve brothers, the sons of a common father back in the land of Canaan. Please! Our youngest brother remains with our father, and the other one is no longer alive."

13And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”

14"I'm right!" Joseph insisted. "Just as I said, you're spies!

14But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies.

15So here's how we'll test you. You can bet the life of Pharaoh that you're not leaving here until your youngest brother comes here!

15By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

16One of you is to be sent back so he can get your brother while the rest of you remain in custody. That way, we'll test whether or not you're telling the truth. If you're not, as surely as the Pharaoh lives, you're spies!"

16Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

17Then Joseph locked them all together in prison for three days.

17And he put them all together in custody for three days.

18Three days later, Joseph told them, "I fear God, so do this and you'll live.

18On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:

19If you're honest men, leave one of your brothers here in custody, then the rest of you can leave and take some grain with you to alleviate the famine that's affecting your households.

19if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households,

20Just be sure to bring your youngest brother back to me so what you've claimed can be verified. That way, you won't die."

20and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.

21"We're all guilty because of what we did to our brother!" they told each other. "We kept on watching his suffering while he pleaded with us! We're in this mess because we wouldn't listen!"

21Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

22"Didn't I tell you!" Reuben replied. "'Don't wrong the kid!' I said, but would you listen? No! Now it's payback time!"

22And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”

23Meanwhile, they had no idea that Joseph could understand them, since he was talking to them through an interpreter.

23They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.

24He turned away from them and began to weep. When he returned, he spoke with them, but then he took Simeon away from them and had him placed under arrest right in front of them.

24Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

25After this, Joseph gave orders to fill up their sacks with grain, to return each man's money to his own sack, and to supply each of them with provisions for their return journey. All of this was done for them.

25And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.

26Then they each mounted up, their donkeys having been loaded with grain, and left from there.

26Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed.

27Later on, one of them opened up his sack to give his donkey some fodder after they had stopped at the place where they intended to lodge for the night. There, in the mouth of his sack, was all of his money!

27And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.

28He reported to his brothers, "My money has been returned! It's right here in my sack!" Trembling with mounting consternation, each of them asked one another, "What is God doing to us?"

28He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

29As soon as they had returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them.

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

30"The man who was in charge of the land spoke harshly to us," they said. "He accused us of being spies!

30“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land.

31But we told him, 'No! We're honest men! We're not spies!

31But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies.

32Our father has twelve sons, but one of us isn't alive anymore, and our youngest brother is with our father today back home in Canaan.'

32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’

33But the man who was in charge of the land responded, 'I'm going to test your honesty. Leave one of your brothers with me, take some grain for the famine that's afflicting your households, and leave.

33Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.

34But bring your youngest brother back to me so I can be sure that you're honest men, and not spies. Then I'll return your brother to you, and you'll be allowed to trade anywhere in the land.'"

34Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”

35Later on, as they went about unloading their sacks, each man's bundle of money was found in each man's sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were greatly distressed.

35As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.

36Their father Jacob told them, "You're causing me to lose my children! Joseph is gone. Now Simeon is gone, and you're planning to take Benjamin, too. Everything's going against me!"

36And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.”

37"Feel free to put my own two sons to death," Reuben responded to his father, "if I don't bring him back to you. Trust me—I'll bring him back to you."

37Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

38But Jacob replied, "My son isn't going back with you, since his brother is dead and he's the only one left. If something should harm him as you travel, then it'll be death for me and my sad, gray hair!"

38But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.