Genesis 42:17-35
New American Standard Bible
18Now Joseph said to them on the third day, 'Do this and live, for I fear God:
19if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households,
20and bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.' And they did so.
21Then they said to one another, 'Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.'
22Reuben answered them, saying, 'Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now justice for his blood is required.'
23They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.
24Then he turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, but also to return every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And that is what was done for them.
26So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.
27But when one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the overnight campsite, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the opening of his sack!
28So he said to his brothers, 'My money has been returned, and look, it is right in my sack!' Then their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?'
29When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying,
30The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
33But 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 households, and go.
34But bring your youngest brother to me so that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’?'
King James Version
Chapter 42
17And he put them all together into ward three days. 18And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: 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: 20But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
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.
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.
23And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by 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.
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.
26And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
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.
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?
29And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no 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.
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:
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.
Christian Standard Bible
18On the third day Joseph said to them, "I fear God —do this and you will live.
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.
20Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die." And they consented to this.
23They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
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.
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.
26They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.
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.
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?"
29When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:
30"The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
31But we told him: We are honest and not spies.
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.
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.
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.’"
New Living Translation
Chapter 42
17So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. 18On the third day Joseph said to them, 'I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. 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 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.
23Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter.
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.
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.
26So the brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain and headed for home.
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.
28Look!' 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?'
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 governor of the land spoke very harshly to us,' they told him. 'He accused us of being spies scouting the land.
31But we said, ‘We are honest men, not spies.
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.’
33Then 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.
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.’'
English Standard Version
18On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God:
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,
20and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.
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."
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."
23They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between 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.
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 loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed.
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 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?"
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, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land.
31But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies.
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.’
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.
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.’"
New International Version
18On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God:
19If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.
20But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do.
22Reuben replied, "Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood."
23They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
25Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them,
26they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
29When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said,
30"The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.
31But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
32We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’
33"Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.
34But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’ "
New King James Version
18Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God:
19If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20And bring your young est brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.
21Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
22And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.”
23But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them.
26So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
27But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
28So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying:
30“The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’
33Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.
34And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”
