The Tanakh · JPS 1917 Translation

Genesis 42

Jewish Publication Society 1917 · Torah

Genesis chapter 42 — part of the Torah in the Jewish Bible. In the classic JPS 1917 translation it opens: “Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons: 'Why do ye look one upon another?'” — the complete text of all 38 verses is below, free to read online.

1Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons: 'Why do ye look one upon 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.'

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

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

5And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Caanan.

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

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

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

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.'

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

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

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

13And they said: 'We 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.'

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

15Hereby ye shall be proved, as Pharaoh liveth, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

16Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh liveth, surely ye are spies.'

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 G-d:

19if ye be upright men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses;

20and 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 distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.'

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

23And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for the interpreter was between them.

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

25Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and thus was it done unto them.

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

27And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging-place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth 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 turned trembling one to another, saying: 'What is this that G-d hath done unto us?'

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

30'The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.

31And we said unto him: We are upright men; we are no spies.

32We are 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 land, said unto us: Hereby shall I know that ye are upright men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go your way.

34And bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are upright men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic 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 they and their father saw their bundles of money, 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; upon me are all these things come.'

37And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying: 'Thou shalt slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to thee.'

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

38 verses · JPS 1917 (public domain)

‹ Genesis 41 Genesis 43 ›

Read, search & bookmark — free

This text opens instantly in the FourFaiths reader, with full-text search across every book, bookmarks saved in your browser, reading plans and a verse of the day. No account, no tracking — everything runs locally in your browser.

Open in the Tanakh reader →