Genesis 42

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 And Jacob hearing that food was sold in Egypt, said to his sons: Why are ye careless?	1 When Jacob learned that grain rations were available in Egypt, he said to his sons: "Why do you keep gaping at one another?
2 I have heard that wheat is sold in Egypt: go ye down, and buy us necessaries, that we may live, and not be consumed with want.	2 I hear," he went on, "that rations of grain are available in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, that we may stay alive rather than die of hunger."
3 So the ten brethren of Joseph went down, to buy corn in Egypt:	3 So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy an emergency supply of grain from Egypt.
4 Whilst Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his brethren: Lest perhaps he take any harm in the journey.	4 It was only Joseph's full brother Benjamin that Jacob did not send with the rest, for he thought some disaster might befall him.
5 And they entered into the land of Egypt with others that went to buy. For the famine was in the land of Chanaan.	5 Thus, since there was famine in the land of Canaan also, the sons of Israel were among those who came to procure rations.
6 And Joseph was governor in the land of Egypt, and corn was sold by his direction to the people. And when his brethren had bowed down to him,	6 It was Joseph, as governor of the country, who dispensed the rations to all the people. When Joseph's brothers came and knelt down before him with their faces to the ground,
7 And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers somewhat roughly, asking them: Whence came you? They answered: From the land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.	7 he recognized them as soon as he saw them. But he concealed his own identity from them and spoke sternly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked them. They answered, "From the land of Canaan, to procure food."
8 And though he knew his brethren, he was not known by them.	8 When Joseph recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him,
9 And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had dreamed, he said to them: You are spies. You are come to view the weaker parts of the land.	9 he was reminded of the dreams he had about them. He said to them: "You are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land."
10 But they said: It is not so, my lord, but thy servants are come to buy food.	10 "No, my lord," they replied. "On the contrary, your servants have come to procure food.
11 We are all the sons of one man: we are come as peaceable men, neither do thy servants go about any evil.	11 All of us are sons of the same man. We are honest men; your servants have never been spies."
12 And he answered them: It is otherwise: you are come to consider the unfenced parts of this land.	12 But he answered them: "Not so! You have come to see the nakedness of the land."
13 But they said: We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Chanaan: the youngest is with our father, the other is not living.	13 "We your servants," they said, "were twelve brothers, sons of a certain man in Canaan; but the youngest one is at present with our father, and the other one is gone."
14 He saith: This is it that I said: You are spies.	14 "It is just as I said," Joseph persisted; "you are spies.
15 I shall now presently try what you are: by the health of Pharao you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come.	15 This is how you shall be tested: unless your youngest brother comes here, I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you shall not leave here.
16 Send one of you to fetch him: and you shall be in prison, till what you have said be proved, whether it be true or false: or else by the health of Pharao you are spies.	16 So send one of your number to get your brother, while the rest of you stay here under arrest. Thus shall your words be tested for their truth; if they are untrue, as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"
17 So he put them in prison three days.	17 With that, he locked them up in the guardhouse for three days.
18 And the third day he brought them out of prison, and said: Do as I have said, and you shall live: for I fear God.	18 On the third day Joseph said to them: "Do this, and you shall live; for I am a God-fearing man.
19 If you be peaceable men, let one of your brethren be bound in prison: and go ye your ways and carry the corn that you have bought, unto your houses.	19 If you have been honest, only one of your brothers need be confined in this prison, while the rest of you may go and take home provisions for your starving families.
20 And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may find your words to be true, and you may not die. They did as he had said.	20 But you must come back to me with your youngest brother. Your words will thus be verified, and you will not die." To this they agreed.
21 And they talked one to another: We deserve to suffer these things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the anguished of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this affliction come upon us.	21 To one another, however, they said: "Alas, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw the anguish of his heart when he pleaded with us, yet we paid no heed; that is why this anguish has now come upon us."
22 And Ruben one of them, said: Did not I say to you: Do not sin against the boy: and you would not hear me? Behold his blood is required.	22 "Didn't I tell you," broke in Reuben, "not to do wrong to the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now comes the reckoning for his blood."
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood, because he spoke to them by an interpreter.	23 They did not know, of course, that Joseph understood what they said, since he spoke with them through an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself away a little while, and wept: and returning he spoke to them.	24 But turning away from them, he wept. When he was able to speak to them again, he had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.
25 And taking Simeon, and binking him in their presence, he commanded his servants to fill their sacks with wheat, and to put every man's money again in their sacks, and to give them besides provisions for the way: and they did so.	25 Then Joseph gave orders to have their containers filled with grain, their money replaced in each one's sack, and provisions given them for their journey. After this had been done for them,
26 But they having loaded their asses with the corn, went their way.	26 they loaded their donkeys with the rations and departed.
27 And one of them opening his sack, to give his beast provender in the inn, saw the money in the sack's mouth;	27 At the night encampment, when one of them opened his bag to give his donkey some fodder, he was surprised to see his money in the mouth of his bag.
28 And said to his brethren: My money is given me again, hehold it is in the sack. And thye were astonished, and troubled, and said to one another: What is this that God hath done unto us?	28 "My money has been returned!" he cried out to his brothers. "Here it is in my bag!" At that their hearts sank. Trembling, they asked one another, "What is this that God has done to us?"
29 And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Chanaan, and they told him all things that had befallen them, saying:	29 When they got back to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them.
30 The lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us to be spies of the country.	30 "The man who is lord of the country," they said, "spoke to us sternly and put us in custody as if we were spying on the land.
31 And we answered him: We are peaceable men, and we mean no plot.	31 But we said to him: 'We are honest men; we have never been spies.
32 We are twelve brethren born of one father: one is not living, the youngest is with our father in the land of Chanaan.	32 There were twelve of us brothers, sons of the same father; but one is gone, and the youngest one is at present with our father in the land of Canaan.'
33 And he said to us: Hereby shall I know that you are peaceable men: Leave one of your brethren with me, and take ye necessary provision for your houses, and go your ways.	33 Then the man who is lord of the country said to us: 'This is how I shall know if you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, while the rest of you go home with rations for your starving families.
34 And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know you are not spies: and you may receive this man again, that is kept in prison: and afterwards may have leave to buy what you will.	34 When you come back to me with your youngest brother, and I know that you are honest men and not spies, I will restore your brother to you, and you may move about freely in the land.'"
35 When they had told this, they poured out their corn and every man found his money tied in the mouth of his sack: and all being astonished together,	35 When they were emptying their sacks, there in each one's sack was his moneybag! At the sight of their moneybags, they and their father were dismayed.
36 Their father Jacob said: You have made me to be without children: Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, and Benjamin you will take away: all these evils are fallen upon me.	36 Their father Jacob said to them: "Must you make me childless? Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take away Benjamin! Why must such things always happen to me?"
37 And Ruben answered him: Kill my two sons if I bring him not again to thee: deliver him unto my hand, and I will restore him to thee.	37 Then Reuben told his father: "Put him in my care, and I will bring him back to you. You may kill my own two sons if I do not return him to you."
38 But he said: My son shall not go down with you: his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if any mischief befall him in the land to which you go, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to hell.	38 But Jacob replied: "My son shall not go down with you. Now that his full brother is dead, he is the only one left. If some disaster should befall him on the journey you must make, you would send my white head down to the nether world in grief."