Bible Reading Plan – Day 13

₁When Jacob learnt that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why don't you do something? ₂I hear that there is corn in Egypt; go there and buy some to keep us from starving to death.” ₃So Joseph's ten half-brothers went to buy corn in Egypt, ₄but Jacob did not send Joseph's full-brother Benjamin with them, because he was afraid that something might happen to him.

₅The sons of Jacob came with others to buy corn, because there was famine in the land of Canaan. ₆Joseph, as governor of the land of Egypt, was selling corn to people from all over the world. So Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. ₇When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted as if he did not know them. He asked them harshly, “Where do you come from?”

“We have come from Canaan to buy food,” they answered.

₈Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. ₉He remembered the dreams he had dreamt about them and said, “You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak.”

₁₀“No, sir,” they answered. “We have come as your slaves, to buy food. ₁₁We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men.”

₁₂Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to find out where our country is weak.”

₁₃They said, “We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father.”

₁₄“It is just as I said,” Joseph answered. “You are spies. ₁₅This is how you will be tested: I swear by the name of the king that you will never leave unless your youngest brother comes here. ₁₆One of you must go and get him. The rest of you will be kept under guard until the truth of what you say can be tested. Otherwise, as sure as the king lives, you are spies.” ₁₇Then he put them in prison for three days.

₁₈On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition. ₁₉To prove that you are honest, one of you will stay in the prison where you have been kept; the rest of you may go and take back to your starving families the corn that you have bought. ₂₀Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death.”

They agreed to this ₂₁and said to one another, “Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”

₂₂Reuben said, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you wouldn't listen. And now we are being paid back for his death.” ₂₃Joseph understood what they said, but they did not know it, because they had been speaking to him through an interpreter. ₂₄Joseph left them and began to cry. When he was able to speak again, he came back, picked out Simeon, and had him tied up in front of them.

₂₅Joseph gave orders to fill his brothers' packs with corn, to put each man's money back in his sack, and to give them food for the journey. This was done. ₂₆The brothers loaded their donkeys with the corn they had bought, and then they left. ₂₇At the place where they spent the night, one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey and found his money at the top of the sack. ₂₈“My money has been returned to me,” he called to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack!” Their hearts sank, and in fear they asked one another, “What has God done to us?”

₂₉When they came to their father Jacob in Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: ₃₀“The governor of Egypt spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying against his country. ₃₁‘We are not spies,’ we answered, ‘we are honest men. ₃₂We were twelve brothers in all, sons of the same father. One brother is dead, and the youngest is still in Canaan with our father.’ ₃₃The man answered, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men: one of you will stay with me; the rest will take corn for your starving families and leave. ₃₄Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but honest men; I will give your brother back to you, and you can stay here and trade.’ ”

₃₅Then when they emptied out their sacks, every one of them found his bag of money; and when they saw the money, they and their father Jacob were afraid. ₃₆Their father said to them, “Do you want to make me lose all my children? Joseph is gone; Simeon is gone; and now you want to take away Benjamin. I am the one who suffers!”

₃₇Reuben said to his father, “If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you can kill my two sons. Put him in my care, and I will bring him back.”

₃₈But Jacob said, “My son cannot go with you; his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. Something might happen to him on the way. I am an old man, and the sorrow you would cause me would kill me.”

₁The famine in Canaan got worse, ₂and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the corn which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy a little food for us.”

₃Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us that we would not be admitted to his presence unless we had our brother with us. ₄If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you. ₅If you are not willing, we will not go, because the man told us we would not be admitted to his presence unless our brother was with us.”

₆Jacob said, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another brother?”

₇They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family, ‘Is your father still living? Have you got another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother with us?”

₈Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will leave at once. Then none of us will starve to death. ₉I will pledge my own life, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you safe and sound, I will always bear the blame. ₁₀If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now.”

₁₁Their father said to them, “If that is how it has to be, then take the best products of the land in your packs as a present for the governor: a little resin, a little honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ₁₂Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake. ₁₃Take your brother and return at once. ₁₄May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your other brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them.”

₁₅So the brothers took the gifts and twice as much money, and set out for Egypt with Benjamin. There they presented themselves to Joseph. ₁₆When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. They are going to eat with me at noon, so kill an animal and prepare it.” ₁₇The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to Joseph's house.

₁₈As they were being brought to the house, they were afraid and thought, “We are being brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time. They will suddenly attack us, take our donkeys, and make us his slaves.” ₁₉So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge, ₂₀“If you please, sir, we came here once before to buy food. ₂₁When we set up camp on the way home, we opened our sacks, and each man found his money in the top of his sack — every bit of it. We have brought it back to you. ₂₂We have also brought some more money with us to buy more food. We do not know who put our money back in our sacks.”

₂₃The servant said, “Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks for you. I received your payment.” Then he brought Simeon to them.

₂₄The servant took the brothers into the house. He gave them water so that they could wash their feet, and he fed their donkeys. ₂₅They got their gifts ready to present to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had been told that they were to eat with him. ₂₆When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him. ₂₇He asked about their health and then said, “You told me about your old father — how is he? Is he still alive and well?”

₂₈They answered, “Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well.” And they knelt and bowed down before him.

₂₉When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “So this is your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.” ₃₀Then Joseph left suddenly, because his heart was full of tender feelings for his brother. He was about to break down, so he went to his room and cried. ₃₁After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served. ₃₂Joseph was served at one table and his brothers at another. The Egyptians who were eating there were served separately, because they considered it beneath their dignity to eat with Hebrews. ₃₃The brothers had been seated at table, facing Joseph, in the order of their age from the eldest to the youngest. When they saw how they had been seated, they looked at one another in amazement. ₃₄Food was served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was served five times as much as the rest of them. So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.