Genesis 42

¹Forsothe Jacob herde that foodis weren seeld in Egipt, and he seide to hise sones, Whi ben ye necgligent?

²Y herde that wheete is seeld in Egipt, go ye doun, and bie ye necessaries to vs, that we moun lyue, and be not wastid bi nedynesse.

³Therfor ten britheren of Joseph yeden doun to bie wheete in Egipt,

⁴and Beniamyn was withholdun of Jacob at hoome, that seide to hise britheren, Lest perauenture in the weie he suffre ony yuel.

⁵Sotheli thei entriden in to the lond of Egipt, with othere men that yeden to bie; forsothe hungur was in the lond of Canaan.

⁶And Joseph was prince of Egipt, and at his wille whetis weren seeld to puplis. And whanne hise britheren hadden worschipid hym,

⁷and he hadde knowe hem, he spak hardere as to aliens, and axide hem, Fro whennus camen ye? Whiche answeriden, Fro the lond of Canaan, that we bie necessaries to lyiflode.

⁸And netheles he knewe the britheren, and he was not knowun of hem,

⁹and he bithouyte on the dremys whiche he seiy sumtyme. And he seide to hem, Ye ben aspieris, ye camen to se the feblere thingis of the lond.

¹⁰Whiche seiden, Lord, it is not so, but thi seruauntis camen to bie metis;

¹¹alle we ben the sones of o man, we comen pesible, and thi seruauntis ymaginen not ony yuel.

¹²To `whiche he answeride, It is in other maner, ye camen to se the feble thingis of the lond.

¹³And thei seiden, `We twelue britheren, thi seruauntis, ben sones of o man in the lond of Canaan; the leeste is with oure fadir, an other is not `on erthe.

¹⁴This it is, he seide, that Y spak to you,

¹⁵ye ben aspieris, riyt now Y schal take experience of you, bi the helthe of Farao ye schulen not go fro hennus, til youre leeste brother come; sende ye oon of you,

¹⁶that he brynge hym, forsothe ye schulen be in boondis, til tho thingis that ye seiden ben preued, whether tho ben false ether trewe; ellis, bi the helthe of Farao, ye ben aspieris.

¹⁷Therfor he bitook hem to kepyng thre daies; sotheli in the thridde dai,

¹⁸whanne thei weren led out of prisoun, he seide, Do ye that that Y seide, and ye schulen lyue, for Y drede God;

¹⁹if ye ben pesible, o brother of you be boundun in prisoun; forsothe go ye, and bere wheetis, whiche ye bouyten,

²⁰in to youre housis, and brynge ye youre leeste brother to me, that Y may preue youre wordis, and ye die not. Thei diden as he seide,

²¹and thei spaken togidere, Skilfuli we suffren these thingis, for we synneden ayens oure brother, and we seiyen the anguysch of his soule, while he preiede vs, and we herden not; herfore this tribulacioun cometh on vs.

²²Of which oon, Ruben, seide, Whether Y seide not to yow, Nyle ye do synne ayens the child, and ye herden not me? lo! his blood is souyt.

²³Sotheli thei wisten not that Joseph vndirstood, for he spak to hem by interpretour.

²⁴And he turnede awei hym silf a litil and wepte; and he turnede ayen, and spak to hem.

²⁵And he took Symeon, and boond hym, while thei weren present; and he comaundide the mynystris, that thei schulden fille her sackis with wheete, and that thei schulden putte the money `of alle in her baggis, and ouer this yyue metis in the weie; whiche diden so.

²⁶And thei `baren wetis on her assis, and yeden forth,

²⁷and whanne the sak of oon was opened that he schulde yyue meete to the werk beeste in the yn, he bihelde the money in the mouth of the bagge,

²⁸and seide to his britheren, My monei is yoldun to me, lo! it is had in the bagge; and thei weren astonyed, and troblid, and seiden togidere, What thing is this that God hath doon to us.

²⁹And thei camen to Jacob, her fadir, in the loond of Canaan, and telden to hym alle thingis that bifelden to hem, and seiden,

³⁰The lord of the lond spak harde to vs, and gesside that we weren aspieris of the prouynce;

³¹to whom we answeriden, We ben pesible, nether we purposen ony tresouns;

³²we ben twelue britheren, gendrid of o fadir, oon is not `on erthe, the leeste dwellith with the fadir in the lond of Canaan.

³³And he seide to vs, Thus Y schal preue that ye ben pesible; leeffe ye o brother of you with me, and take ye metis nedeful to youre housis, and go ye, and brynge ye to me youre leeste brother,

³⁴that Y wite that ye ben not aspieris, and that ye moun resseyue this brother which is holdun in boondis, and that fro thennus forth ye haue licence to bie what thingis ye wolen.

³⁵While these thingis weren seide, whanne alle schedden out wheetis, thei founden money boundun in `the mouth of sackis. And whanne alle togidere weren aferd,

³⁶the fadir Jacob seide, Ye han maad me to be with out children; Joseph is not alyue, Symeon is holdun in bondis, ye schulen take a wey fro me Beniamyn; alle these yuels felden in me.

³⁷To whom Ruben answeride, Sle thou my twei sones, if Y shal not brynge hym ayen to thee; take thou hym in myn hond, and Y schal restore hym to thee.

³⁸And Jacob seide, My sone schal not go doun with you; his brother is deed, he aloone is left; if ony aduersite schal bifalle `to hym in the lond to which ye schulen go, ye schulen lede forth myn hoore heeris with sorewe to hellis.

Genesis 42

¹Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, 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 in Egypt.

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

⁵And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

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

⁷And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto 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 not him.

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 true 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, 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 spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

¹⁵Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh 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 kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh 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 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.

³⁵And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the 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: all these things are against me.

³⁷And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

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