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G ENESIS 42
page 41
wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the
priest of On. 51 Joseph named his older son Manasseh,* for he said, “God has made me forget
all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” 52 Joseph named his second son Ephraim,*
for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this
land of my grief.”
53 At last the seven years of bumper crops
throughout the land of Egypt came to an end.
54 Then the seven years of famine began, just as
Joseph had predicted. The famine also struck
all the surrounding countries, but throughout
Egypt there was plenty of food. 55 Eventually,
however, the famine spread throughout the land
of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out
to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph,
and do whatever he tells you.” 56 So with severe
famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians,
for the famine was severe throughout the land
of Egypt. 57 And people from all around came to
Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why
are you standing around looking at one another? 2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go
down there, and buy enough grain to keep us
alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”
3 So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down
to Egypt to buy grain. 4 But Jacob wouldn’t let
Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with
them, for fear some harm might come to him.
5 So Jacob’s* sons arrived in Egypt along with
others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.
6 Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and
in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was
to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces
to the ground. 7 Joseph recognized his brothers
instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and
spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?”
he demanded.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We
have come to buy food.”
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers,
they didn’t recognize him. 9 And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many
years before. He said to them, “You are spies!
You have come to see how vulnerable our land
has become.”
10 “No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. 11 We are all
brothers—members of the same family. We are
honest men, sir! We are not spies!”
42
41:51 Manasseh sounds like a Hebrew term that means
“causing to forget.” 41:52 Ephraim sounds like a Hebrew term
that means “fruitful.” 42:5 Hebrew Israel’s. See note on 35:21.
12 “Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have
come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”
13 “Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of
us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a
man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest
brother is back there with our father right now,
and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”
14 But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies!
15 This is how I will test your story. I swear by the
life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt
unless your youngest brother comes here! 16 One
of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep
the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find
out whether or not your story is true. By the life
of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a
younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.”
17 So Joseph put them all in prison for three
days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them,
“I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you
will live. 19 If 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. 20 But 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.
21 Speaking among themselves, they said,
“Clearly we are being punished because of what
we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish
• Conscience
G E N E S I S 42:21
When Joseph’s brothers encountered
troubles as they tried to buy grain in
Egypt, their consciences pricked them
and reminded them of the day they sold
Joseph into slavery. For years they had
ignored the cries of their consciences.
But when their troubles caught up with
them, the brothers finally saw them as
the fruit of their past sins. Their troubles
actually reopened the pipeline between
self and conscience, allowing their
consciences to once again testify against
them and pronounce them guilty. Ignoring
our consciences not only opens the door
to sin but allows sin’s consequences
to grow unchecked. And sometimes it
takes a crisis, brought about by our own
actions, to get us back in touch with
our consciences. If your conscience is
nagging you about past sins or a sin
you are about to commit, don’t smother
its cries against you. Right the wrongs
before the consequences of your sin
come back in full force.