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Genesis 42

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1 And Jacob saw that there·​·were rations in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?

2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there·​·are rations in Egypt; go·​·down thither, and purchase·​·rations for us from thence; and we shall live, and not die.

3 And the ten brothers of Joseph went·​·down to purchase grain from Egypt.

4 And Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brothers; for he said, Lest harm befall him.

5 And the sons of Israel came to purchase in the midst of those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 And Joseph, he was dominant over the land; it was he who rationed to all the people of the land; and the brothers of Joseph came, and bowed· themselves ·down to him, faces to the earth.

7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but made· himself ·unrecognizable to them, and spoke hard things with them; and he said to them, Whence did you come? And they said, From the land of Canaan to purchase food.

8 And Joseph recognized his brothers; but they did not recognize him.

9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them, and said to them, You are spies; to see the nakedness of the land you have come.

10 And they said to him, No, my lord, but thy servants have come to purchase food.

11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest; thy servants are not spies.

12 And he said to them, No, but to see the nakedness of the land you have come.

13 And they said, We thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

14 And Joseph said to them, This is it what I spoke to you, saying, you are spies.

15 By this you shall be tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not go·​·out from this place unless your youngest brother come hither.

16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be bound, and your words shall be tested, whether the truth is with you; and if not, as Pharaoh lives, then you are spies.

17 And he gathered them under guard three days.

18 And Joseph said to them on the third day, Do this, and live; I fear God.

19 If you be righteous, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your keeping; and go, bring back your purchase for the hunger of your houses.

20 And bring your youngest brother to me; and your words shall be believed, and you shall· not ·die. And they did so.

21 And they said, a man to his brother, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the adversity of his soul, when he asked· us ·for·​·grace, and we would not hear; therefore has this adversity come to us.

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Said I not to you, saying, Sin not against the child; and you did not hearken? And, behold, also his blood is inquired after.

23 And they knew not that Joseph heard them; for the translator was between them.

24 And he turned·​·around from upon them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.

25 And Joseph commanded, and they filled their vessels with grain, and he commanded them to return their silver of each·​·man to his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and he did so to them.

26 And they lifted their purchase onto their donkeys, and went thence.

27 And one opened his sack to give his donkey fodder in the inn, and he saw his silver; and behold, it was in the mouth of his bag.

28 And he said to his brothers, My silver is returned, and behold, it is even in my bag; and their heart went·​·forth, and they were frightened a man to his brother, saying, What is this that God has done to us?

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

30 The man, the lord of the land, spoke hard things with us, and took us for spies of the land.

31 And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies.

32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest* is today with our father in the land of Canaan.

33 And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are righteous; let· one of your brothers ·stay with me, and take for the hunger of your houses, and go.

34 And bring your youngest brother to me, then shall I know that you are not spies, but that you are honest; I will give your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.

35 And it was that they emptied their sacks, and behold, each·​·man, the bundle of his silver was in his sack; and they saw the bundles of their silver, they and their father, and they were fearful.

36 And Jacob their father said to them, Me have you bereaved, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin; all these things be come upon me.

37 And Reuben said to his father, saying, Put·​·to·​·death my two sons if I bring him not to thee; give him upon my hand, and I will return him to thee.

38 And he said, My son shall not go·​·down with you; for his brother is·​·dead, and he alone is left; and harm will befall him in the way in which you shall go, and you will make my gray·​·hairs go·​·down in sorrow to the underworld.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They all do different things -- but if they're doing them with a shared underlying purpose, the company -- and the individuals in it -- will likely be successful. The Lord wants all human society to function in a similar way. We have different skills and individual loves, but if we all share a mutual love -- a love of serving others -- then society will function as one, will be a reflection of heaven and will be a good receptacle for the Lord's love. This can also happen within each of us, as we unify our talents and ideas around a central love. And in an abstract sense, it illustrates how a wide collection of varying ideas can be unified around a shared good intention. That is the kind of love pictured when “one” is used in the Bible, either as a specific number or in the sense of several people or objects “being one.” In more casual references -- when used to identify a specific person or object -- the meaning is relatively literal, and is connected to that person or object.