ren; for he said: 'Lest peradventure harm befall him.' 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down to him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said unto them: 'Whence come ye?' And they said: 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.' 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And 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.' 10 And they said unto him: 'Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one man's sons; we are upright men, thy servants are no spies.' 12 And he said unto them: 'Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.' 13 And they said: 'We 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.' 14 And Joseph said unto them: "That is it that I spoke unto you, saying: Ye are spies. 15 Hereby ye shall be proved: as Pharaoh liveth, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. 16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh liveth, surely ye are spies.' 17 And he put them all together into ward three days. 18 And Joseph said unto them the third day: "This do, and

live; for I fear God: 19 if ye be upright men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses; 20 and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.' And they did So. 21 And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.' 22 And Reuben answered them, saying: 'Spoke I not unto you, saying: Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required.' 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for the interpreter was between them. 24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and thus was it done unto them. 26 And they laded their asses with their corn, and departed thence. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging-place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 And he said unto his brethren: 'My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack." And their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying: 'What is this that God hath done unto us?' 29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying: 30 "The man, the lord of the land, spoke

roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 And we said unto him: We are upright men; we are no spies. 32 We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us: Hereby shall I know that ye are upright men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go your way. 34 And bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are upright men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.'

35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And 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; upon me are all these things come.' 37 And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying: "Thou shalt slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to thee.' 38 And he said: 'My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left; if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.'

43 And the famine was sore in the land

2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said unto them: 'Go again, buy us a little food.' 3 And Judah

spoke unto him, saying: "The man did earnestly forewarn us, saying: Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food; 5 but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down, for the man said unto us: Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.' 6 And Israel said: 'Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?' 7 And they said: "The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying: Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words; could we in any wise know that he would say: Bring your brother down?' 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father: 'Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. 9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever. 10 For except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time.' 11 And their father Israel said unto them: 'If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and ladanum, nuts, and almonds; 12 and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry back in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight; 13 take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man; 14 and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother

and Benjamin. And as for me, if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.'

15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house: 'Bring the men into the house, and kill the beasts, and prepare the meat; for the men shall dine with me at noon.' 17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said: 'Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke unto him at the door of the house, 20 and said: 'Oh my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food. 21 And it came to pass, when we came to the lodging-place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought it back in our hand. 22 And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We know not who put our money in our sacks.' 23 And he said: 'Peace be to you, fear not; your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money." And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And