Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt To Buy Grain
1 When Jacob found out there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here, staring at one another? 2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down and buy some, so we won't starve to death.”
3 Ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's younger brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something might happen to him. 5 So Jacob's sons joined others from Canaan who were going to Egypt because of the terrible famine.
6 Since Joseph was governor of Egypt and in charge of selling grain, his brothers came to him and bowed with their faces to the ground. 7-8 They did not recognize Joseph, but at once he knew who they were, though he pretended not to know. Instead, he spoke harshly and asked, “Where do you come from?”
“From the land of Canaan,” they answered. “We've come here to buy grain.”
9 Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them and said, “You're spies! You've come here to find out where our country is weak.”
10 “No sir,” they replied. “We're your servants, and we have only come to buy grain. 11 We're honest men, and we come from the same family—we're not spies.”
12 “That isn't so!” Joseph insisted. “You've come here to find out where our country is weak.”
13 But they explained, “Sir, we come from a family of twelve brothers. The youngest is still with our father in Canaan, and one of our brothers is dead.”
14 Joseph replied:
It's like I said. You're spies, 15 and I'm going to find out the truth. I swear by the life of the king that you won't leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. 16 Choose one of you to go after your brother, while the rest of you stay here in jail. That will show whether you are telling the truth. But if you are lying, I swear by the life of the king that you are spies!
17 Joseph kept them all under guard for three days, 18 before saying to them:
Since I respect God, I'll give you a chance to save your lives. 19 If you are honest men, one of you must stay here in jail, and the rest of you can take the grain back to your starving families. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then I'll know that you are telling the truth, and you won't be put to death.
Joseph's brothers agreed 21 and said to one another, “We're being punished because of Joseph. We saw the trouble he was in, but we refused to help him when he begged us. That's why these terrible things are happening.”
22 Reuben spoke up, “Didn't I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn't listen, and now we have to pay the price for killing him.”
23 They did not know that Joseph could understand them, since he was speaking through an interpreter. 24 Joseph turned away from them and cried, but soon he turned back and spoke to them again. Then he had Simeon tied up and taken away while they watched.
Joseph's Brothers Return to Canaan
25 Joseph gave orders for his brothers' grain sacks to be filled with grain and for their money to be put in their sacks. He also gave orders for them to be given food for their journey home. After this was done, 26 they each loaded the grain on their donkeys and left.
27 When they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey, and at once he saw his moneybag. 28 “Here's my money!” he told his brothers. “Right here in my sack.”
They were trembling with fear as they stared at one another and asked themselves, “What has God done to us?”
29 When they returned to the land of Canaan, they told their father Jacob everything that had happened to them:
30 The governor of Egypt was rude and treated us like spies. 31 But we told him, “We're honest men, not spies. 32 We come from a family of twelve brothers. The youngest is still with our father in Canaan, and the other is dead.”
33 Then the governor of Egypt told us, “I'll find out if you really are honest. Leave one of your brothers here with me, while you take the grain to your starving families. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me, so I can be certain that you are honest men and not spies. After that, I'll let your other brother go free, and you can stay here and trade.”
35 When the brothers started emptying their sacks of grain, they found their moneybags in them. They were frightened, and so was their father Jacob, 36 who said, “You have already taken my sons Joseph and Simeon from me. And now you want to take away Benjamin! Everything is against me.”
37 Reuben spoke up, “Father, if I don't bring Benjamin back, you can kill both of my sons. Trust me with him, and I'll bring him back.”
38 But Jacob said, “I won't let my son Benjamin go down to Egypt with the rest of you. His brother is already dead, and he is the only son I have left. I am an old man, and if anything happens to him on the way, I'll die from sorrow, and all of you will be to blame.”
Aamwahe yaJosef taa ka landa iilya kuEgipiti
1 Jakob sho a kundana kutya kuEgipiti oku na iilya, okwa lombwele oyana a ti: “Otamu talathana ngiini? 2 Ondu uvu kutya kuEgipiti oku na iilya. Indeni ko, mu ka lande iilya, opo twaa se kondjala.” 3 Aamwahe yaJosef omulongo oya ka landa iilya kuEgipiti, 4 ihe Jakob ina tuma onkelo Benjamin, omumwayina gwaJosef, oshoka a li a tila, pamwe ota adhika koshiponga.
5 Aana yaJakob pamwe nayalwe wo oye ya, ya lande iilya, oshoka muKaanan omwa li mu na ondjala. 6 Josef okwa li omupangeli gwoshilongo nokwa landitha po iilya kaantu yomuuyuni auhe. Aamwahe yaJosef oye ya e taa inyongamene kuye ya tsa iipala mevi. 7 Josef sho a mono aamwahe, okwe ya dhimbulula, ihe okwe ya idhimbike a fa kee ya shi. Okwe ya pula nomagandambadhi a ti: “Otamu zi peni?”
Oya yamukula ya ti: “Otwa zi kuKaanan, twe ya okulanda iilya.”
8 Josef okwa dhimbulula aamwahe, ihe yo inaye mu dhimbulula. 9 Okwa dhimbulukwa oondjodhi ndhoka a yagumine e ta ti kuyo: “One oondaadhi; omwe ya okutala, oshilongo ngele osha nengena.”
10 Oya yamukula ya ti: “Aawe, tatekulu. Tse aapika yoye twe ya okulanda iilya. 11 Tse atuhe aantu naamwayina. Katu shi oondaadhi; tse aantu aayinekelwa.”
12 Josef okwa ti: “Aawe, omwe ya owala mu tale, oshilongo shetu ngele osha nengena.”
13 Oya ti: “Otwa li atuhe kumwe aantu naamwayina omulongo nayaali, aana yomusamane gumwe mevi lyaKaanan. Mukwetu okwa sa, nonkelo oyi li putate kegumbo.”
14 Josef okwa yamukula a ti: “Osho naanaa, ngaashi nda ti: one oondaadhi. 15 Natu taleni, ngele otamu popi oshili. Ote gana medhina lyomukwaniilwa kutya itamu zi po mpaka, manga ondenge yeni onkelo inee ya mpaka. 16 Gumwe gwomune na ye e ke mu tale, yamwe manga taa kala po ya dhigininwa, sigo oshili tayi holoka, ngaashi mwa ti. Ngele hasho, one oondaadhi. Osho oshili, ngaashi omukwaniilwa e na omwenyo.” 17 Nena okwe ya tula mondjedhililo e taa kala mo omasiku gatatu.
18 Mesiku etitatu Josef okwa ti kuyo: “Ngame omutilikalunga nonda hala okuhupitha oomwenyo dheni, ngele otamu ningi ngeyi: 19 Opo tu mone kutya one aantu aayinekelwa, gumwe gwomune na kale mondjedhililo moka mu li, manga yalwe tamu faalele aanaluhepo iilya mbyoka mwa landa. 20 Nena omu na okweetela ndje omumwanyoko onkelo, opo shi ninge ekoleko kutya omwa lombwela ndje oshili, ne mwaa dhipagwe.”
21 Oya zimine e taa lombwelathana taa ti: “Eeno, otatu hepekwa naanaa molwashoka twa ningile omumwamene. Otwa mwene uudhigu we uunene, sho a li e tu indile ohenda, ihe tse inatu pulakena ko. Omolwashoka tu li muudhigu wa tya ngaaka.”
22 Reuben okwa ti: “Inandi mu lombwela, mwaa ehameke omunona, ihe inamu pulakena? Ngashingeyi otatu pulwa ombinzi ye.” 23 Josef oku uvu shoka taa ti, ihe yo inaye shi tseya, oshoka oya popile naye nomutoloki. 24 Josef okwa zi puyo e ta lili. Sho a fudha po, okwa galuka e ta kutha Simeon mokati kawo e te mu mangitha montaneho yawo.
Aamwahe yaJosef taa shuna kuKaanan
25 Josef okwa ti, oompunda dhawo nadhi udhithwe iilya, iimaliwa yawo yi tulwe mompunda yashaa ngoka, yo ya pewe onguta yomondjila. Shika osha ningwa. 26 Aamwahe oya kutile uusino wawo iilya mbyoka ye yi landa e taa yi. 27 Montanda gumwe okwa dhitulula ompunda ye, a paluthe okasino ke e ta mono iimaliwa mokana kompunda. 28 Okwa lombwele aamwayina a ti: “Iimaliwa yandje oya galukila ndje, oyo mbika mompunda yandje!” Omitima dhawo odha kukuka, nomuumbanda oya lombwelathana ya ti: “Akwetu, Kalunga okwe tu ningi ngiini?”
29 Sho ya thiki kuhe kuKaanan, oye mu hokololele ayihe mbyoka ya ningilwa ya ti: 30 “Omupangeli gwaEgipiti okwe tu popitha nomagandambadhi e te tu pe oombedhi dhokundaadha oshilongo she. 31 Otwa yamukula twa ti: ‘Tse katu shi oondaadhi, tse aantu aainekelwa. 32 Otwa li aantu naamwayina omulongo nayaali, aana yahe gumwe. Omumwameme gumwe okwa sa, nonkelo oku li kuKaanan putate.’ 33 Omulumentu omupangeli okwa yamukula a ti: ‘Ningeni ngeyi, opo ku monike kutya ne aantu aainekelwa: Gumwe gwomune na kale pungame, manga yalwe taa ka faalela aanaluhepo iilya. 34 Etelii ndje omumwanyoko onkelo, nena otandi ka tseya kutya ne kamu shi oondaadhi, ihe aayinekelwa. Otandi mu galulile omumwanyoko, opo tamu vulu okweenda noshilongo ashihe.’ ” 35 Sho taa pimpi oompunda dhawo, shaa ngoka okwa mono okampunda ke kiimaliwa. Sho ya mono uumpunda wiimaliwa, oyo pamwe nahe Jakob oya li ya tila. 36 He okwa ti kuyo: “Omwa hala mu yuge ndje aamwandje? Josef ke po; Simeon ke po; ngashingeyi omwa hala mu kuthe ndje Benjamin. Ayihe otayi ehameke ndje.”
37 Reuben okwa ti kuhe: “Ngele itandi ku galulile Benjamin, oto vulu okudhipaga po aamwandje aamati yaali. Mu tula mesiloshimpwiyu lyandje, notandi mu galulile kungoye.” 38 Ihe Jakob okwa ti: “Omumwandje ita yi nane. Omumwayina okwa sa, oye awike a kala po. Ota ningi a adhike koshiponga mondjila. Onda kulupa, noluhodhi ndoka tamu etele ndje, otalu dhipaga ndje.”
