{
  "1": "Meanwhile {back in the region of Canaan}, {when} Jacob heard that there was grain {for sale} in {the country of} Egypt, he told his sons, “Do not just {stand around} doing nothing! ",
  "2": "Listen {to this}! I heard that there is grain {for sale} in {the country of} Egypt. {So} go down there and buy {some} for us {and our families} {to eat}, so that we can stay alive and not starve to death.” ",
  "3": "So Joseph’s ten {older} brothers {left home and} traveled down to Egypt to buy {some} grain {there}. ",
  "4": "But Jacob did not allow Joseph’s {younger} brother Benjamin to go {to Egypt} with {the rest of} his brothers, because Jacob was afraid that something bad might happen to him.\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "5": "Israel’s sons arrived {in Egypt} along with {many} other people who were coming {there} to buy {food}, because the severe food shortage was {also} {affecting everyone} in the region of Canaan. ",
  "6": "{Since} Joseph {was} the administrator over the country {of Egypt}, he {was} the one selling {grain} to people {who came to him} from all over the country. So Joseph’s brothers {also} went before him {like everyone else} and bowed down {with} {their} faces to the ground {to show him respect}.\n\n\\ts\\* ",
  "7": "When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended that he did not {know} {them}. In fact, he spoke to them sternly and asked them, “What country are you from?” They answered {him}, “{Sir,} {we are} from the region of Canaan to buy {some} grain.” ",
  "8": "Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not realize who he was.\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "9": "Then Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about his brothers {long ago}, so he accused them, “You are secretly gathering information {about our country}! You came {here} to find out where {our} country is weak!” ",
  "10": "But his brothers replied to him, “Sir, we are not {spies}. Rather, {we are} humble men {who} have come {here} {only} to buy {some} grain. ",
  "11": "We {are} all brothers who have the same father. We {are} humble, trustworthy men, not spies.”\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "12": "But Joseph accused them, “{That is} not {true}! You have definitely come {here} to find out where {our} country is weak!” ",
  "13": "But they replied {to him}, “Sir, {there were} twelve of us brothers. We {are} sons of the same father {who lives} in the region of Canaan. {Our} youngest {brother} {is} with our father right now, but {our other} brother has died.”\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "14": "But Joseph accused them, “What I told you is true! You are spying {on our country}! ",
  "15": "{So now,} this is how I will verify whether {or not} you {told me the truth}: As certain as {King} Pharaoh lives, {I swear that} you will {definitely} never leave Egypt until your youngest brother is here. ",
  "16": "{So} one of you must go {back home} and bring your {youngest} brother back {here}. {The rest of} you must stay here in prison. That way I can verify {whether} you told me the truth. But if you are lying, as certain as {King} Pharaoh lives, {that means} you really are spying {on our country}!” ",
  "17": "Then Joseph {had his soldiers} lock up his brothers in prison {for} three days.\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "18": "Three days later, Joseph said to them, “I am a man who reveres God. So if you do what I say, {I will let} you live. ",
  "19": "Since you {claim to be} trustworthy men, I will make {just} one of you brothers stay where you have been, in prison. {The rest of} you {may} go {and} carry food back {home} {for} your hungry families. ",
  "20": "But you {must} bring your youngest brother {back} {here} to me. That way I will know that you are telling the truth, and I will let you live.” So Joseph’s brothers {agreed to} do what he said.\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "21": "{While they were still standing there,} they said to each other, “Surely what we did to our brother {Joseph} {long ago} was {very} wrong. We saw how he was suffering when he begged us {not to harm him}, but we refused to listen {to him}. That is why we are suffering now.” ",
  "22": "Reuben scolded them by saying, “I told you {that} you should not do anything bad to him! But you refused to listen {to me}, and now look, God is holding us responsible for causing him to die!”\n\n\\ts\\* ",
  "23": "Joseph’s brothers did not realize that he {could} understand {what they were saying to each other}, because he had been speaking to them using a translator {as if he did not know their language}. ",
  "24": "{When Joseph heard what they were saying,} he turned his back to them and started crying. Then {after he recovered,} he turned back around and spoke to them {again}. Then he chose Simeon from {among} them and {had his soldiers} bind him {with chains} while they watched.\n\n\\p",
  "25": "Then Joseph told {his servants} to fill his brothers’ sacks {with} grain. {He} also {told them} to {secretly} put in each brother’s sack the money {they had paid for the grain} and to provide them {with} food to eat on their trip {home}. After Joseph did that for his brothers,\n\n\\ts\\* ",
  "26": "his brothers loaded their {sacks of} grain onto their donkeys’ {backs} and started traveling {home}.\n\n\\p",
  "27": "Later, {when they stopped} at a place to stay for the night, one {of them} opened his sack to get {some} grain to feed his donkey. There in the top of his sack he saw the money that he had used {to buy grain}! ",
  "28": "So he exclaimed to the others, “Somebody has returned my money {to me}! Here it is in my sack!” {When they saw it,} they were {completely} shocked, and they shook {with fear}. They asked each other, “Why is God doing this to us?”\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "29": "{When} they reached {their home in} the region of Canaan where their father Jacob was, they told him everything they had experienced. They said, ",
  "30": "“The man who governs the country {of Egypt} spoke to us sternly and accused us of spying {on} {their} country! ",
  "31": "But we told him, ‘We {are} trustworthy {men}; not spies. ",
  "32": "{There were} twelve of us brothers, {and} {we are} the sons of the same father. One {of our brothers} has died, and the youngest {brother} {is} {at home} with our father right now in the region of Canaan.’\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "33": "“But the man who governs the country told us, ‘This is how I will know if you {are} trustworthy {men}: You must leave one of you {here} with me, and {the rest of you} go {home} with {food for} your starving families. ",
  "34": "But bring your youngest brother {back} {here} to me. Then I will know that you {are} trustworthy {men} and not spies. {Then} I will return your brother to you {from prison}, and you can travel around my country {and trade} {freely}.’ ”\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "35": "Then Joseph’s brothers started emptying their sacks {of grain}, and there inside each man’s sack was his bag of money {that he had paid for the grain}! {When} they and their father {Jacob} saw the {money} bags, they were terrified. ",
  "36": "Then their father exclaimed to them, “You have caused me {terrible} loss! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And {now} you {want to} take Benjamin {away} {from me} {too}! Everything is going terribly for me!”\n\n\\ts\\*\n\\p",
  "37": "Reuben replied, “{Father,} let me be responsible for {taking} Benjamin {down to Egypt}. If I fail to bring him {back} to you {safely}, you can {punish me by} killing my two sons.” ",
  "38": "But his father replied, “{No,} I will not let my son {Benjamin} go down {to Egypt} with you. His brother is dead, so he is the only son {I have} left {from his mother}. So if anything bad happened to him on {your} journey, you would cause me, your elderly father, to grieve so badly that I would {die and} go down to the afterworld!”\n\n\\ts\\*",
  "front": "\\s1 Joseph’s Brothers Come to Egypt to Buy Grain\n\\sr 42:1-38\n\\p"
}
