---
title: "Genesis 42:1-38 KJV - \"Now when Jacob saw that there was corn...\" | Real Bible Believers"
description: "\"Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I\" — Read Genesis 42:1-38 in the King James Version (KJV) with commentary, cross references, and Greek/Hebrew lexicon."
image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/kjv/genesis/42/1-38"
---

[ Read](/kjv/genesis/42)[ Commentary](/study/genesis/42)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/genesis/42) Audio

## Genesis 42:1-38 in Context (Verses 1–38 KJV)
 
 [1 ](/kjv/genesis/42/1) Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
 
 [2 ](/kjv/genesis/42/2) And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
 
 [3 ](/kjv/genesis/42/3) ¶ And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
 
 [4 ](/kjv/genesis/42/4) But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
 
 [5 ](/kjv/genesis/42/5) And the sons of Israel came to buy *corn* among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
 
 [6 ](/kjv/genesis/42/6) And Joseph *was* the governor over the land, *and* he *it was* that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him *with* their faces to the earth.
 
 [7 ](/kjv/genesis/42/7) And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.*
 
 [8 ](/kjv/genesis/42/8) And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
 
 [9 ](/kjv/genesis/42/9) 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 ](/kjv/genesis/42/10) And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
 
 [11 ](/kjv/genesis/42/11) We *are* all one man’s sons; we *are* true *men*, thy servants are no spies.
 
 [12 ](/kjv/genesis/42/12) And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
 
 [13 ](/kjv/genesis/42/13) And they said, 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 ](/kjv/genesis/42/14) And Joseph said unto them, That *is it* that I spake unto you, saying, Ye *are* spies:
 
 [15 ](/kjv/genesis/42/15) Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
 
 [16 ](/kjv/genesis/42/16) Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether *there be any* truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye *are* spies.*
 
 [17 ](/kjv/genesis/42/17) And he put them all together into ward three days.*
 
 [18 ](/kjv/genesis/42/18) And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; *for* I fear God:
 
 [19 ](/kjv/genesis/42/19) If ye *be* true *men*, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
 
 [20 ](/kjv/genesis/42/20) But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
 
 [21 ](/kjv/genesis/42/21) ¶ And they said one to another, We *are* verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
 
 [22 ](/kjv/genesis/42/22) And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
 
 [23 ](/kjv/genesis/42/23) And they knew not that Joseph understood *them;* for he spake unto them by an interpreter.*
 
 [24 ](/kjv/genesis/42/24) And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
 
 [25 ](/kjv/genesis/42/25) ¶ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
 
 [26 ](/kjv/genesis/42/26) And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
 
 [27 ](/kjv/genesis/42/27) And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it *was* in his sack’s mouth.
 
 [28 ](/kjv/genesis/42/28) 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 were afraid, saying one to another, What *is* this *that* God hath done unto us?*
 
 [29 ](/kjv/genesis/42/29) ¶ And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
 
 [30 ](/kjv/genesis/42/30) The man, *who is* the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.*
 
 [31 ](/kjv/genesis/42/31) And we said unto him, We *are* true *men;* we are no spies:
 
 [32 ](/kjv/genesis/42/32) We *be* twelve brethren, sons of our father; one *is* not, and the youngest *is* this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
 
 [33 ](/kjv/genesis/42/33) And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye *are* true *men;* leave one of your brethren *here* with me, and take *food for* the famine of your households, and be gone:
 
 [34 ](/kjv/genesis/42/34) And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye *are* no spies, but *that* ye *are* true *men: so* will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.
 
 [35 ](/kjv/genesis/42/35) ¶ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money *was* in his sack: and when *both* they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
 
 [36 ](/kjv/genesis/42/36) 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:* all these things are against me.
 
 [37 ](/kjv/genesis/42/37) And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
 
 [38 ](/kjv/genesis/42/38) And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
 
[Genesis 41](/kjv/genesis/41) [Genesis 43](/kjv/genesis/43)

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