Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran: The Pillars of Three Faiths. Various Authors

it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. ³³Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty. ³⁵And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.' ³⁷And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸And Pharaoh said unto his servants: 'Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?' ³⁹And Pharaoh said unto Joseph: 'Forasmuch as God hath shown thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou. ⁴⁰Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; only in the throne will I be greater than thou.' ⁴¹And Pharaoh said unto Joseph: 'See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.' ⁴²And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. ⁴³And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him: 'Abrech'; and he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴And Pharaoh said unto Joseph: 'I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.' ⁴⁵And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.—⁴⁶And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.—And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷And in the seven years of plenty the earth brought forth in heaps. ⁴⁸And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. ⁴⁹And Joseph laid up corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until they left off numbering; for it was without number. ⁵⁰And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore unto him. ⁵¹And Joseph called the name of the first-born ⁶³Manasseh: 'for God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.' ⁵²And the name of the second called he ⁶⁴Ephraim: 'for God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.' ⁵³And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ⁵⁴And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said; and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians: 'Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.' ⁵⁶And the famine was over all the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn; because the famine was sore in all the earth.

      42Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons: 'Why do ye look one upon another?' ²And 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.' ³And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt. ⁴But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said: 'Lest peradventure harm befall him.' ⁵And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Caanan. ⁶And 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. ⁷And 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.' ⁸And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. ⁹And 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.' ¹⁰And they said unto him: 'Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. ¹¹We are all one man's sons; we are upright men, thy servants are no spies.' ¹²And he said unto them: 'Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.' ¹³And 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.' ¹⁴And Joseph said unto them: 'That is it that I spoke unto you, saying: Ye are spies. ¹⁵Hereby ye shall be proved, as Pharaoh liveth, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. ¹⁶Send 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.' ¹⁷And he put them all together into ward three days. ¹⁸And Joseph said unto them the third day.' This do, and live; for I fear God: ¹⁹if 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; ²⁰and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.' And they did so. ²¹And 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.' ²²And 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.' ²³And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for the interpreter was between them. ²⁴And 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. ²⁵Then 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. ²⁶And they laded their asses with their corn, and departed thence. ²⁷And 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. ²⁸And 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?' ²⁹And 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. ³¹And we said unto him: We are upright men; we are no spies. ³²We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. ³³And 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. ³⁴And 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.' ³⁵And 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. ³⁶And 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.' ³⁷And 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.' ³⁸And 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.

      43And the famine was sore in the land. ²And 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.' ³And Judah spoke unto him, saying: 'The man did earnestly forewarn us, saying: Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. ⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food; ⁵but 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.' ⁶And Israel said: 'Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?' ⁷And they