Targum Jonathan - Genesis 42 - Mikeetz (Hierna)

1 And Jakob saw that provisions might be bought and that they brought corn from Mizraim; and Jakob said to his sons, Why are you afraid to go down to Mizraim?
2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that corn is sold in Mizraim: go down thither and buy for us from thence, that we may live and not die.
3 And the ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy corn from Mizraim.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jakob sent not down with his brethren; for he said, Behold, he is a youth, and I fear lest death should befall him.
5 And the sons of Israel went every one by one door, lest the evil eye should have sway over them, as they went together to buy among the Kenaanites who went also to buy; because the famine was in the land of Kenaan.
6 And Joseph was ruler over the land; and he knew that his brethren had come to buy; for he had appointed notaries at the gates of the city to register daily, of every one who came, his name and the name of his father; and he it was who sold corn to all the people of the land. And the brethren of Joseph came. And they looked through all the streets, and public places, and hospices, but could not find Him. And they came unto his house, and worshipped him with their faces to the ground.
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and recognised them; but he made himself as a stranger in their eyes, and spake hard words to them, and said to them, Whence come yon? And they said, From the land of Kenaan, to buy corn.
8 Now Joseph recognised his brethren, because, when separated from them, they had the token of the beard; but they did not recognise him, because (at that time) he had not the token of the beard, and at this hour he had it.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, You are spies: to see the nakedness of the shame of the land are you come.
10 And they answered him, No, my lord, thy servants are come to buy corn:
11 we are all the sons of one man; we are true; thy servants are not spies.
12 But he said to them, No, but to see the nakedness of the shame of the land are you come.
13 They answered, Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man, in the land of Kenaan; and, behold, the youngest is tojday with our father, and one went from us, and we know not what hath been in his end!
14 And Joseph said to them, This is what I have spoken to you, saying, You are spies.
15 By that word you shall be proved. (By) the life of Pharoh you shall not go hence unless your youngest brother be brought hither.
16 Send one of you, and bring your brother; but you shall be bound, and your words be proved if the truth is with you: and if not, (by) the life of Pharoh you are spies.
17 And he kept them together in the house of confinement three days.
18 And Joseph said to them on the third day, This do, that you may live; for I fear the Lord.
19 If you are true, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your confinement and go you, carry the corn, that you may buy for the hunger of your house,
20 and bring your youngest brother to me, that your words may be verified, and you may not die. And they did so.
21 And they said, a man to his brother, In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, when we saw the distress of his soul, when be entreated us, and we would not hearken to him; therefore hath this affliction come upon us.
22 And Reuben answered them and said, Did I not tell you, saying, Do not sin against the youth? But you would not listen to me; and thus, behold, his blood is required of us.
23 But they knew not that Joseph understood (heard) the holy language; for Menasheh was interpreter between them.
24 And he withdrew from them and wept, and returned and, spake with them. And from them he took Shimeon, who had counselled them to kill him, and bound him before them.
25 And Joseph commanded his servant to fill their vehicles with corn, and to return each man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the way. And he did so for them.
26 And they laid their corn upon their asses and went thence.
27 Levi, who had been left without Shimeon his companion, opened his sack to give food to his ass at the place of lodging, and saw his money: behold, it was in the mouth of his pannier.
28 And he said to his brothers, My money is returned, behold, it is in my pannier. And knowledge failed from their hearts, and each wondered with his brother, saying, What is this which the Lord hath done, and not for sin of ours ?
29 And they came to Jakob their father in the land of Kenaan, and related to him all that had befallen them, saying,
30 The man the lord of the land spake with us harshly, and treated us as spies of the country:
31 but we said to him, We are faithful men, not spies.
32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; of one, we know not what was his end, and the youngest is tojday with our father in the land of Kenaan.
33 And the man, the lord of the land said to us, By this I shall know that you are true. Leave me one of your brothers with me, and what is needed by the hunger of your houses take, and go,
34 and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies, but faithful. I will (then) restore your brother to you, and you shall transact business in the land.
35 And it was as they emptied their baggages, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his baggage; and they and their father saw the bundles of money, and they were afraid on account of Shimeon whom they had left there.
36 And Jakob their father said to them, Me have you bereaved! Of Joseph you said, An evil beast hath devoured him; of Shimeon you have said, The king of the land hath bound him; and Benjamin you seek to take away: upon me is the anguish of all of them.
37 And Reuben spake to his father, saying Slay my two sons with a curse if I do not bring him to thee. Give him into my hand, and I will restore him to thee.
38 But he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone remains of his mother; and if death should befall him in the way that you go, you will bring down my age with mourning to the grave.