Genesis 42:19

¹⁷ So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

¹⁸ and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

²⁰ Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

²¹ Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.
KJV: 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:
WEB: If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses.
ASV: if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses:
DARBY: If ye are honest, let one of your brethren remain bound in the house of your prison, but go ye, carry grain for the hunger of your households;
BLB: If you⁺ [are] honest, let one of your⁺ brothers be confined in the house of your⁺ custody, and you⁺ go and carry grain for the famine of your⁺ houses.

ÅB: Dersom dere er ærlige folk, så skal en av dere brødre bli tilbake i fengslet, men dere andre kan dra avsted og ha med dere korn til hjelp mot hungersnøden i deres hjem,
OTB: Hvis dere er ærlige menn, la en av brødrene deres bli her fengslet, mens resten av dere drar og tar med korn tilbake til deres sultne husholdninger.
B1930: Dersom I er ærlige folk, så skal en av eder brødre bli tilbake i fengslet, men I andre kan dra avsted og ha med eder korn til hjelp mot hungersnøden i eders hjem,

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Genesis 42:26
and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.
Read in context
Genesis 40:3
and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.
Read in context
Isaiah 42:7
to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
Read in context
Isaiah 42:22
But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
Read in context
Genesis 42:1–2
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
Read in context
Genesis 41:56
When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
Read in context
Jeremiah 37:15
The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.
Read in context
Genesis 43:1–2
Now the famine was still severe in the land.
Read in context