Genesis

When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?"

He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."

So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with the others, for he said, "Lest some harm should happen to him."

The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was the governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth.

Joseph saw his brothers and recognised them, but he acted like a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where did you come from?" he asked. "From the land of Canaan to buy food," they replied.

Although Joseph recognised his brothers, they did not recognise him.

Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land."

"No, my lord," they replied, "your servants have come only to buy food.

We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies."

"No!" he insisted. "You have come to see the nakedness of the land!"

But they said, "Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more."

Joseph said to them, "It is just as I told you: You are spies!

By this you shall be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

Send one of you to get your brother while the rest of you remain in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. Otherwise, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"

And he put them all in custody together for three days.

On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and live, for I fear God:

If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.

But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and you will not die." And they proceeded to do so.

They said to one another, "We are surely guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us and we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us."

Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy'? But you would not listen! Now behold, his blood is being required."

They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, for he was using an interpreter.

He turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them again. He took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

Joseph then gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's money back into his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them.

They loaded their grain onto their donkeys and departed.

At the place where they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey and saw his money in the mouth of the sack.

"My money has been returned!" he said to his brothers. "Look, it is here in my sack!" Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling, saying, "What is this that God has done to us?"

When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,

"The man who is the lord of the land spoke harshly to us and took us for spies of the country.

But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies.

We were twelve brothers, sons of one father; one is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.'

Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'By this I shall know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take grain for your starving households, and go.

But bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then return your brother to you, and you can trade in the land.'"

As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man's sack was his pouch of money! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were afraid.

Their father Jacob said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!"

Then Reuben said to his father, "You may put my own two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back."

But Jacob said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, you would bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol."