1 ¶ Now when Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?

2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: go down, and buy grain for us there; that we may live, and not die.

3 And Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he feared that some harm might befall him.

5 Thus the sons of Israel came to be among those who came to buy grain: for there was famine in the land of Canaan.

6 Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and 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.

7 ¶ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers, and spoke roughly to them; and he said to them, Where do you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

8 So Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.

9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them, and said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the weakness of the land.

10 And they said to him, No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.

11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.

12 And he said to them, No, you have come to see how vulnerable we are.

13 And they said, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.

14 But Joseph said to them, It is as I said to you, You are spies:

15 By this you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh you shall not leave this place, unless your younger brother comes here.

16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you will be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there is any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.

17 Then he put them all in prison for three days.

18 And the third day Joseph said to them, Do this, and live; for I fear God:

19 If you are honest men, let one of your brethren remain confined in your prison: let the rest go, and carry grain for the famine of your households:

20 But bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so.

21 ¶ Then they said to one another, We are truly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he pleaded with us, and we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not say to you, Do not sin against the child; and you would not hear? therefore, behold, his blood is required of us.

23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them; for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

24 Then he turned away from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and talked with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their sacks with grain, and to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and this was done for them.

26 And they loaded their donkeys with the grain, and departed.

27 But at the place where they lodged one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed, and saw his money; for it was in the top of his bag.

28 And he said to his brothers, My money has been returned; here it is in my sack: and their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, trembling they turned to one another and said, What is this that God has done to us?

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

30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

31 And we said to him, We are honest men; we are not spies:

32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

33 And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, This is how I will know that you are honest men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

34 And bring your youngest brother to me: then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men: and I will deliver to you your brother, and you may do business in the land.

35 And when they emptied their sacks, 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 And their father Jacob said to them, You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

37 And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I do not bring him back to you: put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.

38 But he said, My son will 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 to make, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave with sorrow.