Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt; so Jacob said his sons, Why do you look at one another? 2 And he said, See, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; go down there and buy for us from there, so that we may live and not die. 3 And ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers for he said, Perhaps some harm will come to him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy along with all the others who came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 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 to him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brothers and knew them; but he acted like a stranger towards them, and spoke to them harshly, and said to them, Where have 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 which he had had about them; and he said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land. 10 And they said to him, No, my lord; but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. We are honest men; your servants are not spies. 12 But he said to them, No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land. 13 And they said, Your servants are twelve brothers; we are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and see, the youngest is now with our father, and the other one is no more. 14 Still Joseph said to them, That is as I am telling you, when I say, You are spies. 15 You shall be proved in this way; as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave here unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you to fetch your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be proved, whether the truth is with you; or else, as Pharaoh lives, you are spies. 17 And he put them into custody for three days.

18 Then on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live, for I fear God; 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined in your house of custody, while the rest of you go and take corn for the famine in your households. 20 And bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and so that you shall not die. And they did so. 21 And they said to one another, Truly, we are guilty about our brother, in that we saw his distress when he pleaded with us and we would not listen to him; therefore this distress has come on us. 22 And Reuben answered them, and said, Did I not urge you, when I said, Do not sin against the boy; and you would not listen? And therefore his blood is now required. 23 And they did not know that Joseph understood, because the interpreter was between them. 24 And he turned away from them and wept; then he turned back to them and spoke to them; and he took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to return each man's silver in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey; and that is how he dealt with them.

26 Then they loaded their corn on their asses, and departed from there. 27 And when one of them opened his sack to give fodder to his ass at the lodging-place, he saw his silver, for there it was in the mouth of his pouch. 28 And he said to his brothers, My silver has been restored, and look, it is here in my pouch. And their hearts sank, and they turned to one another trembling, and said, What is this that God has done to us?

29 And they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan; and they told him all that had happened to them, and said, 30 The man, the lord of the land, spoke to us harshly, and regarded us as spying out the land. 31 But we said to him, We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, the sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And 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 behind with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and go; 34 but bring your youngest brother to me, so that I may know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men; then I will give you your brother, and you may trade in the land.

35 And then as they were emptying their sacks, each man's bundle of silver was in his sack; and they saw their bundles of silver, and so did their father, and they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father 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. All these things have come upon me. 37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, and said, You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; give him into my hands, and I will bring him back to you. 38 And he said, My son shall not go with you. For his brother is dead, and he alone is left; and if harm should come to him on the road which you would take, you would bring down my grey hairs in sorrow to Sheol.