Genesis 42:1-18 ▼

1 NOW when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Fear not.

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

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

4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers; for he said, Lest some misfortune might befall him.

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy grain with those that came; for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

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

7 And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he deceived them and spoke harshly to them; and he said to them, Where have you come from? And they said, We came from the land of Canaan to buy grain.

8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, You are spies; you have come to get a report about the land.

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

11 We are all one man's sons; we are pious men; your servants are not spies.

12 And Joseph said to them, It is not so, but to get a report about the land you have come.

13 And they said to him, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is dead.

14 And Joseph said to them, It is just as I said to you, you are spies:

15 By this you shall be proved; by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go forth from this place, except your younger brother comes here.

16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you shall be bound in prison, so that your words may be proved, to see if your statements are true; and if they are not true, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.

17 And he put them all together in prison for three days.

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