Genesis 42:1-24
Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

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2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

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3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

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4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

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5 And the sons of Israel came to buy [corn] among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

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6 And Joseph [was] the governor over the land, [and] he [it was] that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him [with] their faces to the earth.

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7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

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8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

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9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye [are] spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

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10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

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11 We [are] all one man’s sons; we [are] true [men], thy servants are no spies.

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12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

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13 And they said, Thy servants [are] twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest [is] this day with our father, and one [is] not.

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14 And Joseph said unto them, That [is it] that I spake unto you, saying, Ye [are] spies:

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15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

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

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17 And he put them all together into ward three days.

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18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; [for] I fear God:

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19 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:

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

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21 And they said one to another, We [are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

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22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

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23 And they knew not that Joseph understood [them]; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

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24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

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