Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt
1. When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”
2. He continued, “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.”
3. So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.”
5. So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, because the famine had also reached the land of Canaan.
6. Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
7. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself and spoke to them harshly. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”
8. Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
9. Then Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
10. “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food.
11. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men; your servants have never been spies.”
12. “No!” he told them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
13. But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
14. “It is just as I said to you,” Joseph declared. “You are spies!
15. By this you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
16. Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that your words can be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
17. So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.
18. And on the third day he said to them, “I fear God; so do this and you will live.
19. 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.
20. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words can be verified and you may not die.” And they consented.
21. Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
22. And Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen! Now we must account for his blood!”
23. They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
24. He turned away from them and began to weep, but then returned and spoke to them again. He took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.
Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan
25. Joseph then gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them,
26. and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.
27. At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack.
28. “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack!” Their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29. When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:
30. “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
31. But we told him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies.
32. 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.’
33. Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me, take grain for your starving households, and go.
34. But bring your youngest brother back to me, so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”
35. As they were emptying their sacks, each man discovered his bag of silver. When they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.
36. Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”
37. Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will return him.”
38. But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”