Genesis 42:14–24

¹⁴Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken:^C ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” ¹⁷So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God^c—do this and you will live. ¹⁹If you are honest, let one of you^D be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. ²⁰Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

²¹Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”^d

²²But Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy?^e But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!”^A

²³They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.