Genesis 42:8–26

⁸Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. ^9*He remembered the dreams he had dreamt about them and said, “You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak.”

¹⁰“No, sir,” they answered. “We have come as your slaves, to buy food. ¹¹We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men.”

¹²Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to find out where our country is weak.”

¹³They said, “We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father.”

¹⁴“It is just as I said,” Joseph answered. “You are spies. ¹⁵This is how you will be tested: I swear by the name of the king that you will never leave unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶One of you must go and get him. The rest of you will be kept under guard until the truth of what you say can be tested. Otherwise, as sure as the king lives, you are spies.” ¹⁷Then he put them in prison for three days.

¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition. ¹⁹To prove that you are honest, one of you will stay in the prison where you have been kept; the rest of you may go and take back to your starving families the corn that you have bought. ²⁰Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death.”

They agreed to this ²¹and said to one another, “Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”

^22*Reuben said, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you wouldn’t listen. And now we are being paid back for his death.” ²³Joseph understood what they said, but they did not know it, because they had been speaking to him through an interpreter. ²⁴Joseph left them and began to cry. When he was able to speak again, he came back, picked out Simeon, and had him tied up in front of them.

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵Joseph gave orders to fill his brothers’ packs with corn, to put each man’s money back in his sack, and to give them food for the journey. This was done. ²⁶The brothers loaded their donkeys with the corn they had bought, and then they left.