Genesis 42:9–20

^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