¹⁰But his brothers said to him, “No, my master. We come as your servants just to buy food. ¹¹We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies.”

¹²Then Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to learn where this nation is weak!”

¹³And they said, “We are ten of twelve brothers, sons of the same father, and we live in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father right now, and our other brother is gone.”

¹⁴But Joseph said to them, “I can see I was right! You are spies! ¹⁵But I will give you a way to prove you are telling the truth. As surely as the king lives, you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶One of you must go and get your brother. The rest of you will stay here in prison. We will see if you are telling the truth. If not, as surely as the king lives, you are spies.” ¹⁷Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.

¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. Do this and I will let you live: ¹⁹If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison while the rest of you go and carry grain back to feed your hungry families. ²⁰Then bring your youngest brother back here to me. If you do this, I will know you are telling the truth, and you will not die.”

The brothers agreed to this.

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