¹⁴Joseph said to them, “I still say you are spies! ¹⁵So I’m going to put you to the test. You can be sure that Pharaoh lives. And you can be just as sure that you won’t leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. I promise with an oath that you won’t leave here. ¹⁶Send one of you back to get your brother. The rest of you will be kept in prison.

“I’ll put your words to the test. Then we’ll find out whether you are telling the truth. You can be sure that Pharaoh lives. And you can be just as sure that if you aren’t telling the truth, we’ll know that you are spies!”

¹⁷So Joseph kept all of them under guard for three days.

¹⁸On the third day, Joseph spoke to them again. He said, “Do what I say. Then you will live, because I have respect for God. ¹⁹If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison. The rest of you may go and take grain back to your hungry families.

²⁰“But you must bring your youngest brother to me. That will prove that your words are true. Then you won’t die.” So they did what he said.

²¹They said to one another, “God is certainly punishing us because of our brother. We saw how troubled he was when he begged us to let him live. But we wouldn’t listen. That’s why all of this trouble has come to us.”

²²Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we’re being held accountable for killing him.”

²³They didn’t realize that Joseph could understand what they were saying. He was using someone else to explain their words to him in the Egyptian language.

²⁴Joseph turned away from them and began to sob. Then he turned around and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken and tied up right there in front of them.

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