Genesis 42:2-25

2I have heard that there is food in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us. Then we may continue to live and not die.’

3So ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy food.

4But Jacob did not send his youngest son, Benjamin, with them. Jacob was afraid that something bad might happen to Benjamin.

5Jacob's sons went to Egypt, as well as other people who went there to buy food. They all went to Egypt because there was a bad famine in Canaan.

6Joseph had authority to rule Egypt at that time. He was the man who sold food to all the Egyptians. When Joseph's brothers arrived there, they bent down in front of him, with their faces to the ground.

7As soon as Joseph saw the men, he knew that they were his brothers. But he spoke to them as if they were strangers. He did not speak to them in a kind way. He asked them, ‘Where do you come from?’ They replied, ‘We come from the land of Canaan. We have come here to buy food.’

8Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

9Then Joseph remembered the dream that he had dreamed about his brothers. He said to them, ‘You have come here secretly to see how your people can attack our land.’

10They replied ‘No, my lord, that is not true! We are your servants and we have come to buy food.

11We are all the sons of one man. We are honest men. We are not your enemies.’

12But Joseph said, ‘No! You have come here to see if our country is weak so that you can attack us.’

13Joseph's brothers replied, ‘We belong to a family of 12 brothers. We are the sons of one man who lives in Canaan. Our youngest brother stayed at home with our father. One other brother is not with us any more.’

14Joseph said to them, ‘It is as I told you. You are our enemies!

15I will see if what you say is true. This is what I will do. I promise by the life of Pharaoh himself, I will not let you leave this place. You must first bring your youngest brother here. I will only let you go after that.

16One of you must go to bring your brother here. I will keep you others in prison. In that way I will know if what you said is true. If your youngest brother does not come, then I will certainly know that you are enemies!’

17Then Joseph put his brothers in prison for three days.

18On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘Do what I say. Then you will stay alive, because I respect God.

19If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison. The other brothers can go back to Canaan. You may take food back with you, because your families are hungry.

20But you must return to Egypt and you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that what you have said is true. Then you will not die.’ Joseph's brothers agreed to do what he told them.

21The brothers said to each other, ‘This punishment is happening to us because of what we did to Joseph. We saw how upset he was when he asked us not to kill him. But we refused to be kind to him. That is why we have all this trouble.’

22Reuben said, ‘I told you not to do anything bad to the boy. But you would not agree! We killed him and now we must receive the punishment.’

23While they said all this, they did not know that Joseph could understand them. Joseph had been speaking in the Egyptian language and someone else told the brothers his message in Hebrew.

24Joseph went away from his brothers and he began to weep. But then he returned to speak to them again. While they watched, Joseph told his men to tie Simeon's hands and take him away.

25Then Joseph told his servants to fill the brothers' bags with food. He also told them to put each man's money back into his bag. He told them to give the brothers enough food for their journey. The servants did what Joseph told them.