42:1  Now Jacob saw that Egypt had grain, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you stare at one another?"

42:2  He said, "Behold, I have heard that they have grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die."

42:3  Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.

42:4  But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "I fear that harm may befall him."

42:5  So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who came, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan also.

42:6  Now Joseph ruled over the land; he sold to all the people of the land And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

42:7  When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, "Where have you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."

42:8  But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.

42:9  Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, "You have come to spy; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land."

42:10  Then they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.

42:11  "We proclaim ourselves as sons of one man; we proclaim ourselves as honest men, your servants have not spied on you."

42:12  Yet he said to them, "No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!"

42:13  But they said, "Your servants we proclaim as twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest remains with our father today, and one no longer lives."

42:14  Joseph said to them, "I believe you have come to spy;

42:15  by this I will test you: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!

42:16  "Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that I may test your words , whether you speak the truth. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you have spied on us."

42:17  So he put them all together in prison for three days.

42:18  Now Joseph said to them on the third day, "Do this and live, for I fear God:

42:19  if you consider yourselves honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households,

42:20  and bring your youngest brother to me, so I may verify your words, and you will not die." And they did so.

42:21  Then they said to one another, " Truly we have guilt concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us."

42:22  Reuben answered them, saying, " Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood."

42:23  They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for an interpreter stood between them.

42:24  He turned away from them and wept But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

42:25  Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus Joseph did it for them.

42:26  So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.

42:27  As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, he found it in the mouth of his sack.

42:28  Then he said to his brothers, "Someone returned my money , and behold, I find it in my sack." And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, " What has God done to us?"

42:29  When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,

42:30  "The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country.

42:31  "But we said to him, 'We proclaim ourselves as honest men; we have not spied.

42:32  'We constitute twelve brothers, sons of our father; one who no longer lives, and the youngest remains with our father today in the land of Canaan.'

42:33  "The man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go.

42:34  'But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you have not spied, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.'"

42:35  Now it came about as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man found his bundle of money in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they felt dismayed.

42:36  Their father Jacob said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph lives no more, and Simeon lives no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things weigh against me."

42:37  Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, "You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you."

42:38  But Jacob said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother has died, and he alone remains If harm should befall him on the journey you take, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow."