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¹ NOW when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Fear not.² Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.³ And so Josephs ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.⁴ But Benjamin, Josephs brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers; for he said, Lest some misfortune might befall him.⁵ And the sons of Israel came to buy grain with those that came; for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.⁶ Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold the grain to all the people of the land; and Josephs brothers came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

⁷ And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he deceived them and spoke harshly to them; and he said to them, Where have you come from? And they said, We came from the land of Canaan to buy grain.⁸ And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.⁹ Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, You are spies; you have come to get a report about the land.¹⁰ And they said to him, No, our lord, but to buy grain your servants have come.¹¹ We are all one mans sons; we are pious men; your servants are not spies.¹² And Joseph said to them, It is not so, but to get a report about the land you have come.¹³ And they said to him, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is dead.¹⁴ And Joseph said to them, It is just as I said to you, you are spies:¹⁵ By this you shall be proved; by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go forth from this place, except your younger brother comes here.¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you shall be bound in prison, so that your words may be proved, to see if your statements are true; and if they are not true, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.¹⁷ And he put them all together in prison for three days.¹⁸ And on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this, and live; for I worship God;¹⁹ If you are pious men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; and the rest of you, go and carry grain for the famished who are in your household;²⁰ But bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so.

²¹ And they said one to another, Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not listen to him; therefore is this distress come upon us.²² And Reuben answered and said to them, Did I not tell you, Do not sin against the boy; but you did not listen? So now his blood is required.²³ And they did not know that Joseph understood them; for he spoke to them by an interpreter.²⁴ And he turned aside from them and wept; and he returned to them again, and conversed with them, and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.²⁵ Then Joseph commanded the servants to fill their sacks with wheat, and to restore every mans money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey; and they did so for them.²⁶ And they loaded their asses with their wheat, and departed thence.²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.²⁸ And he said to his brothers, My money has been returned; and, lo, it is in the mouth of my sack; and their hearts failed them, and they were amazed, staring at one another, saying, What is this that God has done to us?

²⁹ And they came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,³⁰ The man who is the lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the land.³¹ But we said to him, We are pious men; we are not spies;³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; and one is dead, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.³³ And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this shall I know that you are pious men; leave one of your brothers here with me, and take wheat for the famished who are in your households, and go your way;³⁴ And bring your youngest brother to me; then shall I know that you are not spies, but that you are pious men; so I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.³⁵ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, behold, every mans bag of money was in his sack; and when both they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid.³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is dead, and Simeon is missing, and now you will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me.³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, Put to death my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; intrust him to me, and I will bring him back to you.³⁸ And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left to his mother: if misfortune should befall him by the way in which you go, then you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.