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¹ Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?² And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: go down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.³ And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.⁴ But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren: for he said, Lest perhaps mischief shall befall him.⁵ And the sons of Israel came to buy [corn] among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.⁶ And Joseph [was] the governor over the land, [and] he [it was] that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed themselves before him [with] their faces to the earth.

⁷ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them; and he said to them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.⁸ And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, Ye [are] spies; to see the nakedness of the land have ye come.¹⁰ And they said to him, No, my lord, but to buy food have thy servants come.¹¹ We [are] all one man's sons; we [are] true [men]; thy servants are no spies.¹² And he said to them, No, but to see the nakedness of the land have ye come.¹³ And they said, Thy servants [are] twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest [is] this day with our father, and one [is] not.¹⁴ And Joseph said to them, That [is] what I spoke to you, saying, Ye [are] spies:¹⁵ By this ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother shall come hither.¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether [there is any] truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye [are] spies.¹⁷ And he put them all together into custody three days.¹⁸ And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, and live; [for] I fear God:¹⁹ If ye [are] true [men], let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:²⁰ But bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

²¹ And they said one to another, We [are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.²² And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the young man; and ye would not hear? therefore behold also his blood is required.²³ And they knew not that Joseph understood [them]; for he spoke to them by an interpreter.²⁴ And he turned himself away from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.²⁵ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he to them.²⁶ And they loaded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money: for behold, it [was] in his sack's mouth.²⁸ And he said to his brethren, My money is restored; and see [it is] even in my sack: and their heart failed [them], and they were afraid, saying one to another, What [is] this [that] God hath done to us?

²⁹ And they came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell them, saying,³⁰ The man [who is] the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.³¹ And we said to him, We [are] true [men]; we are no spies:³² We [are] twelve brethren, sons of our father: one [is] not, and the youngest [is] this day with our father in the land of Canaan.³³ And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, By this shall I know that ye [are] true [men]: leave one of your brethren [here] with me, and take [food for] the famine of your households, and depart:³⁴ And bring your youngest brother to me: then shall I know that ye [are] no spies, but [that] ye [are] true [men]: then will I deliver to you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.³⁵ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money [was] in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, Me have ye bereaved: Joseph [is] not, and Simeon [is] not, and ye will take Benjamin [away]: all these things are against me.³⁷ And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.³⁸ And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief shall befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.