Genesis:42

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* When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt , Jacob said to his sons , "Why do you look at one another ?" * And he said , "Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt ; go down to that place and buy for us there , that we may live and not die ." * So Joseph 's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt . * But Jacob did not send Joseph 's brother Benjamin with his brothers , for he said , "Lest some calamity befall him ." * And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed , for the famine was in the land of Canaan . * Now Joseph was governor over the land ; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land . And Joseph 's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth . * Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them , but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them . Then he said to them , "Where do you come from ?" And they said , "From the land of Canaan to buy food ." * So Joseph recognized his brothers , but they did not recognize him . * Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them , and said to them , "You are spies ! You have come to see the nakedness of the land !" * And they said to him , "No , my lord , but your servants have come to buy food . * We are all one man 's sons ; we are honest men ; your servants are not spies ." * But he said to them , "No , but you have come to see the nakedness of the land ." * And they said , "Your servants are twelve brothers , the sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; and in fact , the youngest is with our father today , and one is no more ." * But Joseph said to them , "It is as I spoke to you , saying , "You are spies !' * In this manner you shall be tested : By the life of Pharaoh , you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here . * Send one of you , and let him bring your brother ; and you shall be kept in prison , that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you ; or else , by the life of Pharaoh , surely you are spies !" * So he put them all together in prison three days . * Then Joseph said to them the third day , "Do this and live , for I fear God : * If you are honest men , let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house ; but you , go and carry grain for the famine of your houses . * And bring your youngest brother to me ; so your words will be verified , and you shall not die ." And they did so . * Then they said to one another , "We are truly guilty concerning our brother , for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us , and we would not hear ; therefore this distress has come upon us ." * And Reuben answered them , saying , "Did I not speak to you , saying , "Do not sin against the boy '; and you would not listen ? Therefore behold , his blood is now required of us ." * But they did not know that Joseph understood them , for he spoke to them through an interpreter . * And he turned himself away from them and wept . Then he returned to them again , and talked with them . And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes . * Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain , to restore every man 's money to his sack , and to give them provisions for the journey . Thus he did for them . * So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there . * But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment , he saw his money ; and there it was , in the mouth of his sack . * So he said to his brothers , "My money has been restored , and there it is , in my sack !" Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid , saying to one another , "What is this that God has done to us ?" * Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them , saying : * "The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us , and took us for spies of the country . * But we said to him , "We are honest men ; we are not spies . * We are twelve brothers , sons of our father ; one is no more , and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan .' * Then the man , the lord of the country , said to us , "By this I will know that you are honest men : Leave one of your brothers here with me , take food for the famine of your households , and be gone . * And bring your youngest brother to me ; so I shall know that you are not spies , but that you are honest men . I will grant your brother to you , and you may trade in the land ."' * Then it happened as they emptied their sacks , that surprisingly each man 's bundle of money was in his sack ; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money , they were afraid . * And Jacob their father said to them , "You have bereaved me : Joseph is no more , Simeon is no more , and you want to take Benjamin . All these things are against me ." * Then Reuben spoke to his father , saying , "Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you ; put him in my hands , and I will bring him back to you ." * But he said , "My son shall not go down with you , for his brother is dead , and he is left alone . If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go , then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave ."

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