1 N ow when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

2 A nd he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

3 A nd Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

4 B ut Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

5 A nd the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 A nd 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 down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

7 A nd Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

8 A nd Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

9 A nd Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

10 A nd they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

11 W e are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

12 A nd he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

13 A nd 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 A nd Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

15 h ereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

16 S end one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

17 A nd he put them all together into ward three days.

18 A nd Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

19 i f ye be 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 b ut bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

21 A nd 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 A nd Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

23 A nd they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

24 A nd he turned himself about 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 T hen 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 unto them.

26 A nd they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

27 A nd 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 A nd he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, 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 unto us?

29 A nd they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

30 T he man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

31 A nd we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:

32 w e be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

33 A nd the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby 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 be gone:

34 a nd bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

35 A nd it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

36 A nd Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

37 A nd Reuben spake unto 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 A nd he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.