1-5 There was only a little food in Canaan where Jacob and his family were living, and they were very hungry. When Jacob heard that there was plenty of food in Egypt, he said to his sons, “What are you doing just talking to each other? Go to Egypt. I have been told that there is food there. Go and buy some so that we won't starve to death.”

Then Joseph's ten brothers went to Egypt with others to buy food. But their young brother Benjamin stayed at home. His father wouldn't let him go with the others because he loved Rachel's son so much and he was afraid something might happen to him.

6 At that time Joseph was the governor in Egypt and many people from every country were coming to him to buy corn. So Joseph's brothers came and they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground to show him that they knew he was a very important person. 7-8 When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but they didn't recognize him. He behaved as though he didn't know them and asked angrily, “Where do you come from?”

“We have come from Canaan to buy food,” they answered.

9 Joseph remembered the two dreams he had dreamed about them and said, “You have come to spy on us, to find out if our people here in Egypt are weak and to make trouble for us.”

10 “No,” they answered. “We are ordinary people and we know that you are the governor. We have come here to buy food and nothing else. 11 We are all brothers and we are good, honest men. We don't want to spy.”

12 But Joseph said, “No, you have come here to see if our people are weak.”

13 “Master,” they said. “There were twelve of us brothers with the same father in the land of Canaan, but one brother is dead and the youngest is at home with our father.”

14 Joseph said, “No. I still think you have come here to spy on this place. 15-16 And I will keep thinking that until I know if you are telling me the truth. I will find out. I will put you in jail here, but one of you must go home and get your youngest brother. If you don't bring him here to me I will know that you came to spy on us. I will not let the rest of you go home until your youngest brother gets here. I am saying this to you today and I am using the king's name. He is the king of all Egypt and I am using his name to make my words strong.” 17 Then he put them in jail for three days.

18 After three days Joseph said to them, “I worship God and I don't want you to die. If you bring your youngest brother here, you will live. 19 I will let some of you go, but one of you must stay here in jail, so that I can find out if you are honest. You others can go home and take the food you have bought so that your families won't starve. 20 Then come back and bring your youngest brother here to me. Then I will know that you have been telling me the truth today, and I will not put you to death.”

They agreed and said to Joseph, “We will do what you have told us.” 21 Then they said to each other, “Yes, we have been in jail because we gave our brother to those people. We didn't listen to him when he was in trouble and calling out and asking us to help him. That is why we were put in jail.”

22 Reuben said to his brothers, “I told you we shouldn't hurt him, but you wouldn't listen to me. That is why we are in trouble now.” 23 Joseph understood what they were saying but they didn't know, because he had not been speaking his own language, but using the Egyptian language. Someone had been translating it for them so that they could understand. 24 Joseph was nearly crying, but he didn't want his brothers to see him cry and he went outside for a little while. When he was ready to speak again, he came back to them. He chose Simeon to be put in jail and told his servants to tie him up in front of his brothers.

25 Then Joseph said to his servants, “Fill the men's bags with food to take home. Put their money back inside each bag, and give them food to eat on the way.” So his servants did what Joseph said. 26 Joseph's brothers put the bags on the donkeys and then they left to return to Canaan.

27 They kept on going on until the sun set and night came. Then one of them opened his bag to feed his donkey, and found his money at the top of the bag. 28 He called to his brothers and said, “Here is my money in my bag. They have returned it to me!” This gave them a shock and they were very frightened and asked each other, “What has God done to us?”

29 They went on until they reached Canaan and went home. Then they told their father everything that had happened. 30 They said, “The governor who gave us the food spoke angrily to us. He tried to tell us we had gone there to see their country and to find out if they were strong or weak people.

31 “But we said, ‘We are not spies. We are honest men. 32 There were twelve of us brothers with the same father. But one brother is dead and the youngest is still with our father in Canaan.’

33 “The man said, ‘I will find out the truth about you and decide if you are honest men. One of you will stay here with me. The rest of you will take food to your families so that they don't starve. 34 Then you will come back here with your youngest brother. When you bring him to me I will know that you are honest men and I will give your brother back to you. Then if you want to you can stay here and move around freely in this land.’ ”

35 Then they opened their bags, and in each bag they found the money they had given the Egyptians. When they and their father saw it they were afraid.

36 Jacob said, “Look what you have done! I will lose all my children. Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone too. And now you want to take Benjamin away from me. You are making me suffer so much!”

37 Reuben said to his father, “I will look after Benjamin. If I don't bring him back to you, you can kill my two sons. But I really will bring him back.”

38 But Jacob said, “I cannot let my son Benjamin go with you, because his older brother is dead. He is the youngest and he is the only one left. I am an old man now. If anything happened to him on the way I would die. You will upset me and kill me in my old age.”