Genesis 42 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

When Jacob found out there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why are you just sitting here looking at each other?"

He continued, "Look, I've heard there's grain available in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so we can survive instead of starving to death."

So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

But Jacob didn't send Joseph's brother Benjamin with the others, because he said, "Something terrible might happen to him."

So Israel's sons arrived among the others who came to buy grain, because the famine had hit the land of Canaan too.

Now Joseph was the governor over the land — he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. So Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them immediately, but he acted like a stranger and spoke harshly to them. "Where did you come from?" he asked. They answered, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."

Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn't recognize him.

Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had about them and said, "You're spies! You've come to find out where this country is vulnerable."

"No, my lord," they said to him. "Your servants have come to buy food."

"We're all sons of one man. We're honest people — your servants have never been spies."

"No!" he said to them. "You've come to find out where this country is vulnerable."

They replied, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father right now, and one is no longer alive."

Joseph said to them, "It's exactly like I told you — you're spies!"

"Here's how you'll be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here."

"Send one of you to go get your brother while the rest of you stay locked up. That way your words can be tested to see if you're telling the truth. If not — as surely as Pharaoh lives — you are spies."

Then he put them all in custody for three days.

On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you'll live — I'm a man who respects God."

"If you're really honest, let one of your brothers stay locked up here in custody. The rest of you, go — take grain back for your starving families."

"But you must bring your youngest brother to me. That will prove your words are true, and you won't die." They agreed to do this.

They said to each other, "We're paying for what we did to our brother. We saw how terrified he was when he begged us for mercy, but we wouldn't listen. That's why this is happening to us."

Reuben spoke up: "Didn't I tell you not to wrong the boy? But you wouldn't listen. Now we're being held accountable for his blood."

They didn't realize that Joseph understood them, because he had been using an interpreter.

He turned away from them and wept. Then he came back and spoke to them again. He took Simeon from among them and had him bound right in front of their eyes.

Joseph gave orders to fill their containers with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them supplies for the journey. This was done for them.

They loaded their grain onto their donkeys and left.

When one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey at the place where they stopped for the night, he saw his silver right there at the top of his sack.

He said to his brothers, "My silver has been put back — it's right here in my sack!" Their hearts sank. They turned to each other trembling and said, "What has God done to us?"

When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them:

"The man who is lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the land."

"We told him, 'We're honest people, not spies.'"

"'We're twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father right now in the land of Canaan.'"

"Then the man who is lord of the country said to us, 'Here's how I'll know if you're honest: Leave one of your brothers with me, take grain for your starving families, and go.'"

"'Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I'll know you're not spies but honest people. I'll give your brother back to you, and you can trade freely in this country.'"

As they emptied their sacks, every single one of them found his bag of silver in his sack. When they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were terrified.

Their father Jacob said to them, "You're taking everything from me! Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!"

Reuben said to his father, "You can put my two sons to death if I don't bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I'll bring him back to you."

But Jacob said, "My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead, and he's the only one left. If something terrible happens to him on the journey, you'll send this gray-haired old man to the grave in grief."