A Test for the Brothers

The famine spread to Canaan. Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at one another? He had heard there was grain in Egypt. Ten brothers went down, but Jacob kept Benjamin home, afraid that harm might come to him.

Joseph was governor over the land. His brothers came and bowed down with their faces to the ground. Joseph recognized them and remembered his dreams. He spoke roughly and said, You are spies! They said they were twelve brothers. They said, The youngest is today with our father, and one is no more. Joseph put them in custody for three days.

Then he said, I fear God. He kept Simeon and sent the rest home with grain, telling them to bring Benjamin. The brothers said to each other, We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn't listen. Joseph turned away and wept. On the way home they found their money in their sacks and were afraid. Jacob said, My son shall not go down with you.