Genesis 42:1-9 ▼

1 NOW when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Fear not.

2 Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.

3 And so Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers; for he said, Lest some misfortune might befall him.

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy grain with those that came; for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

6 Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold the grain to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brothers came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

7 And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he deceived them and spoke harshly to them; and he said to them, Where have you come from? And they said, We came from the land of Canaan to buy grain.

8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, You are spies; you have come to get a report about the land.