1. When Jacob found out that grain was for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other?
2. I’ve heard there’s grain for sale in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us so that we won’t starve to death.”
3. Ten of Joseph’s brothers went to buy grain in Egypt.
4. Jacob wouldn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with the other brothers, because he was afraid that something would happen to him.
5. Israel’s sons left with the others who were going to buy grain, because there was also famine in Canaan.
6. As governor of the country, Joseph was selling grain to everyone. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed in front of him with their faces touching the ground.
7. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he acted as if he didn’t know them and spoke harshly to them. “Where did you come from?” he asked them.“From Canaan, to buy food,” they answered.
8. Even though Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him.
9. Then he remembered the dreams he once had about them. “You’re spies!” he said to them, “And you’ve come to find out where our country is unprotected.”
10. “No, sir!” they answered him. “We’ve come to buy food.
11. We’re all sons of one man. We’re honest men, not spies.”
12. He said to them, “No! You’ve come to find out where our country is unprotected.”
13. They answered him, “We were 12 brothers, sons of one man in Canaan. The youngest brother stayed with our father, and the other one is no longer with us.”