11. We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men.”
12. Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to find out where our country is weak.”
13. They said, “We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father.”
14. “It is just as I said,” Joseph answered. “You are spies.
15. This is how you will be tested: I swear by the name of the king that you will never leave unless your youngest brother comes here.
16. One of you must go and get him. The rest of you will be kept under guard until the truth of what you say can be tested. Otherwise, as sure as the king lives, you are spies.”
17. Then he put them in prison for three days.
18. On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition.
19. To prove that you are honest, one of you will stay in the prison where you have been kept; the rest of you may go and take back to your starving families the corn that you have bought.
20. Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death.”They agreed to this
21. and said to one another, “Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”