Genesis 42:1-11

Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, so he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here looking at one another? I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us to eat, so that we will live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with them, because he was afraid that something terrible might happen to him. Along with many other people, the sons of Israel went to Egypt to buy grain, because the people in the land of Canaan were also hungry. Now Joseph was governor over Egypt. He was the one who sold the grain to people who came to buy it. So Joseph’s brothers came to him and bowed facedown on the ground before him. When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he acted as if he didn’t know them. He asked unkindly, “Where do you come from?” They answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.” Joseph knew they were his brothers, but they did not know who he was. And Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers bowing to him. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to learn where the nation is weak!” But his brothers said to him, “No, my master. We come as your servants just to buy food. We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies.”