But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! ¹ 

When the man ¹  overtook them, he spoke these words to them.

He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ¹  he had Simeon taken ²  from them and tied up ³  before their eyes.

Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him.

“No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” ¹ 

But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord ¹  has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return ²  to my master.”

Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me ¹  and sent me away from you.”

But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you: ¹  You are spies!

On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ¹  and you will live, ²  for I fear God. ³ 

Then he sent his brothers on their way and they left. He said to them, “As you travel don’t be overcome with fear.” ¹ 

But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am ¹  I in the place of God?

They told him, “We both had dreams, ¹  but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them ²  to me.”

Then Joseph remembered ¹  the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!” ² 

Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ¹  Simeon is gone. ²  And now you want to take ³  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

He gave them portions of the food set before him, ¹  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ² 

Then he instructed them, ¹  “I am about to go ²  to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

Reuben continued, ¹  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ²  (Reuben said this ³  so he could rescue Joseph ⁴  from them ⁵  and take him back to his father.)

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ²  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³ 

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

“Everything is fine,” ¹  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ²  I had your money.” ³  Then he brought Simeon out to them.