When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” —Genesis 42:1&2, NIV
Someone tipped Joseph of some similar-looking people that arrived on the gates. He ordered them to be escorted to his palace, where they would await their entry to Egypt. He then wore his royal robes and heavy crowns and marched across the city to the point-of-entry.
"Surely they are spies!", Joseph called them out. They trembled in fear for this man, the vizier. He ordered the dungeon-masters to lock them up for three days, which became the three worst days of their life since they sold their most hated brother. What became hate turned into sorrow: sorrow for their pain, sorrow for their despair, sorrow for the God of Jacob that saw everything and never intervened.
Joseph looked on the mirror and cried with them. And he ordered his servants to give them the finest grain in all of Egypt, and their money back.