In the midst of the crisis in Egypt, Joseph's brothers arrived from Canaan, seeking to buy food, as the famine severely affected their land also. They did not recognize Joseph, and he did not reveal himself to them.
The promised land is crumbling under the dry rot of a severe famine, and Jacob's lost-and-found son Joseph has invited the family to move down to Egypt, where there would be food and a place for them to wait it out.
Joseph's brothers return to Egypt to buy food a second time and are treated royally but when they leave Joseph's special cup ends up in the sack of Benjamin and they are hauled back to Egypt in great fear.