21. They said to each other, “We are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his trouble, and he begged us to save him, but we refused to listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”
22. Then Reuben said to them, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you refused to listen to me. So now we are being punished for what we did to him.”
23. When Joseph talked to his brothers, he used an interpreter, so they did not know that Joseph understood what they were saying.
24. Then Joseph left them and cried. After a short time he went back and spoke to them. He took Simeon and tied him up while the other brothers watched.
25. Joseph told his servants to fill his brothers’ bags with grain and to put the money the brothers had paid for the grain back in their bags. The servants were also to give them what they would need for their trip back home. And the servants did this.
26. So the brothers put the grain on their donkeys and left.
27. When they stopped for the night, one of the brothers opened his sack to get food for his donkey. Then he saw his money in the top of the sack.
28. He said to the other brothers, “The money I paid for the grain has been put back. Here it is in my sack!”The brothers were very frightened. They said to each other, “What has God done to us?”
29. The brothers went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him everything that had happened.
30. They said, “The master of that land spoke unkindly to us. He accused us of spying on his country,
31. but we told him that we were honest men, not spies.
32. We told him that we were ten of twelve brothers—sons of one father. We said that one of our brothers was gone and that our youngest brother was with our father in Canaan.
33. “Then the master of the land said to us, ‘Here is a way I can know you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain to feed your hungry families, and go.
34. And bring your youngest brother to me so I will know you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give you back your brother whom you leave with me, and you can move about freely in our land.’ ”