21 Then they said to one another, a“We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; btherefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, a“Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now brequired of us.”
23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself away from them and awept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took bSimeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
The Brothers Return to Canaan
25 Then Joseph agave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to brestore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. cThus he did for them.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
27 But as aone of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts1 failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying:
30 “The man who is lord of the land aspoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’
33 Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, a‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.
34 And bring your ayoungest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may btrade in the land.’ ”
35 Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly aeach man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have abereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take bBenjamin. All these things are against me.”
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Book Notes:
Robertson's Book Notes (NT)
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