21 Then they started talking among themselves. “Now we’re paying for what we did to our brother—we saw how terrified he was when he was begging us for mercy. We wouldn’t listen to him and now we’re the ones in trouble.”

22 Reuben broke in. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t hurt the boy’? But no, you wouldn’t listen. And now we’re paying for his murder.”

23-24 Joseph had been using an interpreter, so they didn’t know that Joseph was understanding every word. Joseph turned away from them and cried. When he was able to speak again, he took Simeon and had him tied up, making a prisoner of him while they all watched.

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21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother.(A) We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress(B) has come on us.”

22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?(C) But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting(D) for his blood.”(E) 23 They did not realize(F) that Joseph could understand them,(G) since he was using an interpreter.

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