²⁹ They came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him everything that had happened to them. They said, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and accused us of being spies against the country. ³¹ We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One brother is no more, and at the present time the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ That man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me. Take grain to relieve the famine at your houses, and go on your way. ³⁴ Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will release your brother to you, and you will be allowed to conduct business in the land.’”

³⁵ Then as they emptied their sacks, they were surprised to see that each man’s pouch of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their pouch of money, they were afraid.

³⁶ Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have deprived me of my children! Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more. And now you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Reuben spoke to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back to you again.”

³⁸ Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you, since his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If he has a mishap on the journey that you are taking, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave with sorrow.”