Genesis 42:22

And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required. Reuben was by no means innocent in the matter of Joseph, and his present reminder was not in the sense of a reproach by which he meant to clear himself. But he declared their present plight to come from the avenging justice of God, who thus demanded the freedom and the blood of their brother at their hands. All these expressions showed that the brothers were deeply repentant for their sin, for they willingly bowed themselves under the punishment of the Lord.