Genesis 43:2–15

²When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”

³But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. ⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ”^b

⁶“Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?”

⁷They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

⁸Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents. ⁹I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable!^A If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever.^{c 10}If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.^{d 12}Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. ¹⁴May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”^e

THE RETURN TO EGYPT

¹⁵The men took this gift, double the amount of silver, and Benjamin. They immediately went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.