Genesis 43:2-15

English Standard Version

²And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” ³But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your ^(A)brother is with you.’ ⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” ⁷They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may ^(B)live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. ^(C)If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little ^(D)balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹²Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money ^(E)that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. ¹⁴May ^(F)God Almighty^[a] ^(G)grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(H)if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”