Genesis 44:14-34

14Joseph was still in his house when Judah and his brothers arrived. They threw themselves on the ground in front of Joseph.

15Joseph said, ‘Why have you done this bad thing? You should have known about an important man like me. I can use magic to find out what people do.’

16Judah said, ‘We do not know what to say to you, my lord. We cannot say that we did not do this. God has shown that we are guilty of this sin. Now we are your slaves. We are all your slaves, as well as the one who had your cup in his bag.’

17But Joseph said, ‘I would not do a thing like that! Only the man who had the cup will be my slave. The rest of you can return to your father. You may go as my friends.’

18Then Judah went and he spoke to Joseph. He said, ‘Please, my lord. Let me speak to you. You have all of Pharaoh's authority, but please do not be angry with me, your servant.

19You asked us, “Do you have a father or another brother?”

20And we replied, “We have a father who is very old. He has a young son who was born when our father was already old. That son's brother is dead. He is the only son of his mother who still lives. His father loves him.”

21Then you said, “Bring your youngest brother to me so that I can see him.”

22And we said, “The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves him, his father will die.”

23But you said to us, “Your youngest brother must come with you. If he does not come, I will not let you see me again.”

24We returned to our father and we told him what you said.

25After some time, our father said, “Go back to Egypt and buy some more food for us.”

26But we said, “We cannot go back there. We can only go if our youngest brother goes with us. If he is not with us, we will not be able to see the man again.”

27Then my father said to us, “My wife gave birth to two sons.

28One of them went away and he never returned. So I said, ‘A wild animal must have eaten him.’ I have not seen him since that happened.

29If you take my youngest son away from me too, something bad may happen to him. I am already an old man. If I lose Benjamin, I would be so sad that I would die.” ’

30Judah continued and he said, ‘So, my lord, I could not go back to my father without his youngest son. My father stays alive because of this boy.

31If my father sees that his son is not with us, he will die. Because we did not bring the boy back to him, he will be sad enough to die.

32I promised my father that I would take care of the boy. I said, “I will bring the boy back. If I do not, then you can say that I am guilty. I will be guilty for all of my life.”

33Please sir, let me stay here as your slave, instead of the boy. Let the boy return home with his brothers.

34I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I never want to see how upset my father would be.’