Genesis 44:18-34

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.’