Genesis 43:1-14

11Now the famine was severe in the land. 2So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” 3Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “2The man sternly warned 3us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” 6Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, 4by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” 7But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘5Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we 6answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, 7so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. 98I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from 9me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then 10you can let me take the blame forever. 10For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

11Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your 11bags, and carry down to the man 12as a gift, a little 13balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and 14myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand 15the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. 13Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; 14and may 1617God Almighty 18grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you 19your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, 20if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!”