Genesis 43:1-9

New Living Translation

The Brothers Return to Egypt

43 But the famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan. ² When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

³ But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food. ⁵ But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶ “Why were you so cruel to me?” Jacob^[a] moaned. “Why did you tell him you had another brother?”

⁷ “The man kept asking us questions about our family,” they replied. “He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

⁸ Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will be on our way. Otherwise we will all die of starvation—and not only we, but you and our little ones. ⁹ I personally guarantee his safety. You may hold me responsible if I don’t bring him back to you. Then let me bear the blame forever.