¹⁸ Then Judah^(A) went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^(B) let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry^(C) with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants,^(D) ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’^{(E) 20} And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.^(F) His brother is dead,^(G) and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’^(H)

²¹ “Then you said to your servants,^(I) ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’^(J)

²³ But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’^{(A) 24} When we went back to your servant my father,^(B) we told him what my lord^(C) had said.^(D)

²⁵ “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’^{(E) 26} But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’^(F)

²⁷ “Your servant my father^(G) said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.^{(H) 28} One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.”^(I) And I have not seen him since.^{(J) 29} If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave^(K) in misery.’^(L)

⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven^(A) has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts^(B)— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.^{(C) 11} Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting.^{(D) 13} If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.^{(E) 15} Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^(F) on the day of judgment^(G) than for that town.^(H)