⁸ Then Judah^(A) said to Israel^(B) his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die.^(C)

² He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us,^(A) so that we may live and not die.”^(B)

²¹ There, by the Ahava Canal,^(A) I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey^(B) for us and our children, with all our possessions.

¹³ One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”

⁴ If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.^(A)

²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.^(A)” And he reassured them and spoke kindly^(B) to them.