⁸ Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones.

² I have heard,” he said, “that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”^(A)

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the River Ahava, that we might humble ourselves^[a] before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.^(A)

¹³ One of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, since those left here will suffer the fate of the whole multitude of Israel that have perished already;^[a] let us send and find out.”

⁴ If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there, but if we sit here, we shall also die. Therefore, let us desert to the Aramean camp; if they spare our lives, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.”^(A)

³¹ But your little ones, who you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have despised.^(A)

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.^(A)

²¹ So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.^(A)