Genesis 43:1-10

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Brothers Come Again, Bringing Benjamin

43 Now the famine was severe in the land.^{(A) 2} And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again; buy us a little more food.” ³ But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’^{(B) 4} If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food, ⁵ but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ” ⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” ⁷ They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”^{(C) 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. ⁹ I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.^{(D) 10} If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”