1. The famine was severe in the land,
2. and when they had eaten all the grain that they brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and buy us a little food."
3. Judah said to him, "The man was absolutely serious when he said, ‘You may not see me again without your brother with you.’
4. If you agree to send our brother with us, then we will go down and buy you food.
5. But if you don’t agree to send him, then we can’t go down because the man said to us, ‘You may not see me again without your brother with you.’"
6. Israel said, "Why have you caused me such pain by telling the man you had another brother?"
7. They said, "The man asked us pointedly about our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother?’ So we told him just what we’ve said. How were we to know he’d say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?"
8. Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the young man with me. Let’s get ready to leave so that we can stay alive and not die—we, you, and our children.
9. I will guarantee his safety; you can hold me responsible. If I don’t bring him back to you and place him here in front of you, it will be my fault forever.
10. If we hadn’t waited so long, we would’ve returned twice by now."
11. Their father Israel said to them, "If it has to be, then do this. Take in your bags some of the land’s choice produce, and bring it down to the man as a gift: a little medicinal resin, a little honey, gum, resin, pistachios, and almonds.
12. Take twice as much silver with you, and take back the silver returned in the top of your sacks. It might have been a mistake.