18. Then Judah went up to Joseph and said, “Please, sir, let me speak openly with you. Don’t be angry with me, although you are equal to Pharaoh.
19. Sir, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
20. We answered, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother born to him when he was already old. The boy’s brother is dead, so he’s the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
21. “Then you said to us, ‘Bring him here to me so that I can see him myself.’
22. We replied, ‘The boy can’t leave his father. If the boy leaves him, his father will die.’
23. Then you told us, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come here with you, you will never be allowed to see me again.’
24. When we went back to our father, we told him what you had said.
25. “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little more food.’
26. We answered, ‘We can’t go back. We can only go back if our youngest brother is with us. The man won’t see us unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27. “Then our father said to us, ‘You know that my wife ⌊Rachel⌋ gave me two sons.