Genesis 43:1-7 ▼

1 Now the famine in the land grew severe.

2 So when they had used up all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

3 But Judah replied: “The man strictly warned us, ‘You shall not see me unless your brother is with you.’

4 If you are willing to let our brother go with us, we will go down to buy food for you.

5 But if you are not willing, we will not go down, because the man told us, ‘You shall not see me unless your brother is with you.’”

6 Israel demanded, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man that you had another brother?”

7 They answered: “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”