Genesis 44:18-34
Expanded Bible
18 Then Judah ·went to Joseph [L approached him] and said, “·Master [My lord], please let ·me [L your servant] speak ·plainly to you [L a word in your ears], and please don’t be angry with ·me [L your servant]. ·I know that you are as powerful as the king of Egypt [L You are like Pharaoh] himself. 19 ·When we were here before, you asked us [L My master/lord asked his servants], ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 And we answered ·you [L my master/lord], ‘We have an old father. And we have a younger brother, ·who was born when our father was old [L of his old age]. ·This youngest son’s [L His] brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left alive, and ·our [L his] father loves him very much.’ 21 Then you said to ·us [L your servants], ‘Bring ·that brother [L him] to me. I want to ·see [L set my eyes on] him.’ 22 And we said to ·you [L my master/lord], ‘That young boy cannot leave his father, because if he leaves him, his father would die.’ 23 But you said to ·us [your servants], ‘If you don’t bring your youngest brother [L with you], you will not be allowed to see ·me [L my face] again.’ 24 So we went back to [L your servant] our father and told him ·what you had said [L the words of my master/lord].
25 “Later, our father said, ‘·Go again [Return] and buy us a little more food.’ 26 We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our ·youngest [smallest] brother. Without our ·youngest [smallest] brother, we will not be allowed to see the ·governor [L face of the man].’ 27 Then [L your servant] my father said to us, ‘You know that my ·wife Rachel gave [L wife bore] me two sons. 28 When one son left me, I thought, “Surely he has been torn apart by a wild animal,” and I haven’t seen him since. 29 Now you want to take this son away from ·me [L my face/presence] also. But something ·terrible [tragic; disastrous] might happen to him, and ·I would be miserable until the day I die [L you would bring my gray head down to Sheol in sorrow].’ 30 Now what will happen if we go home to [L your servant] our father without our ·youngest [smallest] brother? ·He is so important in our father’s life [L And his life/soul is so bound up in his life/soul] that 31 when our father sees the young boy is not with us, he will die. ·And it will be our fault. We will cause the great sorrow that kills our father [L Your servants will have brought the gray head of your servant to Sheol in grief].
32 “·I gave my father a guarantee that the young boy would be safe [L For your servant provided surety for the young boy for his father]. I said to my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, ·you can blame me [L I will be condemned before my father] all my life.’ 33 So now, please allow ·me [L your servant] to stay here and be your ·slave [L servant in place of the young boy], and let the young boy go back home with his brothers. 34 I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn’t stand to see my father ·that sad [suffer].”
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