Study Desk

^(C1)Now the famine was severe in the land.

So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food."

Judah spoke to him, however, saying, "^(C1)The man sternly warned ^(F1)us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

"If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

"But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

Then Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, ^(F1)by telling the man whether you still had another brother?"

But they said, "The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, '^(C1)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' So we ^(F1)answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

So Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(C1)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.

"^(C1)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^(F1)me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^(F2)you can let me take the blame forever.

"For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice."

Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^(F1)bags, and carry down to the man ^(C1)as a gift, a little ^(C2)balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and ^(F2)myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

"And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(C1)the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.

"Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man;

and may ^(F1)(C1)God Almighty ^(C2)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(C3)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(C4)if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!"