Study Desk

But Jacob said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should happen to him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow."

Judah spoke to him, however, saying, "The man sternly warned 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.'"

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

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon."

Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, so that he may attack us and overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys."

Then they served him by himself, and Joseph's brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Then he took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.

Then he commanded his house steward, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the opening of his sack.

As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys.

"With whomever of your servants it is found, he shall die, and we also shall be my lord's slaves."

So he said, "Now let it indeed be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, but the rest of you shall be considered innocent."

And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Then Judah approached him and said, "Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.

"You said to your servants, however, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'

"But we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'

"So now, when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us—since our father's life is so attached to the boy's life—

when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. So your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant, our father, down to Sheol in sorrow.

"So now, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers.