Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



But Judah approached him and begged him, "Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately. Please don't be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh. Your Excellency asked his servants, "Do you have a father or brother?' and we answered Your Excellency, "We have an aged father and a younger child who was born when he was old. His brother is now dead, so he's the only surviving son of his mother. His father loves him.' read more.
"But then you ordered your servants, "Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.' So we told Your Excellency, "The young man cannot leave his father, because if he were to do so, his father would die.' But then you told your servants, "Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you won't see my face again.' Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said. ""Go back,' our father ordered, "and buy us a little food.' "But we told him, "We can't go back there. If our youngest brother accompanies us, we'll go back, but we cannot see the man's face again unless our youngest brother accompanies us.' "Then your servant, our father, told us, "You know my wife bore me two sons. One of them left me, so I concluded "I'm certain that he has been torn to pieces," and I haven't seen him since then. If you take this one from me, too, and then something harmful happens to him, then it will be death for me and my sad, gray hair!' "So when I go back to your servant, my father, and the young man isn't with us, since he's constantly living life focused on his son, when he notices that the young man hasn't come back with us, he'll die, and your servants really will have brought death to your servant, our father, along with his sad, gray hair! Also, your servant pledged his own life as a guarantee of the young man's safety. I told my father, "If I don't bring him back to you, you can blame me forever.' Therefore, please allow your servant to remain as a slave to Your Excellency, instead of the young man, and let the young man go back home with his brothers. After all, how can I go back to my father if the young man doesn't accompany me? I'm afraid of what might happen to my father."


Jacob sent Judah ahead of them to meet with Joseph, who would be guiding them to Goshen, and so they arrived.

Meanwhile, the famine remained severe throughout the region. As a result, when Jacob's family was beginning to eat the last of the grain that they had brought back from Egypt, their father Jacob told his sons, "Go back to Egypt and buy us some food." But Judah reminded him, "The man distinctly warned us: "You'll never see my face unless your brother comes with you.' read more.
So if you send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy some food. But if you don't send him, we're not going, because the man told us, "You'll never see my face unless your brother is with you.'" Israel replied, "Why did you make all this trouble by telling the man that you have another brother?" "The man specifically asked about us and our relatives," they responded. "He asked us, "Is your father still alive?' and "Do you have another brother?' So we answered his questions. How could we have known that he would tell us to bring our brother back with us?" "Send the young man with me," Judah told his father Israel, "and we'll get up and go so we can survive and not die and that includes all of us, you and our families. I'll even offer myself to guarantee that I'll be responsible for him. If I don't bring him back and present him to you, I'll personally bear the consequences forever. After all, if we hadn't delayed, we could have been there and back twice by now!"

Joseph was waiting for them back at his palace when his brothers returned. They fell to the ground in front of him, and Joseph asked them, "Why did you do this? Don't you know that I'm an expert at divination?" "What can we say, Your Excellency?" Judah replied. "How can we explain this or justify ourselves? God has discovered the sin of your servants, and now we've become slaves to you, Your Excellency, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been discovered." read more.
"Far be it from me to do this," Joseph responded. "The man in whose possession the cup was discovered will be my slave, but the rest of you may leave in peace to be with your father." But Judah approached him and begged him, "Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately. Please don't be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh. Your Excellency asked his servants, "Do you have a father or brother?' and we answered Your Excellency, "We have an aged father and a younger child who was born when he was old. His brother is now dead, so he's the only surviving son of his mother. His father loves him.' "But then you ordered your servants, "Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.' So we told Your Excellency, "The young man cannot leave his father, because if he were to do so, his father would die.' But then you told your servants, "Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you won't see my face again.' Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said. ""Go back,' our father ordered, "and buy us a little food.' "But we told him, "We can't go back there. If our youngest brother accompanies us, we'll go back, but we cannot see the man's face again unless our youngest brother accompanies us.' "Then your servant, our father, told us, "You know my wife bore me two sons. One of them left me, so I concluded "I'm certain that he has been torn to pieces," and I haven't seen him since then. If you take this one from me, too, and then something harmful happens to him, then it will be death for me and my sad, gray hair!' "So when I go back to your servant, my father, and the young man isn't with us, since he's constantly living life focused on his son, when he notices that the young man hasn't come back with us, he'll die, and your servants really will have brought death to your servant, our father, along with his sad, gray hair! Also, your servant pledged his own life as a guarantee of the young man's safety. I told my father, "If I don't bring him back to you, you can blame me forever.' Therefore, please allow your servant to remain as a slave to Your Excellency, instead of the young man, and let the young man go back home with his brothers. After all, how can I go back to my father if the young man doesn't accompany me? I'm afraid of what might happen to my father."


But Judah approached him and begged him, "Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately. Please don't be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh. Your Excellency asked his servants, "Do you have a father or brother?' and we answered Your Excellency, "We have an aged father and a younger child who was born when he was old. His brother is now dead, so he's the only surviving son of his mother. His father loves him.' read more.
"But then you ordered your servants, "Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.' So we told Your Excellency, "The young man cannot leave his father, because if he were to do so, his father would die.' But then you told your servants, "Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you won't see my face again.' Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said. ""Go back,' our father ordered, "and buy us a little food.' "But we told him, "We can't go back there. If our youngest brother accompanies us, we'll go back, but we cannot see the man's face again unless our youngest brother accompanies us.' "Then your servant, our father, told us, "You know my wife bore me two sons. One of them left me, so I concluded "I'm certain that he has been torn to pieces," and I haven't seen him since then. If you take this one from me, too, and then something harmful happens to him, then it will be death for me and my sad, gray hair!' "So when I go back to your servant, my father, and the young man isn't with us, since he's constantly living life focused on his son, when he notices that the young man hasn't come back with us, he'll die, and your servants really will have brought death to your servant, our father, along with his sad, gray hair! Also, your servant pledged his own life as a guarantee of the young man's safety. I told my father, "If I don't bring him back to you, you can blame me forever.' Therefore, please allow your servant to remain as a slave to Your Excellency, instead of the young man, and let the young man go back home with his brothers. After all, how can I go back to my father if the young man doesn't accompany me? I'm afraid of what might happen to my father."