17. Joseph said, “Oh, no! I would never do that! Only the one who had the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safe and sound to your father.”
18. Judah went up to Joseph and said, “Please, sir, allow me to speak with you freely. Don't be angry with me; you are like the king himself.
19. Sir, you asked us, ‘Have you got a father or another brother?’
20. We answered, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother, born to him in his old age. The boy's brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's children still alive; his father loves him very much.’
21. Sir, you told us to bring him here, so that you could see him,
22. and we answered that the boy could not leave his father; if he did, his father would die.
23. Then you said, ‘You will not be admitted to my presence again unless your youngest brother comes with you.’
24. “When we went back to our father, we told him what you had said.