Genesis 44:18
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
Judah steps forward to Joseph, who is still unrecognized as the ruler and prime minister of Egypt, and comes near apart from the rest of his brothers to make a private, eloquent intercession for Benjamin in intense distress. He begs leave to speak a word in his ears, approaching with deference and humility and pleading that his anger not burn against him as a servant before his lord. In doing so he acknowledges Joseph's authority as even as Pharaoh's and equal to Pharaoh's.
This request opens a longer plea that recounts Jacob's reluctance to let Benjamin come down to Egypt, his deep and great grief over the loss of Joseph, and that Benjamin is all that is left of the mother Jacob loved. The plea explains that Jacob's life is bound up in the lad's life, so that if they return and he sees the lad is not with them he will die and they will bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. In the plea Judah recalls his own pledge to his father to become surety for the lad, promising to bear the blame forever if he did not bring him back.
The plea ends with Judah's noble offer to abide instead of the lad as a bondman and slave, and to let the lad go up with his brethren. He makes this exchange to spare Jacob devastating grief, because he cannot face his father without Benjamin or witness the evil that would come on him.