Genesis 44

1 Then he gave orders to the servant who was over his house, saying, Put as much food into the men's bags as will go into them, and put every man's money in the mouth of his bag;

And Joseph charged the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put the money of each in the mouth of his sack.

2 And put my cup, my silver cup, in the youngest one's bag, with his money. So he did as Joseph said.

And put my silver cup into the sack of the youngest, and the price of his corn. And it was done according to the word of Joseph, as he said.

3 And at dawn the men, with their asses, were sent away.

The morning dawned, and the men were sent away, they and their asses.

4 And when they had gone only a little way out of the town, Joseph said to the servant who was over his house, Go after them; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you done evil in reward for good?

And when they had gone out of the city, [and] were not far off, then Joseph said to his steward, Arise, and pursue after the men; and thou shalt overtake them, and say to them, Why have ye returned evil for good?

5 Is not this the cup from which my lord takes wine and by which he gets knowledge of the future? Truly, you have done evil.

Why have ye stolen my silver cup? is it not this out of which my lord drinks? and he divines augury with it; ye have accomplished evil in that which ye have done.

6 So he overtook them and said these words to them.

And he found them, and spoke to them according to these words.

7 And they said to him, Why does my lord say such words as these? far be it from your servants to do such a thing:

And they said to him, Why does our lord speak according to these words? far be it from thy servants to do according to this word.

8 See, the money which was in the mouth of our bags we gave back to you when we came again from Canaan: how then might we take silver or gold from your lord's house?

If we brought back to thee out of the land of Chanaan the money which we found in our sacks, how should we steal silver or gold out of the house of thy lord?

9 If it comes to light that any of your servants has done this, let him be put to death, and we will be your lord's servants.

With whomsoever of thy servants thou shalt find the cup, let him die; and, moreover, we will be servants to our lord.

10 And he said, Let it be as you say: he in whose bag it is seen will become my servant; and you will not be responsible.

And he said, Now then it shall be as ye say; with whomsoever the cup shall be found, he shall be my servant, and ye shall be clear.

11 Then every man quickly got his bag down and undid it.

And they hasted, and took down every man his sack on the ground, and they opened every man his sack.

12 And he made a search, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was in Benjamin's bag.

And he searched, beginning from the eldest, until he came to the youngest; and he found the cup in Benjamin's sack.

13 Then in bitter grief they put the bags on the asses again and went back to the town.

And they rent their garments, and laid each man his sack on his ass, and returned to the city.

14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was still there: and they went down on their faces before him.

And Judas and his brethren came in to Joseph, while he was yet there, and fell on the ground before him.

15 And Joseph said, What is this thing which you have done? had you no thought that such a man as I would have power to see what is secret?

And Joseph said to them, What is this thing that ye have done? know ye not that a man such as I can surely divine?

16 And Judah said, What are we to say to my lord? how may we put ourselves right in his eyes? God has made clear the sin of your servants: now we are in your hands, we and the man in whose bag your cup was seen.

And Judas said, What shall we answer to our lord, or what shall we say, or wherein should we be justified? whereas God has discovered the unrighteousness of thy servants; behold, we are slaves to our lord, both we and he with whom the cup has been found.

17 Then he said, Far be it from me to do so: but the man who had my cup will be my servant; and you may go back to your father in peace.

And Joseph said, Far be it from me to do this thing; the man with whom the cup has been found, he shall be my servant; but do ye go up with safety to your father.

18 Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning against your servant: for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us.

And Judas drew near him, and said, I pray, Sir, let thy servant speak a word before thee, and be not angry with thy servant, for thou art next to Pharao.

19 My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother?

Sir, thou askedst thy servants, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?

20 And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father.

And we said to [my] lord, We have a father, an old man, and he has a son of his old age, a young one, and his brother is dead, and he alone has been left behind to his mother, and his father loves him.

21 And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him.

And thou saidst to they servants, Bring him down to me, and I will take care of him.

22 And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for if he went away his father would come to his death.

And we said to [my] lord, The child will not be able to leave his father; but if he should leave his father, he will die.

23 But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again.

But thou saidst to they servants, Except your younger brother come down with you, ye shall not see my face again.

24 And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words.

And it came to pass, when we went up to thy servant our father, we reported to him the words of our lord.

25 And our father said, Go again and get us a little food.

And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.

26 And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us.

And we said, We shall not be able to go down; but if our younger brother go down with us, we will go down; for we shall not be able to see the man's face, our younger brother not being with us.

27 And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons;

And thy servant our father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two [sons];

28 The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death; and from that time I have not seen him,

and one is departed from me; and ye said that he was devoured of wild beasts, and I have not seen him until now.

29 If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld. (Sheol h7585)

If then ye take this one also from my presence, and an affliction happen to him by the way, then shall ye bring down my old age with sorrow to the grave. (Sheol h7585)

30 If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one,

Now then, if I should go in to they servant, and our father, and the boy should not be with us, (and his life depends on this [lad's] life)

31 When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld. (Sheol h7585)

—it shall even come to pass, when he sees the boy is not with us, [that] he will die, and thy servants will bring down the old age of thy servant, and our father, with sorrow to the grave. (Sheol h7585)

32 For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.

For thy servant has received the boy [in charge] from his father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, and place him before thee, I shall be guilty towards my father for ever.

33 So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers.

Now then I will remain a servant with thee instead of the lad, a domestic of my lord; but let the lad go up with his brethren.

34 For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?

For how shall I go up to my father, the lad not being with us? lest I behold the evils which will befall my father.