< Genesis 44 >
1 And he commands him who [is] over his house, saying, “Fill the bags of the men [with] food, as they are able to carry, and put the money of each in the mouth of his bag;
2 and my cup, the silver cup, you put in the mouth of the bag of the young one, and his grain-money”; and he does according to the word of Joseph which he has spoken.
3 The morning is bright, and the men have been sent away, they and their donkeys—
4 they have gone out of the city—they have not gone far off—and Joseph has said to him who [is] over his house, “Rise, pursue after the men; and you have overtaken them, and you have said to them: Why have you repaid evil for good?
5 Is this not that with which my lord drinks? And he observes diligently with it; you have done evil [in] that which you have done.”
6 And he overtakes them, and speaks to them these words,
7 and they say to him, “Why does my lord speak according to these words? Far be it from your servants to do according to this word;
8 behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our bags we brought back to you from the land of Canaan, and how do we steal from the house of your lord silver or gold?
9 With whomsoever of your servants it is found, he has died, and we also are to my lord for servants.”
10 And he says, “Now also, according to your words, so it [is]; he with whom it is found becomes my servant, and you are acquitted”;
11 and they hurry and take down each his bag to the earth, and each opens his bag;
12 and he searches—at the eldest he has begun, and at the youngest he has completed—and the cup is found in the bag of Benjamin;
13 and they tear their garments, and each loads his donkey, and they return to the city.
14 And Judah and his brothers come to the house of Joseph, and he is yet there, and they fall to the earth before him;
15 and Joseph says to them, “What [is] this deed that you have done? Have you not known that a man like me diligently observes?”
16 And Judah says, “What do we say to my lord? What do we speak? And how do we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we [are] servants to my lord, both we, and he in whose hand the cup has been found”;
17 and he says, “Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the cup has been found, he becomes my servant; and you, go up in peace to your father.”
18 And Judah comes near to him and says, “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and do not let your anger burn against your servant—for you are as Pharaoh.
19 My lord has asked his servants, saying, Do you have a father or brother?
20 And we say to my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father has loved him.
21 And you say to your servants, Bring him down to me, and I set my eye on him;
22 and we say to my lord, The youth is not able to leave his father, when he has left his father, then he has died;
23 and you say to your servants, If your young brother does not come down with you, you do not add to see my face.
24 And it comes to pass, that we have come up to your servant my father, that we declare to him the words of my lord;
25 and our father says, Return, buy for us a little food,
26 and we say, We are not able to go down; if our young brother is with us, then we have gone down; for we are not able to see the man’s face, and our young brother not with us.
27 And your servant my father says to us, You have known that my wife bore two to me,
28 and one goes out from me, and I say, Surely he is torn—torn! And I have not seen him since;
29 when you have taken also this from my presence, and harm has met him, then you have brought down my grey hairs with evil to Sheol. (Sheol )
30 And now, at my coming to your servant my father, and the youth not with us (and his soul is bound up in his soul),
31 then it has come to pass, when he sees that the youth is not, that he has died, and your servants have brought down the grey hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol; (Sheol )
32 for your servant obtained the youth by guarantee to my father, saying, If I do not bring him to you—then I have sinned against my father all the days.
33 And now, please let your servant abide instead of the youth [as] a servant to my lord, and the youth goes up with his brothers,
34 for how do I go up to my father, and the youth not with me? Lest I look on the evil which finds my father.”
