Genesis 44

1 Forsothe Joseph comaundid the dispendere of his hous, and seide, Fille thou her sackis with wheete, as myche as tho moun take, and putte thou the money of ech in the hiynesse of the sak;

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;

2 forsothe put thou in the mouth of the sak of the yongere my silueren cuppe, and the prijs of wheete which he yaf; and it was doon so.

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

3 And whanne the morewtid roos, thei weren delyuered with her assis.

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

4 And now thei hadden go out of the citee, and hadden go forth a litil; thanne Joseph seide, whanne the dispendere of his hous was clepid, Rise thou, pursue the men, and seye thou whanne thei ben takun, Whi han ye yolde yuel for good?

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?

5 The cuppe, which ye han stole, is thilk in which my lord drynkith, and in which he is wont to dyuyne; ye han do a ful wickid thing.

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.

6 He dide as Joseph comaundid, and whanne thei weren takun, he spak bi ordre.

So he overtook them and said these words to them.

7 Whiche answeriden, Whi spekith oure lord so, that thi seruauntis han do so greet trespas?

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:

8 We brouyten ayen to thee fro the lond of Chanaan the monei which we founden in the hiynesse of sackis, and hou is it suynge that we han stole fro `the hows of thi lord gold ether siluer?

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?

9 At whom euere of thi seruauntis this that thou sekist is foundun, die he, and we schulen be seruauntis of my lord.

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.

10 Which seide to hem, Be it doon bi youre sentence; at whom it is foundun, be he my seruaunt; forsothe ye schulen be gilteles.

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.

11 And so thei diden doun hastili the sackis on erthe, and alle openyden tho whiche he souyte;

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

12 and bigan at the more til to the leeste, and foond the cuppe in `the sak of Beniamyn.

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

13 And whanne thei hadden `to-rent her clothis, and hadden chargid eft the assis, thei turneden ayen in to the citee.

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

14 And Judas entride `the firste with brithren to Joseph; for he hadde not go yit fro the place; and alle felden togidere on erthe bifore hym.

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

15 To whiche he seide, Whi wolden ye do so? whether ye witen not, that noon is lijk me in the kunnyng of dyuinyng?

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?

16 To whom Judas seide, What schulen we answere to my lord, ether what schulen we speke, ether moun iustli ayenseie? God hath founde the wickidnesse of thi seruauntis; lo! alle we ben the seruauntis of my lord, bothe we and he at whom the cuppe is foundun.

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.

17 Joseph answeride, Fer be it fro me, that Y do so; he be my seruaunt that stal the cuppe; forsothe go ye fre to youre fadir.

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.

18 Sotheli Judas neiyede neer, and seide tristili, My lord, Y preye, thi seruaunt speke a word in thin eeris, and be thou not wrooth to thi seruaunt; for aftir Farao thou art my lord.

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.

19 Thou axidist first thi seruauntis, Han ye a fadir, ether a brother?

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

20 And we answeriden to thee, my lord, An eld fadir is to vs, and a litil child that was borun in his eelde, whos brother of the same wombe is deed, and his modir hath hym aloone; forsothe his fadir loueth hym tendirli.

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.

21 And thou seidist to thi seruauntis, Brynge ye hym to me, and Y schal sette myn iyen on hym.

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

22 We maden suggestioun to thee, my lord, the child may not forsake his fadir; for if he schal leeue the fadir, he schal die.

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.

23 And thou seidist to thi seruauntis, If youre leeste brother schal not come with you, ye schulen no more se my face.

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

24 Therfor whanne we hadden stied to thi seruaunt, oure fadir, we telden to hym alle thingis whiche my lord spak; and oure fadir seide,

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

25 Turne ye ayen, and bie ye to you a litil of wheete;

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

26 to whom we seiden, We moun not go; if oure leeste brother schal go doun with vs, we schulen go forth togidere; ellis, if he is absent, we doren not se the `face of the lord.

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.

27 To whiche thingis the fadir answeride, Ye witen that my wiif childide twei sones to me;

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

28 oon yede out, and ye seiden, a beeste deuouride hym, and hidir to he apperith not;

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,

29 if ye taken also this sone, and ony thing bifallith to hym in the weye, ye schulen lede forth myn hoor heeris with morenyng to hellis. (Sheol h7585)

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)

30 Therfor if Y entre to thi seruaunt, oure fadir, and the child faile, sithen his lijf hangith of the lijf of the child,

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

31 and he se that the child is not with vs, he schal die, and thi seruauntis schulen lede forth hise hoor heeris with sorewe to hellis. (Sheol h7585)

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)

32 Be Y propirli thi seruaunt, which resseyuede this child on my feith, and bihiyte, and seide, If Y schal not brynge ayen hym, Y schal be gilti of synne ayens my fadir in al tyme;

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.

33 and so Y schal dwelle thi seruaunt for the child in to the seruyce of my lord, and the child stie with hise britheren;

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

34 for Y may not go ayen to my fadir, if the child is absent, lest Y stonde a witnesse of the wretchidnesse that schal oppresse my fadir.

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