Genesis 44

1¶ And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill these men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth;

2and put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with the money of his wheat. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Rise up, follow after those men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good?

5 Is this not the one in which my lord drinks and in which indeed he divines? Ye have done evil in so doing.

6When he overtook them, he spoke unto them these same words.

7And they said unto him, Why saith my lord these words? In no wise should thy slaves do according to this thing.

8Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?

9With whoever of thy slaves it is found, both let him die and we also will be my lord’s bond slaves.

10And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and ye shall be blameless.

11Then they made haste, and each one took his sack down to the ground, and each one opened his sack.

12And he searched and began at the eldest and finished at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

13Then they rent their clothes, and each one laded his ass, and they returned to the city.

14And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house, for he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground.

15And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? Know ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

16Then Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy slaves; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup is found.

17And he said, in no wise should I do so; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my slave; and as for you, go up in peace unto your father.

18¶ Then Judah came near unto him and said, Oh my lord, let thy slave, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy slave; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

19My lord asked his slaves, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?

20And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a young man of his old age, yet a lad; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.

21And thou didst say unto thy slaves, Bring him down unto me that I may set my eyes upon him.

22And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

23And thou didst say unto thy slaves, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

24And it came to pass when we came up unto thy slave my father, we told him the words of my lord.

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

26And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.

27Then thy slave my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons;

28and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since;

29and if ye take this one also from me and some disaster should befall him, ye shall bring my gray hairs with sorrow down to Sheol.

30Now therefore when I come to thy slave my father, and the lad is not with us, seeing that his soul is bound up in the lad’s soul,

31it shall come to pass when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy slaves shall bring the gray hairs of thy slave our father down with sorrow to Sheol.

32For thy slave became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the sin before my father for ever.

33Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy slave remain instead of the lad as a bond slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren.

34For how shall I go up to my father and the lad not be with me? I cannot go lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.

The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International

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Genesis 44

Joseph Sets a Trap

1Then Joseph gave a command to the servant in charge of his house. Joseph said, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much grain as they can carry. And put each man’s money into his sack with the grain. 2Put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother. Also put his money for the grain in that sack.” The servant did what Joseph told him.

3At dawn the brothers were sent away with their donkeys. 4They were not far from the city when Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Go after the men. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good? 5The cup you have stolen is the one my master uses for drinking. And he uses it for explaining dreams. You have done a very wicked thing!’”

6So the servant caught up with the brothers. He said to them what Joseph had told him to say.

7But the brothers said to the servant, “Why do you say these things? We would not do anything like that! 8We brought back to you the money we found in our sacks. We brought it back from the land of Canaan. So surely we would not steal silver or gold from your master’s house. 9If you find that silver cup in the sack of one of us, then let him die. And we will be your slaves.”

10The servant said, “We will do as you say. But only the man who has taken the cup will become my slave. The rest of you may go free.”

11Then every brother quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12The servant searched the sacks, going from the oldest brother to the youngest. He found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. 13The brothers tore their clothes to show they were sad. Then they put their sacks back on the donkeys. And they returned to the city.

14When Judah and his brothers went back to Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there. The brothers bowed facedown on the ground before him. 15Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man like me can learn things by signs and dreams?”

16Judah said, “Sir, what can we say? And how can we show we are not guilty? God has uncovered our guilt. So all of us will be your slaves, not just Benjamin.”

17But Joseph said, “I will not make you all slaves! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safely to your father.”

18Then Judah went to Joseph and said, “Sir, please let me speak plainly to you. Please don’t be angry with me. I know that you are as powerful as the king of Egypt himself. 19When we were here before, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20And we answered you, ‘We have an old father. And we have a younger brother. He was born when our father was old. This youngest son’s brother is dead. So he is the only one of his mother’s children left alive. And our father loves him very much.’ 21Then you said to us, ‘Bring that brother to me. I want to see him.’ 22And we said to you, ‘That young boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves him, his father would die.’ 23But you said to us, ‘You must bring your youngest brother. If you don’t, you will not be allowed to see me again.’ 24So we went back to our father and told him what you had said.

25“Later, our father said, ‘Go again. Buy us a little more food.’ 26We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our youngest brother. Without our youngest brother, we will not be allowed to see the governor.’ 27Then my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel gave me two sons. 28One son left me. I thought, “Surely he has been torn apart by a wild animal.” And I haven’t seen him since. 29Now you want to take this son away from me also. But something terrible might happen to him. Then I would be sad until the day I die.’ 30Now what will happen if we go home to our father without our youngest brother? He is the most important thing in our father’s life. 31When our father sees that the young boy is not with us, he will die. And it will be our fault. We will cause the great sorrow that kills our father.

32“I gave my father a guarantee that the young boy would be safe. I said to my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life.’ 33So now, please allow me to stay here and be your slave. And let the young boy go back home with his brothers. 34I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn’t stand to see my father that sad.”

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