Genesis 44
44
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.
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Genesis 44: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Genesis 44
44
1Joseph ordered his household supervisor, “Fill the men's sacks with as much grain as they can hold and put each man's money at the top of his sack. 2Then put my special silver cup at the top of the sack of the youngest, along with the money for his grain.” He did as Joseph told him. 3At sunrise they were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4They had hardly left the city when Joseph told his household supervisor, “Go after those men, and when you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you paid back good with evil by stealing my master's silver cup?#44:4. “By stealing my master's silver cup”: Septuagint addition, used for clarity. 5This is the cup he personally drinks from, and which he uses for divination.#44:5. “Divination”: a way of discovering secrets or hidden knowledge. Sometimes this is close to magic, but, in this case, it may be that Joseph is using a common superstition to cover up his plan. What you've done is really evil!’”
6When he caught up with them, he told them what Joseph had said.
7“My lord, what are you saying?” they replied. “We your servants wouldn't do anything like that! 8Remember that we brought back the money we found at the top of our sacks when we returned from Canaan. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house? 9If any one of us is found with it, he shall die, and all of us will become your slaves.”
10“Whatever you say,” the man replied, “but only the one found with it will become my slave since the rest of you will be free of any blame.” 11They all unloaded their sacks and put them on the ground. They each opened their own sacks. 12The household supervisor searched the sacks, beginning with the oldest and working his way down to the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13The brothers tore their clothes in grief. Then they loaded their sacks back on their donkeys and headed back to the city.
14Joseph was still at home when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. 15“Why did you do this?” Joseph asked. “Don't you know a man like me can find out things through divination?”
16“My lord, what can we say?” Judah replied. “How can we explain this to you? In what way can we prove our innocence? God has exposed the guilt of your servants. My lord, we are your slaves—all of us, including the one who was found with the cup.”
17“I wouldn't do anything like that!” Joseph replied. “Only the man who was found with the cup will become my slave. The rest of you are free to return to your father.”
18Judah came closer and said to him, “If you please, my lord, let your servant just say a word. Please don't become angry with your servant, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself. 19My lord, previously you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20We told you, my lord, ‘We have an elderly father, and a younger brother, born when our father was already old. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's children left, and his father loves him dearly.’
21Then you ordered us, ‘Bring him here to me so I can see him.’ 22We told you, ‘The boy can't leave his father; if he did, his father would die.’ 23But you told us, ‘If your youngest brother doesn't come with you, you won't see me again.’
24So when we went back to your servant, our father, we explained to him everything you had told us. 25However, later on, our father told us, ‘Go back and buy some more food.’ 26But we said, ‘There's no way we can go back unless Benjamin our youngest brother goes with us, because we won't be able to see the man if Benjamin isn't with us.’
27Then my father said to us, ‘You realize that my wife#44:27. “My wife”: referring to Rachel. Evidently Jacob considered her as his one true wife. had two sons for me. 28One is no more, ripped to pieces no doubt,#44:28. See 37:33. for I've never seen him since. 29If you take this one away from me too, and something bad happens to him, you'll send this old man to his grave in grief.’
30So if the boy isn't with us when I go back to my father, whose life depends on the life of the boy, 31as soon as he sees the boy isn't there he'll die, and we will really send this old man, our father, to his grave in grief. 32In fact I gave myself as the guarantee for the boy to my father. I told him, ‘If I don't bring him back to you, then I will always carry the blame!’
33So please let me stay here as my lord's slave instead of the boy. Let him go back home with his brothers. 34For how could I ever go back to my father if the boy wasn't with me? I couldn't stand seeing the anguish that would cause my father.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com