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

A Silver Cup in a Sack

1Joseph told the manager of his house what to do. “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry,” he said. “Put each man’s money in his sack. 2Then put my silver cup in the youngest one’s sack. Put it there along with the money he paid for his grain.” So the manager did what Joseph told him to do.

3When morning came, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4They hadn’t gone very far from the city when Joseph spoke to his manager. “Go after those men right away,” he said. “Catch up with them. Say to them, ‘My master was good to you. Why have you paid him back by doing evil? 5Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from? Doesn’t he also use it to find things out? You have done an evil thing.’ ”

6When the manager caught up with them, he told them what Joseph had said. 7But they said to him, “Why do you say these things? We would never do anything like that! 8We even brought back to you from Canaan the money we found in our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9If you find out that any of us has the cup, he will die. And the rest of us will become your slaves.”

10“All right, then,” he said. “As you wish. The one found to have the cup will become my slave. But the rest of you will not be blamed.”

11Each of them quickly put his sack down on the ground and opened it. 12Then the manager started to search. He began with the oldest and ended with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13When that happened, they were so upset they tore their clothes. Then all of them loaded their donkeys and went back to the city.

14Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in. They threw themselves down on the ground in front of him. 15Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Don’t you know that a man like me has ways to find things out?”

16“What can we say to you?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove we haven’t done anything wrong? God has shown you that we are guilty. We are now your slaves. All of us are, including the one found to have the cup.”

17But Joseph said, “I would never do anything like that! Only the man found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace.”

18Then Judah went up to him. He said, “Please, sir. Let me speak a word to you. Don’t be angry with me, even though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19You asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20We answered, ‘We have an old father. A young son was born to him when he was old. His brother is dead. He’s the only one of his mother’s sons left. And his father loves him.’

21“Then you said to us, ‘Bring him down to me. I want to see him for myself.’ 22We said to you, ‘The boy can’t leave his father. If he does, his father will die.’ 23But you told us, ‘Your youngest brother must come down here with you. If he doesn’t, you won’t see my face again.’ 24So we went back to my father. We told him what you had said.

25“Then our father said, ‘Go back. Buy a little more food.’ 26But we said, ‘We can’t go down. We’ll only go if our youngest brother goes there with us. We can’t even see the man’s face unless our youngest brother goes with us.’

27“Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife had two sons by me. 28One of them went away from me. And I said, “He must have been torn to pieces.” I haven’t seen him since. 29What if you take this one from me too and he is harmed? Then you would cause me to die as a sad old man. I would go down into the grave full of pain and suffering.’

30“So now, what will happen if the boy isn’t with us when I go back to my father? His life depends on the boy’s life. 31When he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he’ll die. Because of us, he’ll go down into the grave as a sad old man. 32I promised my father I would keep the boy safe. I said, ‘Father, I’ll bring him back to you. If I don’t, you can put the blame on me for the rest of my life.’

33“Now then, please let me stay here. Let me be your slave in place of the boy. Let the boy return with his brothers. 34How can I go back to my father if the boy isn’t with me? No! Don’t let me see the pain and suffering that would come to my father.”

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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