1And he commanded the ish over Bais Yosef, saying, Fill the sacks of the anashim with ochel, as much as they can carry, and put kesef ish in the mouth of his sack.

2And put my cup, gevi'a hakesef (cup of silver), in the mouth of the sack of the katon, and his kesef for shever (grain). And he did according to the davar Yosef had spoken.

3As soon as the boker ohr, the anashim were sent away, they and their chamorim.

4And when they were gone out of the ir, and not yet far off, Yosef said unto the ish over Bais Yosef, Up, follow after the anashim; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded ra'ah for tovah?

5Is not this it in which adoni drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done ra'ah in so doing.

6And he overtook them, and he spoke unto them these same devarim.

7And they said unto him, Wherefore saith adoni these words? Chalilah (far be it) that thy avadim should do according to this thing;

8Hinei, the kesef, which we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought back unto thee out of Eretz Kena'an; how then should we be ganavim stealing kesef or zahav out of the bais adoneicha?

9With whomsoever of thy avadim it be found, both let him die, and we also will be avadim of adoni.

10And he said, Now also let it be according unto your devarim; he with whom it is found shall be to me eved; and ye shall be nekiyim (blameless).

11Then they speedily took down every ish his sack to the ground, and opened every ish his sack.

12And he searched, and began at the gadol (eldest), and ended at the katon (youngest); and the gevi'a (cup, goblet) was found in the sack of Binyamin.

13Then they tore their garments, and loaded every ish his chamor, and returned to the ir.

14And Yehudah and his achim came to Bais Yosef; for he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground.

15And Yosef said unto them, What ma'aseh (deed) is this that ye have done? Know ye not that an ish like me can find things out as a menachesh (diviner)?

16And Yehudah said, What shall we say unto adoni? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? HaElohim hath found out the avon (iniquity) of thy avadim; look at us, we are now avadim la'adoni, both we, and he also with whom the gevi'a (cup) is found.

17And he [Yosef] said, Chalilah that I should do so; but the ish in whose yad the gevi'a is found, he shall be to me eved; and as for you, go back in shalom unto avichem.

[VAYIGGASH]

18Then Yehudah came near unto him, and said, Oh, adoni, let thy eved speak now a davar in oznei adoni, and let not thine anger burn against thy eved; for thou art even like Pharaoh.

19Adoni asked his avadim, saying, Have ye an av, or an ach?

20And we said unto adoni, We have an av, a zaken, and a yeled zekunim katan (child of his old age, a little one); and achiv is dead, and he alone is left of immo, and aviv loveth him.

21And thou saidst unto thy avadim, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.

22And we said unto adoni, The na'ar cannot leave aviv; for if he should leave aviv, aviv would die.

23And thou saidst unto thy avadim, Except achichem hakaton (your youngest brother) come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

24And it came to pass when we came up unto thy eved Avi we told him the divrei adoni.

25And avinu said, Shuvu, (go back, return) and buy us a little ochel.

26And we said, We cannot go down; if achinu hakaton (our youngest brother) be with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the face of HaIsh, except achinu hakaton be with us.

27And thy eved Avi said unto us, Ye know that my wife bore me two banim;

28And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn to pieces; and I saw him not ad-hennah (until now);

29And if ye take this also from me, and ason (evil, harm) befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hair in ra'ah (misery) to Sheol.

30Now therefore when I come to thy eved Avi, and the na'ar be not with us; seeing that his nefesh is bound up in the nefesh of the na'ar;

31It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the na'ar is not with us, that he will die; and thy avadim shall bring down the gray hair of thy eved avinu with yagon (sorrow) to Sheol,

32For thy eved became surety for the na'ar unto Avi, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame before Avi kol hayamim.

33Therefore, let thy eved, now, abide instead of the na'ar, an eved to adoni; and let the na'ar go up with his achim.

34For how shall I go up to Avi, and the na'ar be not with me? Lest I see the rah that would overtake Avi.

THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE

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Genesis 44

Joseph’s Final Test

1Then Joseph commanded his steward: “Fill the men’s bags with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s money at the top of his bag. # Gn 42:25 2Put my cup, the silver one, at the top of the youngest one’s bag, along with his grain money.” So he did as Joseph told him.

3At morning light, the men were sent off with their donkeys. 4They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Get up. Pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? # LXX adds Why have you stolen my silver cup? 5Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? # Gn 30:27; 44:15; Lv 19:26; Dt 18:10-14 What you have done is wrong! ’ ”

6When he overtook them, he said these words to them. 7They said to him, “Why does my lord say these things? Your servants could not possibly do such a thing. 8We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found at the top of our bags. How could we steal gold and silver from your master’s house? 9If any of us is # Lit If your servants are found to have it, he must die, and we also will become my lord’s slaves.” # Gn 31:32

10The steward replied, “What you have said is right, but only the one who is found to have it will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless.”

11So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13Then they tore their clothes, # Gn 37:29 and each one loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

14When Judah and his brothers reached Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. # Gn 37:7-10; 42:6; 43:26-28 15“What is this you have done? ” Joseph said to them. “Didn’t you know that a man like me could uncover the truth by divination? ”

16“What can we say to my lord? ” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ iniquity. We are now my lord’s slaves — both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

17Then Joseph said, “I swear that I will not do this. The man in whose possession the cup was found will be my slave. The rest of you can go in peace to your father.”

Judah’s Plea for Benjamin

18But Judah approached him and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. # Lit speak a word in my lord’s ears Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. # Gn 37:7-8; 41:40-44 19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother? ’ 20and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. # Gn 37:3; 43:8; 44:30 The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’ 21Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him to me so that I can see him.’ # Gn 42:15,20 22But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’ 23Then you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.’ # Gn 43:3,5

24“This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported your words to him. 25But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food.’ # Gn 43:2 26We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’ 27Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One left — I said that he must have been torn to pieces — and I have never seen him again. # Gn 37:31-35 29If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.’ # Gn 42:38

30“So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us — his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life — 31when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’ # Gn 43:9 33Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. 34For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

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Bereshis 44

Genesis 44