1Forsooth Joseph commanded the dispenser of his house, and said, Fill thou their sacks with wheat, as much as they may take, and put thou the money of each in the height [or the top] of the sack;

2forsooth put thou in the sack’s mouth of the youngest my silver cup, and the price of the wheat which he gave; and it was done so.

3And when the morrowtide arose, they were delivered with their asses.

4And now they had gone out of the city, and had gone forth a little; then Joseph said, when the dispenser of his house was called, Rise thou, pursue the men, and say thou when they be taken, Why have ye yielded evil for good?

5The cup, which ye have stolen, is that in which my lord drinketh, and in which he is wont to divine; ye have done a full wicked thing.

6He did as Joseph commanded, and when they were overtaken, he spake by order these things;

7the which answered, Why speaketh our lord so, that thy servants have done so great a trespass?

8We brought again to thee from the land of Canaan the money that we found in the height [or the top] of our sacks, and how is it pursuing [or following] that we have stolen from thy lord’s house gold or silver?

9At whomever of thy servants this that thou seekest is found, die he, and we shall be servants of my lord.

10Which said to them, Be it done by your sentence; at whom it is found, be he my servant; forsooth ye shall be guiltless.

11And so they did down hastily their sacks on the earth, and all they opened them,

12the which he sought through; and he began at the most till to the least, and he found the cup in Benjamin’s sack.

13And when they had rent their clothes, and had charged again their asses, they turned again into the city.

14And Judah entered with his brethren to Joseph; for Joseph had not gone yet from the place; and all they fell together on the earth before him.

15To whom he said, Why would ye do so? whether ye wot not, that none is like me in the knowing of divining?

16To whom Judah said, What shall we answer to my lord, or what shall we speak, either what may we justly against-say? God hath found the wickedness of thy servants; lo! all we be the servants of my lord, both we and he at whom the cup is found.

17Joseph answered, Far be it from me, that I do so; he be my servant that stole the cup; forsooth go ye free to your father.

18Soothly Judah nighed near, and said trustily, My lord, I pray thee, thy servant speak a word in thine ears, and be thou not wroth to thy servant; for after Pharaoh thou art my lord.

19Thou askedest first thy servants, Have ye a father, or a brother?

20And we answered to my lord, An eld [or old] father is to us, and a little child that was born in his eld age, whose brother of the same womb is dead, and his mother hath him alone; forsooth his father loveth him tenderly.

21And thou saidest to thy servants, Bring ye him to me, and I shall set mine eyes on him.

22We made suggestion to thee, my lord, the child may not forsake his father; for if he shall leave his father, his father shall die.

23And thou saidest to thy servants, If your youngest brother shall not come down with you, ye shall no more see my face.

24Therefore when we had gone up to thy servant, our father, we told to him all things which my lord spake to us;

25and our father said, Turn ye again, and buy ye to you a little of wheat;

26to whom we said, We may not go; only if our least brother shall go down with us, we shall go forth together; else, if he is absent, we dare not see the lord’s face.

27To which things our father answered, Ye know that my wife childed two sons to me;

28one went out, and ye said, A beast [hath] devoured him, and hither-to he appeareth not;

29if ye take also this son, and anything befall to him in the way, ye shall lead forth mine hoar hairs with mourning to hells [or to hell].

30Therefore if I enter again to thy servant, our father, and the child fail to be with us, since his life hangeth of the life of the child,

31and he see that the child is not with us, he shall die, and thy servants shall lead forth his hoar hairs with sorrow to hells [or to hell].

32Be I properly thy servant, which received this child on my faith, and I promised, and said, If I shall not bring again him to thee, I shall be guilty of sin against my father in all time;

33and so I shall dwell thy servant for the child into the service of my lord, and the child go up with his brethren;

34for I may not go again to my father, if the child be absent, lest I stand a witness of the wretchedness that shall oppress my father.

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Genesis 44

The Missing Cup

1-2Later, Joseph told the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men's grain sacks with as much as they can hold and put their money in the sacks. Also put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother.” The servant did as he was told.

3Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4But they had not gone far from the city when Joseph told the servant, “Go after those men! When you catch them, say, ‘My master has been good to you. So why have you stolen his silver cup? 5Not only does he drink from his cup, but he also uses it to learn about the future. You have done a terrible thing.’ ”

6When the servant caught up with them, he said exactly what Joseph had told him to say. 7But they replied, “Sir, why do you say such things? We would never do anything like that! 8We even returned the money we found in our grain sacks when we got back to Canaan. So why would we want to steal any silver or gold from your master's house? 9If you find that one of us has the cup, then kill him, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”

10“Good!” the man replied, “I'll do what you have said. But only the one who has the cup will become my slave. The rest of you can go free.”

11Each of the brothers quickly put his sack on the ground and opened it. 12Joseph's servant started searching the sacks, beginning with the one that belonged to the oldest brother. When he came to Benjamin's sack, he found the cup. 13This upset the brothers so much that they began tearing their clothes in sorrow. Then they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

14When Judah and his brothers got there, Joseph was still at home. So they bowed down to Joseph, 15who asked them, “What have you done? Didn't you know I could find out?”

16“Sir, what can we say?” Judah replied. “How can we say we are innocent, when God has shown we are guilty? And now all of us are your slaves, especially the one who had the cup.”

17Joseph told them, “I would never punish all of you. Only the one who was caught with the cup will become my slave. The rest of you are free to go home to your father.”

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

18Judah went over to Joseph and said:

Sir, you have as much power as the king#44.18 the king: See the note at 12.15. himself, and I am only your slave. Please don't get angry if I speak. 19You asked us if our father was still alive and if we had any more brothers. 20So we told you, “Our father is a very old man. In fact, he was already old when Benjamin was born. Benjamin's brother is dead. Now Benjamin is the only one of the two brothers who is still alive, and our father loves him very much.”

21You ordered us to bring him here, so you could see him for yourself. 22We told you that our father would die if Benjamin left him. 23But you warned us that we could never see you again, unless our youngest brother came with us. 24So we returned to our father and reported what you had said.

25Later our father sent us back here to buy more grain. 26But we told him, “We can't go back to Egypt without our youngest brother. We will never be let in to see the governor, unless he is with us.”

27Sir, our father then reminded us that his favorite wife had given birth to two sons. 28One of them was already missing and had not been seen for a long time. My father thinks the boy was torn to pieces by some wild animal, 29and he said, “I am an old man. If you take Benjamin from me, and something happens to him, I will die of a broken heart.”

30That's why Benjamin must be with us when I go back to my father. He loves him so much 31that he will die if Benjamin doesn't come back with me. 32I promised my father that I would bring him safely home. If I don't, I told my father he could blame me the rest of my life.

33Sir, I am your slave. Please let me stay here in place of Benjamin and let him return home with his brothers. 34How can I face my father if Benjamin isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father in such sorrow.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

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Genesis 44

Genesis 44