Genesis 44
44
1 Then Joseph instructed the steward of his house, saying: "Fill their sacks with grain, as much as they are able to hold. And place each one's money at the top of the sack.
2 But place my silver bowl, and the price that he gave for the wheat, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest." And so it was done.
3 And when morning arose, they were sent away with their donkeys.
4 And now they had departed from the city and had set out a short distance. Then Joseph, sending for the steward of his house, said: "Rise up and pursue the men. And when you have overtaken them, say: 'Why have you returned evil for good?
5 The cup that you have stolen, it is that from which my lord drinks, and in which he is accustomed to discern signs. You have done a very sinful thing.' "
6 He did as he had been ordered. And having overtaken them, he spoke to them according to the order.
7 And they responded: "Why does our lord speak in this way, as though your servants had committed such a shameful act?
8 The money, which we found at the top of our sacks, we carried back to you from the land of Canaan. So in what way does it follow that we would steal, from the house of your lord, gold or silver?
9 Whichever of your servants will be found to have what you seek, may he die, and we shall be the servants of my lord."
10 And he said to them: "Let it be according to your verdict. With whomever it will be found, let him be my servant, but you will be unharmed."
11 And so, they quickly placed their sacks down to the ground, and each one was opened.
12 And when he had searched, beginning with the oldest, all the way to the youngest, he found the cup in Benjamin's sack.
13 But they, tearing their garments and burdening their donkeys again, returned to the town.
14 And Judah, first among his brothers, entered to Joseph (for he had not yet departed from the place) and together they all fell down before him to the ground.
15 And he said to them: "Why would you choose to act in this way? Could you be ignorant that there is no one like me in the knowledge of discerning signs?"
16 And Judah said to him, "What could we answer to my lord? And what would we be able to say, or to justly claim? God has discovered the iniquity of your servants. See, we have all become servants to my lord, both we, and he with whom the cup was found."
17 Joseph responded: "Far be it from me that I should act in this way. He who stole the cup, he will be my servant. But you may go away free to your father."
18 Then Judah, approaching closer, said confidently: "I beg you, my lord, let your servant speak a word in your ears, and do not be angry with your servant. For you are next to Pharaoh.
19 My lord, you questioned your servants before: 'Do you have a father or a brother?'
20 And we answered you, my lord: 'There is our father, an old man, and a young boy, who was born in his old age. His brother of the same womb has died, and he alone is left to his mother and father, who truly love him tenderly.'
21 And you said to your servants, 'Bring him to me, and I will set my eyes on him.'
22 We suggested to my lord: 'The boy is not able to leave his father. For if he sends him away, he will die.'
23 And you said to your servants: 'Unless your youngest brother arrives with you, you will not see my face any more.'
24 Therefore, when we had gone up to your servant our father, we explained to him all that my lord had spoken.
25 And our father said: 'Return and buy us a little wheat.'
26 And we said to him: 'We cannot go. If our youngest brother descends with us, we will set out together. Otherwise, in his absence, we do not dare to see the face of the man.'
27 To which he responded: 'You know that my wife conceived twice by me.
28 One went out, and you said, "A beast devoured him." And since then, he has not appeared.
29 If you take this one also, and anything happens to him on the way, you will lead my grey hairs down with grief to the grave.'
30 Therefore, if I would have gone to your servant, our father, with the boy not present, (though his life depends upon the life of him)
31 and if he were to see that he is not with us, he would die, and your servants will lead his grey hairs down with sorrow to the grave.
32 Let me be your very own servant, for I accepted this one into my trust, and I promised, saying: 'Unless I lead him back, I will be guilty of a sin against my father for all time.'
33 And so I, your servant, will remain in place of the boy, in ministry to my lord, and then let the boy go up with his brothers.
34 For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I appear as a witness to the calamity that will oppress my father."
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Genesis 44: CPDV
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Genesis 44
44
Joseph Sets a Trap
1Then Joseph gave a command to his servant. He said, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much grain as they can carry. Then put each man’s money into his sack with the grain. 2Put the youngest brother’s money in his sack too. But also put my special silver cup in his sack.” So the servant obeyed Joseph.
3Early the next morning the brothers and their donkeys were sent back to their country. 4After they had left the city, Joseph said to his servant, “Go and follow the men. Stop them and say to them, ‘We were good to you! So why have you been bad to us? Why did you steal my master’s silver cup?#44:4 Why did … silver cup This is from the ancient Greek version. 5My master drinks from that cup, and he uses it to learn secret things. What you did was wrong!’”
6So the servant obeyed. He rode out to the brothers and stopped them. The servant said to them what Joseph had told him to say.
7But the brothers said to the servant, “Why does the governor say these things? We wouldn’t do anything like that! 8We brought back the money that we found in our sacks before. So surely we wouldn’t steal silver or gold from your master’s house. 9If you find the silver cup in any of our sacks, let that man die. You can kill him, and we will be your slaves.”
10The servant said, “I agree, except that only the man who is found to have the cup will be my slave. The others will be free.”
The Trap Is Sprung; Benjamin Is Caught
11Then every brother quickly opened his sack on the ground. 12The servant started looking in the sacks. He started with the oldest brother and ended with the youngest. He found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. 13The brothers were very sad. They tore their clothes to show their sadness. They put their sacks back on the donkeys and went back to the city.
14When Judah and his brothers went back to Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there. The brothers fell to the ground and bowed down before him. 15Joseph said to them, “Why have you done this? Didn’t you know that I have a special way of learning secrets? No one is better at this than I am!”
16Judah said, “Sir, there is nothing we can say. There is no way to explain. There is no way to show that we are not guilty. God has judged us guilty for something else we have done. So all of us, even Benjamin, will be your slaves.”
17But Joseph said, “I will not make you all slaves! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. You others can go in peace to your father.”
Judah Pleads for Benjamin
18Then Judah went to Joseph and said, “Sir, please let me speak plainly with you. Please don’t be angry with me. I know that you are like Pharaoh himself. 19When we were here before, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20And we answered you, ‘We have a father—he is an old man. And we have a younger brother. Our father loves him because he was born while our father was old. This youngest son’s brother is dead, so he is the only son who is left from that mother. 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 come. He cannot leave his father. If his father loses him, his father will be so sad that he will die.’ 23But you said to us, ‘You must bring your youngest brother, or I will not sell you grain again.’ 24So we went back to our father and told him what you said.
25“Later, our father said, ‘Go back and buy us some more food.’ 26We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our youngest brother. The governor said he will not sell us grain again until he sees our youngest brother.’ 27Then my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel gave me two sons. 28I let one son go away, and he was killed by a wild animal. And I haven’t seen him since. 29If you take my other son away from me, and something happens to him, I will be sad enough to die.’ 30Now, imagine what will happen when we go home without our youngest brother—he is the most important thing in our father’s life! 31Our father will die if he sees that the boy isn’t with us—and it will be our fault. We will send our father to his grave a very sad man.
32“I took responsibility for the young boy. I told my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me for the rest of my life.’ 33So now I beg you, please let the boy go back with his brothers, and I will stay and be your slave. 34I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I am very afraid of what would happen to my father.”
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