Genesis 44
44
1And he commanded him who was over his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry; and put every man's money in the mouth of his sack. 2And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain-money. And he did according to the word of Joseph which he had spoken. 3In the morning, when it was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4They were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, when Joseph said to him who was over his house, Up! follow after the men; and when thou overtakest them, thou shalt say to them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good? 5Is not this it in which my lord drinks, and in which indeed he divines? Ye have done evil in what ye have done. 6And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these words. 7And they said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from thy servants to do such a thing! 8Behold, the money that we found in our sacks' mouths we have brought again to thee from the land of Canaan; and how should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? 9With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be my lord's bondmen. 10And he said, Now also let it be according to your words: let him with whom it is found be my bondman, but ye shall be blameless. 11And they hasted and laid down every man his sack on the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12And he searched carefully: he began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and they returned to the city. 14And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was still there; and they fell down before him to the ground. 15And Joseph said to them, What deed is this which ye have done? Did ye not know that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak, and how justify ourselves? God#GodHebrew: Elohim has found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he in whose hand the cup has been found. 17And he said, Far be it from me to do so! The man in whose hand the cup has been found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.
18Then Judah came near to him, and said, Ah! my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh. 19My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 20And we said to my lord, We have an aged father, and a child born to him in his old age, yet young; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him. 21And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set mine eye on him. 22And we said to my lord, The youth cannot leave his father: if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23And thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24And it came to pass when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food. 26But we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us. 27And thy servant my father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons; 28and the one went out from me, and I said, He must certainly have been torn in pieces; and I have not seen him again hitherto. 29And if ye take this one also from me, and mischief should befall him, ye will bring down my grey hairs with misery to Sheol. 30And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us, — seeing that his life is bound up with his life, 31it will come to pass when he sees that the lad is not there, that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32For thy servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, then I shall be guilty toward my father all my days. 33And now, let thy servant stay, I pray thee, instead of the lad a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren; 34for how should I go up to my father if the lad were not with me? — lest I see the evil that would come on my father.
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Genesis 44: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 44
44
A silver cup in a sack
1Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: ‘Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. 2Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.’ And he did as Joseph said.
3As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, ‘Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, “Why have you repaid good with evil? 5Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.” ’
6When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7But they said to him, ‘Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.’
10‘Very well, then,’ he said, ‘let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.’
11Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
14Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 15Joseph said to them, ‘What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?’
16‘What can we say to my lord?’ Judah replied. ‘What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves – we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.’
17But Joseph said, ‘Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.’
18Then Judah went up to him and said: ‘Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, “Do you have a father or a brother?” 20And we answered, “We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.”
21‘Then you said to your servants, “Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.” 22And we said to my lord, “The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.” 23But you told your servants, “Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.” 24When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
25‘Then our father said, “Go back and buy a little more food.” 26But we said, “We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.”
27‘Your servant my father said to us, “You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One of them went away from me, and I said, ‘He has surely been torn to pieces.’ And I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my grey head down to the grave in misery.”
30‘So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, 31sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the grey head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. 32Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, “If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!”
33‘Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. 34How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.’
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
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