Genesis 44:1–14

Joseph Tests His Brothers

44Then he commanded ^pthe steward of his house, ^q“Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each 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, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

³As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his ^rsteward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?^{1 5}Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and ^sby this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’ ”

⁶When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. ⁷They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸Behold, ^tthe money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ^9uWhichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be ^vmy lord’s servants.” ¹⁰He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” ¹¹Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹²And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³Then they ^wtore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They ^xfell before him to the ground.