44Then 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. ^d²Put 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? ^e⁵Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? ^fWhat 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 ^gfound to have it, he must die, and we also will become my lord’s slaves.” ^h

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, ⁱand 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. ^j

Read in Logos

Footnotes

e44:4 adds Why have you stolen my silver cup?
g44:9 If your servants are

Cross references

d44:1 Gn 42:25
f44:5 Gn 30:27; 44:15; Lv 19:26; Dt 18:10–14
h44:9 Gn 31:32
i44:13 Gn 37:29
j44:14 Gn 37:7–10; 42:6; 43:26–28