Genesis 44–50

A Silver Cup in a Sack

44Joseph told the manager of his house what to do. “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry,” he said. “Put each man’s money in his sack.

²“Then put my silver cup in the youngest one’s sack. Put it there along with the money he paid for his grain.” So the manager did what Joseph told him to do.

³When morning came, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.

⁴They hadn’t gone very far from the city when Joseph spoke to his manager. “Go after those men at once,” he said. “Catch up with them. Say to them, ‘My master was good to you. Why have you paid him back by doing evil? ⁵Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from? Doesn’t he also use it to figure things out? You have done an evil thing.’ ”

⁶When the manager caught up with them, he told them what Joseph had said.

⁷But they said to him, “Why do you say these things? We would never do anything like that! ⁸We even brought back to you from Canaan the money we found in our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

⁹“If you find out that any of us has the cup, he will die. And the rest of us will become your slaves.”

¹⁰“All right, then,” he said. “As you wish. The one who is found to have the cup will become my slave. But the rest of you will be free from blame.”

¹¹Each of them quickly put his sack down on the ground and opened it.

¹²Then the manager started to search. He began with the oldest and ended with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³When that happened, they were so upset they tore their clothes. Then all of them loaded their donkeys and went back to the city.

¹⁴Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in. They threw themselves down on the ground in front of him.

¹⁵Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Don’t you know that a man like me has ways to figure things out?”

¹⁶“What can we say to you?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove we haven’t done anything wrong? God has shown you that we are guilty. We are now your slaves. All of us are, including the one who was found to have the cup.”

¹⁷But Joseph said, “I would never do anything like that! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace.”

¹⁸Then Judah went up to him. He said, “Please, sir. Let me speak a word to you. Don’t be angry with me, even though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹You asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰We answered, ‘We have an old father. A young son was born to him when he was old. His brother is dead. He’s the only one of his mother’s sons left. And his father loves him.’

²¹“Then you said to us, ‘Bring him down to me. I want to see him for myself.’

²²“We said to you, ‘The boy can’t leave his father. If he does, his father will die.’

²³“But you told us, ‘Your youngest brother must come down here with you. If he doesn’t, you won’t see my face again.’ ²⁴So we went back to my father. We told him what you had said.

²⁵“Then our father said, ‘Go back. Buy a little more food.’

²⁶“But we said, ‘We can’t go down. We’ll only go if our youngest brother goes there with us. We can’t even see the man’s face unless our youngest brother goes with us.’

²⁷“Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife had two sons by me. ²⁸One of them went away from me. And I said, “He must have been torn to pieces.” I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹What if you take this one from me too and he is harmed? Then you would cause me to die as a sad old man. I would go down into the grave full of pain and suffering.’

³⁰“So now, what will happen if the boy isn’t with us when I go back to my father? His life is closely tied up with the boy’s life. ³¹When he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he’ll die as a sad old man. Because of us, he’ll go down into the grave full of sorrow.

³²“I promised my father I would keep the boy safe. I said, ‘Father, I’ll bring him back to you. If I don’t, you can put the blame on me for the rest of my life.’

³³“Now then, please let me stay here. Let me be your slave in place of the boy. Let the boy return with his brothers. ³⁴How can I go back to my father if the boy isn’t with me? Don’t let me see the pain and suffering that would come to my father.”

Joseph Tells His Brothers Who He Is

45Joseph couldn’t control himself anymore in front of all of his attendants. He cried out, “Have everyone leave me!”

So there wasn’t anyone with Joseph when he told his brothers who he was. ²He sobbed so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. Everyone in Pharaoh’s house heard about it.

³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

But his brothers weren’t able to answer him. They were too afraid of him.

⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” So they did.

Then he said, “I am your brother Joseph. I’m the one you sold into Egypt. ⁵But don’t be upset. And don’t be angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me ahead of you to save many lives.

⁶“For two years now, there hasn’t been enough food in the land. And for the next five years, people won’t be plowing or gathering crops. ⁷But God sent me ahead of you to keep some of you alive on earth. He sent me here to save your lives by an act of mighty power.

⁸“So then, it wasn’t you who sent me here. It was God. He made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me master of Pharaoh’s whole house. He made me ruler of the whole land of Egypt.

⁹“Now hurry back to my father. Say to him, ‘Your son Joseph says, “God has made me master of the whole land of Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t waste any time. ¹⁰You will live in the area of Goshen. You, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you have will be near me. ¹¹There I will provide everything you need.

“ ‘ “Five years without enough food are still coming. If you don’t come down here, you and your family and everyone who belongs to you will lose everything.” ’

¹²“Brothers, you can see for yourselves that it’s really I, Joseph, speaking to you. My brother Benjamin can see it too.

¹³“Tell my father about all of the honor that has been given to me in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

¹⁴Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and sobbed. Benjamin also hugged him and sobbed. ¹⁵Joseph kissed all of his brothers and sobbed over them. After that, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶The news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come. Pharaoh and all of his officials were pleased.

¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Here’s what I want you to tell your brothers. Say to them, ‘Load your animals. Return to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Bring your father and your families back to me. I’ll give you the best land in Egypt. You can enjoy all of the good things in the land.’

¹⁹“And here’s something else I want you to tell them. Say to them, ‘Take some carts from Egypt. Your children and your wives can use them. Get your father and come back. ²⁰Don’t worry about the things you have back there. The best of everything in Egypt will belong to you.’ ”

²¹So the sons of Israel did it. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded. He also gave them supplies for their journey. ²²He gave new clothes to each of them.

But he gave more than seven pounds of silver to Benjamin. He also gave him five sets of clothes.

²³He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt. He also sent ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other supplies for his journey.

²⁴Then Joseph sent his brothers away. As they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t argue on the way!”

²⁵So they went up out of Egypt. They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of the whole land of Egypt.”

Jacob was shocked. He didn’t believe them. ²⁷So they told him everything Joseph had said to them.

Jacob saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back. That gave new life to their father Jacob. ²⁸Israel said, “I believe it now! My son Joseph is still alive. I’ll go and see him before I die.”

Jacob Goes Down to Egypt

46So Israel started out with everything that belonged to him. When he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

²God spoke to Israel in a vision at night. “Jacob! Jacob!” he said.

“Here I am,” Jacob replied.

³“I am God. I am the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. There I will make you into a great nation. ⁴I will go down to Egypt with you. You can be sure that I will bring you back again. And when you die, Joseph will close your eyes with his own hand.”

⁵Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob and their families in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to carry them.

⁶So Jacob and his whole family went to Egypt. They took their livestock with them. And they took everything they had gotten in Canaan. ⁷Jacob took his sons and grandsons with him to Egypt. He also took his daughters and granddaughters. He took all of his children and grandchildren with him.

⁸Here are the names of Israel’s children and grandchildren who went to Egypt. Jacob and all of his children and grandchildren are included.

Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son.

⁹The sons of Reuben were

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

¹⁰The sons of Simeon were

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a woman from Canaan.

¹¹The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

¹²The sons of Judah were

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah. But Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³The sons of Issachar were

Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron.

¹⁴The sons of Zebulun were

Sered, Elon and Jahleel.

¹⁵Those were the sons and grandsons who were born to Jacob and Leah in Paddan Aram. Leah also had a daughter by Jacob. Her name was Dinah. The total number of people in the family line of Jacob and Leah was 33.

¹⁶The sons of Gad were

Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri,…