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.

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