44Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house:^l “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.^m ²Then put my cup,ⁿ the silver one,^o 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.^p ⁴They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward,^q “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?^r ⁵Isn’t this the cup^s my master drinks from and also uses for divination?^t 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^u to do anything like that!^v ⁸We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan^w the silver^x we found inside the mouths of our sacks.^y So why would we steal^z silver or gold from your master’s house? ⁹If any of your servants^a is found to have it, he will die;^b and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.^c”

¹⁰“Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it^d will become my slave;^e the rest of you will be free from blame.”^f

¹¹Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. ¹²Then the steward^g proceeded to search,^h beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest.ⁱ And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.^j ¹³At this, they tore their clothes.^k Then they all loaded their donkeys^l and returned to the city.

¹⁴Joseph was still in the house^m when Judahⁿ and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.^o ¹⁵Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done?^p Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?^q”

¹⁶“What can we say to my lord?^r” Judah^s replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence?^t God has uncovered your servants’^u guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves^v—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.^w”

¹⁷But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing!^x Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave.^y The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”^z

¹⁸Then Judah^a went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^b let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry^c with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹My lord asked his servants,^d ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’^e ²⁰And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.^f His brother is dead,^g and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’^h

²¹“Then you said to your servants,ⁱ ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’^j ²²And we said to my lord,^k ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’^l ²³But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’^m ²⁴When we went back to your servant my father,ⁿ we told him what my lord^o had said.^p

²⁵“Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’^q 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.’^r

²⁷“Your servant my father^s said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.^t ²⁸One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.”^u And I have not seen him since.^v ²⁹If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave^w in misery.’^x

³⁰“So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father,^y and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life,^z ³¹sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die.^a Your servants^b will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave^c 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!’^d

³³“Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave^e in place of the boy,^f 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^g that would come on my father.”^h

Read in Logos

Cross references

lSee Ge 43:16
mSee Ge 42:25
nver 5, 10, 12, 16
over 8
p Jdg 19:9
qSee Ge 43:16
r Ps 35:12; 38:20; 109:5; Pr 17:13; Jer 18:20
sSee ver 2
tSee Ge 30:27; Dt 18:10–14
uSee Ge 42:11
vSee Ge 18:25
wSee Ge 42:13
xver 2
ySee Ge 42:25; See 43:15
z Ge 31:30
aSee Ge 42:11
b Ge 31:32
cSee ver 10; See Ge 43:18
dSee ver 2
ever 9, 17, 33
fSee Ge 43:9
gSee Ge 43:16
hSee Ge 31:34
iSee Ge 43:33
jver 2
kSee Ge 37:29
lSee Ge 42:26
m Ge 43:18
nver 16; See Ge 29:35; See 43:3
oSee Ge 33:3
pSee Ge 12:18
qSee Ge 30:27
rver 22, 24; See Ge 37:8
sSee ver 14
t Ps 26:6; 73:13
uSee Ge 42:11
vSee Ge 43:18
wSee ver 2
xSee Ge 18:25
ySee ver 10
zSee Ge 43:9
aSee Ge 29:35
bSee ver 16
cSee Ge 18:30
dSee Ge 42:11
eSee Ge 43:7
fSee Ge 37:3
gSee Ge 37:33
hSee Ge 42:13
iSee Ge 42:11
jSee Ge 42:15
kSee ver 16
lSee Ge 37:35
mSee Ge 42:15; See 43:5
nSee Ge 43:28
oSee ver 16
p Ge 42:29
qSee Ge 42:2
rSee Ge 43:5
sSee Ge 43:28
t Ge 46:19
uSee Ge 37:33
v Ge 45:26, 28; 46:30; 48:11
wSee Ge 37:35
xSee Ge 42:38
ySee Ge 43:28
z 1 Sa 18:1; 2 Sa 1:26
aSee ver 22
bSee Ge 42:11
cSee Ge 37:35
dSee Ge 42:37
eSee ver 10; See Ge 43:18
f Jn 15:13
gSee Ge 42:38
h Est 8:6