Genesis 44:1–14

A Silver Cup in a Sack

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 2}Then 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 4}They 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 5}Isn’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 8}We 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 13}At 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