Genesis 44:6–13

6 When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7 But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8 We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

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

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

6 When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. 7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.” 10 He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” 11 Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12 And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. 11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

6 When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed.

7 “What are you talking about?” the brothers responded. “We are your servants and would never do such a thing! 8 Didn’t we return the money we found in our sacks? We brought it back all the way from the land of Canaan. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If you find his cup with any one of us, let that man die. And all the rest of us, my lord, will be your slaves.”

10 “That’s fair,” the man replied. “But only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go free.”

11 They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them. 12 The palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! 13 When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city.

6 So the servant caught up with the brothers and said to them what Joseph had told him to say.

7 But the brothers said to the servant, “Why do you say these things? We would not do anything like that! 8 We brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in our sacks. So surely we would not steal silver or gold from your master’s house. 9 If you find that silver cup in the sack of one of us, then let him die, and we will be your slaves.”

10 The servant said, “We will do as you say, but only the man who has taken the cup will become my slave. The rest of you may go free.”

11 Then every brother quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 The servant searched the sacks, going from the oldest brother to the youngest, and found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. 13 The brothers tore their clothes to show they were afraid. Then they put their sacks back on the donkeys and returned to the city.

6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these words. 7 And they said unto him, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? Far be it from thy servants that they should do such a thing. 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless. 11 Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left off at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

6 And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these words. 7 And they said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from thy servants to do such a thing! 8 Behold, the money that we found in our sacks’ mouths we have brought again to thee from the land of Canaan; and how should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10 And he said, Now also let it be according to your words: let him with whom it is found be my bondman, but ye shall be blameless. 11 And they hasted and laid down every man his sack on the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched carefully: he began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and they returned to the city.

6 When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7 They answered him, “Sir, how can you say such things? We would never think of doing anything like that! 8 We brought the money we found in our sacks back from Canaan. So why would we steal any silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If one of us has it, he will die, and the rest of us will become your slaves.” 

10 “I agree,” he said. “We’ll do what you’ve said. The man who has the cup will be my slave, and the rest of you can go free.” 

11 Each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 Then the man made a thorough search. He began with the oldest and ended with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 When they saw this, they tore their clothes in grief. Then each one loaded his donkey and went back into the city. 

6 When he overtook them, he said these words to them. 7 They said to him, “Why does my lord say these things? Your servants could not possibly do such a thing. 8 We 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? 9 If any of us is found to have it, he must die, and we also will become my lord’s slaves.”

10 The 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.”

11 So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and each one loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

6 When he overtook them, he repeated these words to them. 7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! 8 Look, the money that we found at the top of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 Should it be found with any one of your servants, let him die; moreover, the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.” 10 He said, “Even so; in accordance with your words, let it be: he with whom it is found shall become my slave, but the rest of you shall go free.” 11 Then each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. 12 He searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 At this they tore their clothes. Then each one loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

6 When he overtook them he spoke these words to them. 7 And they said to him, “Why has my lord spoken according to these words? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 Behold, the money that we found in the mouth of our sacks we returned to you from the land of Canaan. Now why would we steal silver or gold from the house of my lord? 9 Whoever is found with it from among your servants shall die. And moreover, we will become slaves to my lord.” 10 Then he said, “Now also according to your words, thus will it be. He who is found with it shall be my slave, but you shall be innocent.” 11 Then each man quickly brought down his sack to the ground, and each one opened his sack. 12 And he searched, beginning with the oldest and finishing with the youngest. And the cup was found in the sack of Benjamin. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and each one loaded his donkey and they returned to the city.

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

7 But they said to him, “Why do you say these things? We would never do anything like that! 8 We 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.”

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

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

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

6 So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.

7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing.

8 “Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?

9 “With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”

10 So he said, “Now let it also be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be innocent.”

11 Then they hurried, each man lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.

12 He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

13 Then they tore their clothes, and when each man loaded his donkey, they returned to the city.