CHAPTER 44
Then Joseph instructed
his steward:
“Fill the men’s
sacks
with
as much food
as
they can
carry,
and put
each one’s
silver
in the mouth
of his bag.
Put
my cup,
the silver
one,
in the mouth
of the youngest one’s
sack,
along with the silver
for his grain.”
So the steward did
as Joseph
told him.
They
had not
gone
far
from the city
when Joseph
told
his steward,
“Pursue
the men
at once,
and when you overtake them,
ask,
‘Why
have you repaid
good
with evil?
Is this not
the cup that
my master
drinks from
and uses for divination?
What
you have done
is wicked!’”
“Why
does my lord
say
these
things?”
they asked.
“Your servants
could not possibly
do
such
a thing.
We even brought back
to you
from the land
of Canaan
the money
we found
in the mouths
of our sacks.
Why
would we steal
gold
and
silver
from your master’s
house?
If any
of your servants
is found
to have it,
he must die,
and the rest
will become
slaves
of my lord.”
“As you say,”
replied the steward.
“But only the one
who
is found
with the cup
will be
my
slave,
and the rest of you
shall be
free of blame.”
The steward searched,
beginning
with the oldest
and ending
with the youngest—
and the cup
was found
in Benjamin’s
sack.
When Judah
and his brothers
arrived at
Joseph’s
house,
he
was still
there,
and they fell
to the ground
before him.
“What
is this
deed
you have done?”
Joseph
declared.
“Did you not
know
that
a man
like me
can surely divine the truth?”
“What
can we say
to my lord?”
Judah
replied.
“How
can we plead?
How
can we justify ourselves?
God
has exposed
the iniquity
of your servants.
We are now
my lord’s
slaves—
both
we
and
the one
who was found
with
the cup.”
But Joseph replied,
“Far be it from me
to do
this.
The man
who
was found
with
the cup
will be
my slave.
The rest of you
may return
to
your father
in peace.”
Then Judah
approached
Joseph
and said,
“Sir,
please
let your servant
speak
personally to my lord.
Do not
be angry
with your servant,
for
you are an equal to
Pharaoh.
And we answered,
‘We have
an elderly
father
and a younger brother,
the child
of his old age.
The boy’s brother
is dead.
He
is the only
one of his mother’s
sons left,
and his father
loves him.’
So we said
to
my lord,
‘The boy
cannot
leave
his father.
If he were to leave,
his father
would die.’
But you said
to
your servants,
‘Unless
your younger
brother
comes down
with you,
you will not
see
my face
again.’
But we answered,
‘We cannot
go down there
unless
our younger
brother
goes
with us.
So if our younger
brother
is not
with us,
we cannot
see
the man.’
When one of them
left
me,
I said,
“Surely
he has been torn to pieces.”
And I have not
seen him
since.
So if you take
this one
from
me
as well
and harm
comes to him,
you will bring my gray hair
down
to Sheol
in sorrow.’
So
if the boy
is not
with us
when I return
to
your servant,
my father—
his life
is wrapped up
in the boy’s life—
when he sees
that
the boy
is not with us,
he will die.
Then your servants
will have brought the gray hair
of your servant
our father
down
to Sheol
in sorrow.
Indeed,
your servant
guaranteed
the boy’s safety
to
my father,
saying,
‘If
I do not
return
him to you,
I will
bear the guilt
before you, my father,
all my life.’
Now
please
let your servant
stay here
as my lord’s
slave,
in place of
the boy.
Let him return
with
his brothers.
For
how
can I go back
to
my father
without
the boy?
I could not bear
to see
the misery
that
would overwhelm
him.”