Genesis_Chapter 44

Joseph commanded the steward of the house, saying, Fill the sacks of these men with grain, as much as their donkeys can carry, and put each man’s silver in his own pocket,

And put my silver cup and the silver for the young man’s grain in his pocket. And the steward did as Joseph had said.

Send those people away with donkeys at dawn.

They left the city not far away, and Joseph said to the steward of the house, Get up, pursue those people, and when you catch up with them, say to them, Why do you repay good with evil?

Isn’t this my master’s drinking cup? Isn’t it for his divination? You are doing evil in this way.

The master caught up with them and said these words to them.

They replied, “Why does my lord say such things?”? Your servant cannot do such a thing.

You see, the silver we once saw in our pockets has returned to you from Canaan. How can we steal gold and silver from your master’s house?

Whoever is found among your servants, let him die, and we will also be servants of my lord.

The steward said, “Let’s do as you say now.”. Whoever finds it will be my servant. The rest are not guilty.

So each of them quickly unloaded their pockets on the ground and opened their pockets.

The steward searched and found the cup in Benjamin’s pocket, from the eldest to the youngest.

They tore their clothes and each person carried their burden on donkeys, returning to the city.

Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and while he was still there, they fell to the ground in front of him.

Joseph said to them, “What have you done?”? Do you not know that people like me are capable of divination?

Judah said, What do we say to my lord? What else can I say? How can we confess ourselves? God has uncovered the sins of his servants. We and the one who found the cup in his hand are both servants of my lord.

Joseph said, I cannot do this. Whoever finds the cup in their hand will become my servant. As for you, go up to your father in peace.

Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.”.

My lord once asked his servants, Have you any father or brother.

We say to my lord, ‘We have a father who is already old and has a child born to him in his old age.’. His brother died, his mother left him alone, and his father loved him dearly.

Say to your servant, bring him to me and let me see him with my own eyes.

We say to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he does, his father will die.’.

You say to your servants, unless your little brothers come down with you, you shall not see my face again.

We went up to your servant our father and told him the words of my lord.

Our father said, “Go and buy me some food again.”.

We said, we can’t go down. If our little brother goes with us, we can go down. Because if the little brother does not go with us, we will not be able to see that person’s face.

Your servant my father said to us, “You know that my wife gave birth to two sons for me.”.

One left me and went out. I said he must have been torn apart, and I haven’t seen him until now.

Now you will take this away from me again. If he is harmed, then you will make me go down to the underworld with white hair and sorrow.

My father’s life is linked to the life of this boy. Now that I have returned to your servant my father, if there is no boy with us,

Our father will die if he sees no children. This is how we have sent your servant, our father, with white hair and sorrow, to the underworld.

Because my servant once pledged to my father for this young boy, saying, If I do not bring him back and hand him over to my father, I will bear the burden of sin forever in front of my father.

Now please allow your servant to stay and become my lord’s servant on behalf of this boy, so that he and his brothers can go up together.

If the boy doesn’t go with me, how can I go up to see my father? I’m afraid I saw disaster befall my father.