Genesis, Chapter 44:

Verses from Genesis, Chapter 44 of the Book of Genesis of the Bible.

The silver cup in the bag

• 1. Then Joseph gave these orders to the steward of his house: “Fill these men's sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.
• 2. Then place my silver cup in the mouth of the youngest's sack, along with his grain money.” And the steward did as Joseph had commanded him.
• 3. When the morning dawned, the men left with their donkeys.
• 4. They had left the city and had not gone far when Joseph said to the steward of his house, “Go after those men! When you reach them, say to them, 'Why did you return good for evil?
• 5. Is this not the cup that my lord uses to drink and with which he predicts the future? You acted very badly' “.
• 6. When the steward reached them, he spoke these words to them.
• 7. But they said to him, “Why does my lord speak like this? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!
• 8. We brought you back the money we found in the mouths of our grain bags. How could we steal silver or gold from your master's house?
• 9. If any of us is found with her, let him die. And we ourselves will be your slaves.”
• 10. “Very well, then,” he said. “Whoever I am found with will be my slave; the rest of you will be free from guilt.”
• 11. Each of them quickly put the bag on the ground and opened his own.
• 12. The butler began searching, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
• 13. They tore their clothes, loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
• 14. Judah and his brothers entered the house of Joseph, who was still there, and fell down before him, with their faces to the ground.
• 15. Joseph asked them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man like me is capable of predicting the future?”
• 16. Judah replied, “What shall we say to my lord? What will we talk about? How will we justify ourselves? God has discovered the guilt of your servants. We are now at your feet, you and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”
• 17. But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! Only the one with whom the cup was found will be my slave. The rest of you, return to your father in peace.”
• 18. Then Judah approached him and said, “Please, my lord, allow me to say a word to you in private. Do not be angry with your servant, although you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
• 19. My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'
• 20. And we answered my lord, 'We have an old father and a younger brother, who was born in his father's old age. His brother is dead, and he is his mother's only son still alive, and his father loves him very much.'
• 21. “Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him to me, so that I may see him with my own eyes.'
• 22. And we answered my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father, for if he leaves him, his father will die.'
• 23. “But you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'
• 24. “When we returned to your servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.
• 25. “Then our father said to us, 'Go back and buy some more grain.'
• 26. “But we answered, 'We can't go down. We will only go if our younger brother goes with us. We cannot see that man's face unless our brother is with us.'
• 27. “Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.
• 28. The youngest one walked away from me, and I said that he was definitely torn to pieces by wild animals. So far I haven't seen him.
• 29. If you take this one from me too, and misfortune befalls him, you will carry my gray head to the grave in sorrow.'
• 30. “Therefore if I return to your servant my father without the boy, when I see that the boy's life is linked to his life,
• 31. it will happen that as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. His servants will carry our father's gray head in sorrow to the grave.
• 32. Your servant gave assurance that the boy would return safely. I said, 'If I don't bring him back, I will be guilty before you for the rest of my life.'
• 33. “Therefore allow me to remain as a slave in the boy’s place; and may the boy return with his brothers.
• 34. How could I return to my father without the boy? I couldn’t bear to see the disgrace that would befall my father.”

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