Genesis 44
He commanded the steward of his house and said, “Fill the men’s packs with food, to the brim,
Put each man’s silver into his pack. And put my goblet in the pack of Benjamin,
Yes my best silver goblet, put it in the youngest’s pack, with the silver for his rations.”
So the man did as Joseph had told him. At daybreak, the men were sent off, with their asses.
They had just left the city, and had not gone far, when Joseph said to his steward, “Rise!
Get up, follow those men, and when you have caught up with them, say to them, ‘I am surprised!
Why have you repaid good with ill? For is this not what my lord drinks with, this very cup,
And he also divines with it. You have done wrong by this.’” So when the steward caught up,
He spoke those words to them. To the steward they said, “Why does my lord speak words such as these?
Heaven forbid your servants should do such a thing. Now remember, my lord, if you please,
That the money we found in our sacks we brought back, all the way from the land of Canaan.
So how could we steal silver or gold from the house of your lord? This charge shall not go on.
Let whichever of your servants found with the goblet die, and then we shall be your slaves.”
He replied, “Let it be as you say, a servant shall be made of the cup-stealing knave,
But the rest of you shall go free.” So each one hastened to lower his pack to the ground,
Each man opened his pack, then he searched from the eldest to youngest. The goblet was found!
Twas in Benjamin’s pack. They rent their clothes, reloaded their asses, returned to the city.
Judah and his brothers came to the house of Joseph, who was still there, seeking his pity.
They flung themselves on the ground before him. Joseph said, “What deed is this that you have done?
Do you not know that a man like me can divine?” Judah said, “What thing can be spoken?
What can we say to my lord? How can we plead? How can we prove that we are innocent?
God has uncovered the crime of your servants, so here we are, to be my lord’s servants,
We, and the one in whose hand the goblet was found.” But then Joseph said, “Heaven Forbid!
No, far be it from me to make all of you my servants for what just one of you did.
The man in whose possession the goblet was found, he shall become a servant to me,
But the rest of you, go back in peace to your father.” Judah neared, and offered a plea:
“Please, my lord, pray let your servant speak a few words in the ears of my lord of our woe,
And please don’t let your anger flare up against your servant, for you are like the Pharaoh.
My lord asked of his servants, ‘Do you have a father or another brother?’ We said,
‘We do have an old father, and a young child of his old age, one whose brother is dead,
So that he alone is left of his mother, his father loves him.’ And then you decreed
To your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, for I wish to set my eyes upon him, indeed.’
Then we said to my lord, ‘The lad can’t leave his father, if he left, his father would die.’
But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you hereby,
You shall not see my face again.’ Now it was when we went back to my father, your servant,
We told him my lord’s words, and our father said, ‘Go back and buy us some rations, it’s urgent!’
But we said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down,
For if he is not with us, then we cannot see the man’s face.’ This made my father frown.
Now your servant, my father, told us, ‘You yourselves know that my wife bore two sons to me.
One is gone from me, and I said, “He has been torn by a beast, torn to pieces, surely.”
And I’ve not seen him since. Now if you take away this one from before my face as well,
Then should harm befall him, you will bring down my white head and grey hairs in grief to Sheol.’
So now, when I come back to your servant, my father, and the young lad is not with us,
The lad with whom his own life is so bound up, when he sees that the lad is not with us,
He will die. And your servants will send the grey hairs of our father to Sheol in grief.
For your servant pledged himself to my father for the boy’s safety, a concern in chief.
I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will forever be guilty before you.’
So now, pray let this servant of yours stay instead of the lad, to be a servant for you,
But let this lad go back with his brothers. How can I return to my father without him?
Then I would have to see the ill-fortune that would fall on my father, and all about him.