The Silver Cup
1Then Joseph gave this order to his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. 2Put my cup — the silver cup — in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph had told him. 3As soon as it was light, the men were sent off with their donkeys. 4They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 5Is not this the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wicked!’” 6When the steward caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7“Why does my lord say such things?” they said. “Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found in the mouths of our sacks. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9If 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 of blame.” 11Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13At this, they tore their clothes. Then each of them loaded his donkey and they returned to the city.
Accused of Theft
14Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, where he was still there, and they fell to the ground before him. 15“What is this you have done?” Joseph said to them. “Did you not know that a man like me can find things out by divination?” 16“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we argue? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves — we, and the one who was found to have the cup.” 17“Far be it from me to do such a thing!” Joseph said. “Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”
Judah’s Plea
18Then Judah approached him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant speak just one word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, even though you are like Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son of his old age, the last of his mother’s sons. His brother is dead, and he alone is left; his father loves him.’ 21Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’ 22And we told my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father — if he leaves him, his father will die.’ 23But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said. 25Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little more food.’ 26But we said, ‘We cannot go down unless our youngest brother goes with us. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One of them went away from me, and I said, ‘He must have been torn to pieces’ — and I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one from me too, and any harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to Sheol in sorrow.’ 30So now, if I go back to your servant my father without the boy — since his life is bound up with the boy’s life — 31when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Your servants will have brought the gray head of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33So now, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No — I could not bear to see the misery that would come upon my father.”
