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¹ AND he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the mens sacks with wheat, as much as they can carry, and put every mans money in his sacks mouth.² And take my cup, the silver cup, and put it in the sacks mouth of the youngest, with his money for the wheat. And the servant did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.³ As soon as the morning was light, the men started on their way, together with their asses.⁴ And when they were gone out of the city, but not yet far off, Joseph said to the steward, Arise, pursue the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you returned evil for good?⁵ This is the cup from which my lord drinks, and by which indeed he divines. You have done evil in so doing.⁶ And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.⁷ They said to him, Let not our lord speak such words. Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing;⁸ Behold, the money which we found in our sacks mouths we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal from your masters house gold or silver?⁹ With whomsoever of your servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be to our lord servants.¹⁰ And he said to them, Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and the rest of you shall be blameless.¹¹ Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.¹² And they searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamins sack.¹³ And they tore their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the town.¹⁴ And Judah and his brothers came to Josephs house; for he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground.¹⁵ And Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?¹⁶ And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lords servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.¹⁷ And he said to them, Far be it from me that I should do such a thing; only the man with whom the cup has been found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, go up in peace to your father.

¹⁸ Then Judah came near to him and said, I beg you, O my lord, let your servant speak a few words in my lords presence, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father, or a brother?²⁰ And we said to my lord, We have a father, an old man, and he has a young son, the child of his old age; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.²¹ Then you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes upon him.²² And we said to my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.²³ And you said to your servants, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.²⁴ And when we came up to your servant our father, we told him the words of my lord.²⁵ And your servant our father said to us, Go back again and buy us a little grain.²⁶ And we said to our father, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother goes down with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the mans face unless our youngest brother is with us.²⁷ Then your servant our father said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons;²⁸ And the one of them left me, and I said, Surely he has been killed; and I have never seen him since;²⁹ And now you want to take this one also from me, and if misfortune should befall him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.³⁰ Now therefore when we come to your servant our father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is dear to him like his own life;³¹ It shall come to pass when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die; and your servants shall bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.³² For your servant became surety for the lad to our father, saying, If l do not bring him back to you, then I shall be guilty before my father forever.³³ Now therefore, let your servant stay here instead of the lad as a servant to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brothers.³⁴ For how can I go up to my father, if the lad is not with me? Lest I see the misfortune which will come on my father.