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¹ And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks [with] food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money: and he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they, and their asses.⁴ [And] when they had gone out of the city, [and] were not [yet] far off, Joseph said to his steward, Arise, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say to them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good?⁵ [Is] not this [the cup] in which my lord drinketh, and by which indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.⁶ And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.⁷ And they said to him, Why saith my lord these words? Far be it from us that thy servants should do according to this thing:⁸ Behold, the money which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to thee from the land of Canaan: how then should we steal from thy lord's house silver or gold?⁹ With whom [soever] of thy servants it shall be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bond-men.¹⁰ And he said, Now also [let] it [be] according to your words: he with whom it shall be found, shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.¹¹ Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.¹² And he searched, [and] began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.¹³ Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the city.¹⁴ And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house, (for he [was] yet there:) and they fell before him on the ground.¹⁵ And Joseph said to them, What deed [is] this that ye have done? knew ye not 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 hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold we [are] my lord's servants, both we, and [he] also with whom the cup is found.¹⁷ And he said, Far be it from me that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, go in peace to your father.

¹⁸ Then Judah came near to him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thy anger burn against thy servant; for thou [art] even as Pharaoh.¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?²⁰ And we said to my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one: and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.²¹ And thou saidst to thy 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 thou saidst to thy servants, Except your youngest brother shall come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.²⁴ And it came to pass, when we came to thy servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.²⁵ And our father said, Go again; buy us a little food.²⁶ And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother shall be with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother shall [be] with us.²⁷ And thy servant my father, said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two [sons]:²⁸ And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since:²⁹ And if ye take this also from me, and mischief shall befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.³⁰ Now therefore, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; (seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life)³¹ It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad [is] not [with us], that he will die: and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father, with sorrow to the grave.³² For thy servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, then I will bear the blame to my father for ever.³³ Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bond-man to my lord; and let the lad return with his brethren.³⁴ For how shall I return to my father, and the lad [be] not with me? lest perhaps I see the evil that shall come on my father.