Joseph Sets a Trap

44 Then Joseph gave a command to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] his house. He said, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much ·grain [^Lfood] as they can carry, and put each man’s ·money [silver] into his sack with the grain. ² Put my silver ·cup [goblet] in the sack of the ·youngest [smallest] brother, along with his ·money [silver] for the grain.” ·The servant [^LHe] did what Joseph told him.

³ At dawn the ·brothers [^Lmen] were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They were not far from the city when Joseph said to the ·servant in charge of [^Lone over] his house, “·Go after [^LGet up and pursue] the men. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good? ⁵ ·The cup you have stolen is the one [^LIs this not what…?] my ·master [lord] uses for drinking and for ·explaining dreams [divination; ^Cperhaps by pouring oil in water as a means of telling the future (called lecanomancy)]. ·You [^LIs not what you…?] have done a very wicked thing!’ ”

⁶ So ·the servant [^Lhe] caught up with ·the brothers [^Lthem] and said to them ·what Joseph had told him to say [^Lthese words].

⁷ But the brothers said to the servant, “Why do ·you [my master/lord] say these things? ·We would not [^LFar be it from your servants to] do anything like that! ⁸ We brought back to you from the land of Canaan the ·money [silver] we found in our sacks. ·So surely we would not [^LWhy would we…?] steal silver or gold from your ·master’s [lord’s] house. ⁹ If ·you find that silver cup in the sack of one of [^Lit is found with one of] us, then let him die, and we will be your ·slaves [servants].”

¹⁰ ·The servant [^LHe] said, “·We will do [It will be] as you say, but only the man who has taken the cup will become my ·slave [servant]. The rest of you ·may go free [will be innocent].”

¹¹ Then every brother quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened ·it [^Ltheir sack]. ¹² ·The servant [^LHe] searched the sacks, ·going from [starting with] the oldest brother to [^Land ending with] the ·youngest [smallest], and found the ·cup [goblet] in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ The brothers tore their clothes [^Ca sign of mourning; they were afraid for Benjamin’s life]. Then they ·put their sacks back on [^Lloaded] the donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers ·went back to [arrived at] Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there, so ·the brothers bowed facedown [^Lthey fell] on the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man like me can ·learn things by signs and dreams [^Lpractice divination]?”

¹⁶ Judah said, “·Master [My lord], what can we say? What can we tell you? And how can we ·show we are not guilty [justify ourselves]? God has ·uncovered [^Lfound out] our guilt, so all of us will be ·your slaves [^Lslaves/servants of my master/lord], not just ·Benjamin [^Lthe one in whose hand the cup/goblet was found].”

¹⁷ But Joseph said, “·I will not make you all slaves [^LFar be it from me that I should do that]! Only the man ·who stole the cup [^Lin whose hand the cup/goblet was found] will be my ·slave [servant]. The rest of you may go back ·safely [or in peace] to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah ·went to Joseph [^Lapproached him] and said, “·Master [My lord], please let ·me [^Lyour servant] speak ·plainly to you [^La word in your ears], and please don’t be angry with ·me [^Lyour servant]. ·I know that you are as powerful as the king of Egypt [^LYou are like Pharaoh] himself. ¹⁹ ·When we were here before, you asked us [^LMy master/lord asked his servants], ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we answered ·you [^Lmy master/lord], ‘We have an old father. And we have a younger brother, ·who was born when our father was old [^Lof his old age]. ·This youngest son’s [^LHis] brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left alive, and ·our [^Lhis] father loves him very much.’ ²¹ Then you said to ·us [^Lyour servants], ‘Bring ·that brother [^Lhim] to me. I want to ·see [^Lset my eyes on] him.’ ²² And we said to ·you [^Lmy master/lord], ‘That young boy cannot leave his father, because if he leaves him, his father would die.’ ²³ But you said to ·us [your servants], ‘If you don’t bring your youngest brother [^Lwith you], you will not be allowed to see ·me [^Lmy face] again.’ ²⁴ So we went back to [^Lyour servant] our father and told him ·what you had said [^Lthe words of my master/lord].

²⁵ “Later, our father said, ‘·Go again [Return] and buy us a little more food.’ ²⁶ We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our ·youngest [smallest] brother. Without our ·youngest [smallest] brother, we will not be allowed to see the ·governor [^Lface of the man].’ ²⁷ Then [^Lyour servant] my father said to us, ‘You know that my ·wife Rachel gave [^Lwife bore] me two sons. ²⁸ When one son left me, I thought, “Surely he has been torn apart by a wild animal,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ Now you want to take this son away from ·me [^Lmy face/presence] also. But something ·terrible [tragic; disastrous] might happen to him, and ·I would be miserable until the day I die [^Lyou would bring my gray head down to Sheol in sorrow].’ ³⁰ Now what will happen if we go home to [^Lyour servant] our father without our ·youngest [smallest] brother? ·He is so important in our father’s life [^LAnd his life/soul is so bound up in his life/soul] that ³¹ when our father sees the young boy is not with us, he will die. ·And it will be our fault. We will cause the great sorrow that kills our father [^LYour servants will have brought the gray head of your servant to Sheol in grief].

³² “·I gave my father a guarantee that the young boy would be safe [^LFor your servant provided surety for the young boy for his father]. I said to my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, ·you can blame me [^LI will be condemned before my father] all my life.’ ³³ So now, please allow ·me [^Lyour servant] to stay here and be your ·slave [^Lservant in place of the young boy], and let the young boy go back home with his brothers. ³⁴ I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn’t stand to see my father ·that sad [suffer].”