- And
Joseph charged the steward of his house,
saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as
much as they can carry, and put the money
of each in the mouth of his sack.
- And put
my silver cup into the sack of the youngest,
and the price of his corn. And it was done
according to the word of Joseph, as he said.
- The morning dawned, and the men were
sent away, they and their asses.
- And when
they had gone out of the city, and were not
far off, then Joseph said to his steward,
Arise, and pursue after the men; and thou
shalt overtake them, and say to them, Why
have ye returned evil for good?
- Why
have ye stolen my silver cup? is it not this
[a] out of which my lord drinks? and he divines
augury with it; ye have accomplished
evil in that which ye have done.
- And he
found them, and spoke to them according
to these words.
- And they said to him,
Why does our lord speak according to these
words? far be it from thy servants to do
according to this word.
- If we brought
back to thee out of the land of Chanaan the
money which we found in our sacks, how
should we steal silver or gold out of the
house of thy lord?
- With whomsoever of
thy servants thou shalt find the cup, let
him die; and, moreover, we will be servants
to our lord.
- And he said, Now then it
shall be as ye say; with whomsoever the
cup shall be found, he shall be my servant,
and ye shall be clear.
- And they hasted, and
took down every man his sack on the ground,
and they opened every man his sack.
- And
he searched, beginning from the eldest, until
he came to the youngest; and he found the
cup in Benjamin's sack.
- And they rent
their garments, and laid each man his sack
on his ass, and returned to the city.
- And Judas and his brethren came in to
Joseph, while he was yet there, and fell on
the ground before him.
- And Joseph said
to them, What is this thing that ye have
done? know ye not that a man such as I
can surely divine?
- And Judas said, What
shall we answer to our lord, or what shall
we say, or wherein should we be justified?
[b] whereas God has discovered the unrighteousness
of thy servants; behold, we are
slaves to our lord, both we and he with whom
the cup has been found.
- And Joseph
said, Far be it from me to do this thing;
the man with whom the cup has been found,
he shall be my servant; but do ye go up
with safety to your father.
- And Judas
drew near him, and said, I pray, Sir, let thy
servant speak a word before thee, and be not
angry with thy servant, for thou art next to
Pharao.
- Sir, thou askedst thy servants,
saying, Have ye a father or a brother?
- And
we said to my lord, We have a father, an
old man, and he has a son of his old age, a
young one, and his brother is dead, and he
alone has been left behind to his mother,
and his father loves him.
- And thou saidst
to thy servants, Bring him down to me, and
I will take care of him.
- And we said to
my lord, The child will not be able to leave
his father; but if he should leave his father,
he will die.
- But thou saidst to thy servants,
Except your younger brother come
down with you, ye shall not see my face
again.
- And it came to pass, when we went
up to thy servant our father, we reported
to him the words of our lord.
- And our
father said, Go again, and buy us a little
food.
- And we said, We shall not be able
to go down; but if our younger brother go
down with us, we will go down; for we shall
not be able to see the man's face, our
younger brother not being with us.
- And
thy servant our father said to us, Ye know
that my wife bore me two sons;
- and one
is departed from me; and ye said that he
was devoured of wild beasts, and I have
not seen him until now.
- If then ye take
this one also from my presence, and an
affliction happen to him by the way, then
shall ye bring down my old age with sorrow
to [c] the grave.
- Now then, if I should go
in to thy servant, and our father, and the
boy should not be with us, (and his life
depends on this lad's life) --
- it shall even
come to pass, when he sees the boy is not
with us, that he will die, and thy servants
will bring down the old age of thy servant,
and our father, with sorrow to the grave. [c]
- For thy servant has received the boy in
charge from his father, saying, If I bring
him not to thee, and place him before thee,
I shall be guilty towards my father for ever.
- Now then I will remain a servant with
thee instead of the lad, a domestic of my
lord; but let the lad go up with his brethren.
- For how shall I go up to my father,
the lad not being with us? lest I behold the
evils which will befall my father.
[a] Gr. in which.
[b] Gr. but.
[c] Gr. Hades.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]
