GENESIS Chapter 44
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44:1 Joseph
commanded the servant in charge of his house, "Fill the men's sacks with
as much food as they can carry, and put each man's money in the top of his
sack. |
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44:2 Put my silver
cup in the top of the youngest brother's sack, together with the money for
his grain." He did as he was told. |
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44:3 Early in the
morning the brothers were sent on their way with their donkeys. |
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44:4 When they had
gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to the servant in
charge of his house, "Hurry after those men. When you catch up with them,
ask them, 'Why have you paid back evil for good? |
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44:5 Why did you
steal my master's silver cup? It is the one he drinks from, the one he uses
for divination. You have committed a serious crime!' " |
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44:6 When the
servant caught up with them, he repeated these words. |
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44:7 They answered
him, "What do you mean, sir, by talking like this? We swear that we have
done no such thing. |
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44:8 You know that
we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in the top
of our sacks. Why then should we steal silver or gold from your master's
house? |
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44:9 Sir, if any
one of us is found to have it, he will be put to death, and the rest of us
will become your slaves." |
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44:10 He said,
"I agree; but only the one who has taken the cup will become my slave,
and the rest of you can go free." |
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44:11 So they
quickly lowered their sacks to the ground, and each man opened his sack. |
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44:12 Joseph's
servant searched carefully, beginning with the oldest and ending with the
youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. |
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44:13 The brothers
tore their clothes in sorrow, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.
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44:14 When Judah and
his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They bowed down
before him, |
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44:15 and Joseph
said, "What have you done? Didn't you know that a man in my position
could find you out by practicing divination?" |
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44:16 "What can
we say to you, sir?" Judah answered. "How can we argue? How can we
clear ourselves? God has uncovered our guilt. All of us are now your slaves
and not just the one with whom the cup was found." |
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44:17 Joseph said,
"Oh, no! I would never do that! Only the one who had the cup will be my
slave. The rest of you may go back safe and sound to your father." |
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44:18 Judah went up
to Joseph and said, "Please, sir, allow me to speak with you freely.
Don't be angry with me; you are like the king himself. |
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44:19 Sir, you asked
us, 'Do you have a father or another brother?' |
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44:20 We answered,
'We have a father who is old and a younger brother, born to him in his old
age. The boy's brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's
children still alive; his father loves him very much.' |
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44:21 Sir, you told
us to bring him here, so that you could see him, |
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44:22 and we
answered that the boy could not leave his father; if he did, his father would
die. |
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44:23 Then you said,
'You will not be admitted to my presence again unless your youngest brother
comes with you.' |
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44:24 "When we
went back to our father, we told him what you had said. |
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44:25 Then he told
us to return and buy a little food. |
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44:26 We answered,
'We cannot go; we will not be admitted to the man's presence unless our
youngest brother is with us. We can go only if our youngest brother goes
also.' |
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44:27 Our father
said to us, 'You know that my wife Rachel bore me only two sons. |
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44:28 One of them
has already left me. He must have been torn to pieces by wild animals,
because I have not seen him since he left. |
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44:29 If you take
this one from me now and something happens to him, the sorrow you would cause
me would kill me, as old as I am.' |
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44:30 "And now,
sir," Judah continued, "if I go back to my father without the boy,
as soon as he sees that the boy is not with me, he will die. His life is
wrapped up with the life of the boy, and he is so old that the sorrow we
would cause him would kill him. |
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44:31 (SEE 44:30)
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44:32 What is more,
I pledged my life to my father for the boy. I told him that if I did not
bring the boy back to him, I would bear the blame all my life. |
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44:33 And now, sir,
I will stay here as your slave in place of the boy; let him go back with his
brothers. |
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44:34 How can I go
back to my father if the boy is not with me? I cannot bear to see this
disaster come upon my father." |
CHAPTER ENDS
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