The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then he ordered the manager of his household, "Fill the men's packs with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money just inside his pack.
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Then he gave orders to the servant who was over his house, saying, Put as much food into the men's bags as will go into them, and put every man's money in the mouth of his bag;
2 And put my goblet, the silver one, just inside the pack of the youngest, along with his grain money." He did what Yosef told him to do.
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And put my cup, my silver cup, in the youngest one's bag, with his money. So he did as Joseph said.
3 At daybreak the men were sent off with their donkeys;
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And at dawn the men, with their asses, were sent away.
4 but before they were far from the city Yosef said to his manager, "Up, go after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil?
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And when they had gone only a little way out of the town, Joseph said to the servant who was over his house, Go after them; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you done evil in reward for good?
5 Isn't this the goblet my lord drinks from, indeed the one he uses for divination? What you have done is evil!'"
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Is not this the cup from which my lord takes wine and by which he gets knowledge of the future? Truly, you have done evil.
6 So he caught up with them and said these words to them.
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So he overtook them and said these words to them.
7 They replied, "Why does my lord speak this way? Heaven forbid that we should do such a thing!
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And they said to him, Why does my lord say such words as these? far be it from your servants to do such a thing:
8 Why, the money we found inside our packs we brought back to you from the land of Kena'an! So how would we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?
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See, the money which was in the mouth of our bags we gave back to you when we came again from Canaan: how then might we take silver or gold from your lord's house?
9 Whichever one of us the goblet is found with, let him be put to death - and the rest of us will be my lord's slaves!"
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If it comes to light that any of your servants has done this, let him be put to death, and we will be your lord's servants.
10 He replied, "Fine; let it be as you have said: whichever one it is found with will be my slave. But the rest of you will be blameless."
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And he said, Let it be as you say: he in whose bag it is seen will become my servant; and you will not be responsible.
11 Then each hurried to put his pack down on the ground, and each one opened his pack.
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Then every man quickly got his bag down and undid it.
12 He searched, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet was found in the pack belonging to Binyamin.
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And he made a search, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was in Benjamin's bag.
13 At this, they tore their clothes from grief. Then each man loaded up his donkey and returned to the city. (A: Maftir)
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Then in bitter grief they put the bags on the asses again and went back to the town.
14 Y'hudah and his brothers arrived at Yosef's house. He was still there, and they fell down before him on the ground. (S: Maftir)
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So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was still there: and they went down on their faces before him.
15 Yosef said to them, "How could you do such a thing? Don't you know that a man such as myself can learn the truth by divination?"
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And Joseph said, What is this thing which you have done? had you no thought that such a man as I would have power to see what is secret?
16 Y'hudah said, "There's nothing we can say to my lord! How can we speak? There's no way we can clear ourselves! God has revealed your servants' guilt; so here we are, my lord's slaves - both we and also the one in whose possession the cup was found."
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And Judah said, What are we to say to my lord? how may we put ourselves right in his eyes? God has made clear the sin of your servants: now we are in your hands, we and the man in whose bag your cup was seen.
17 But he replied, "Heaven forbid that I should act in such a way. The man in whose possession the goblet was found will be my slave; but as for you, go in peace to your father."
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Then he said, Far be it from me to do so: but the man who had my cup will be my servant; and you may go back to your father in peace.
18 Then Y'hudah approached Yosef and said, "Please, my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don't be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.
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Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning against your servant: for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us.
19 My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father? or a brother?'
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My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother?
20 We answered my lord, 'We have a father who is an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one whose brother is dead; so that of his mother's children he alone is left; and his father loves him.'
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And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father.
21 But you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.'
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And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him.
22 We answered my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father; if he were to leave his father, his father would die.'
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And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for if he went away his father would come to his death.
23 You said to your servants, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'
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But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again.
24 We went up to your servant my father and told him what my lord had said;
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And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words.
25 but when our father said, 'Go again, and buy us some food,'
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And our father said, Go again and get us a little food.
26 we answered, 'We can't go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go down, because we can't see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'
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And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us.
27 Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons:
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And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons;
28 the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he has been torn to pieces," and I haven't seen him since.
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The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death; and from that time I have not seen him,
29 Now if you take this one away from me too, and something happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sh'ol with grief.'
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If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld.
30 So now if I go to your servant my father, and the boy isn't with us - seeing how his heart is bound up with the boy's heart -
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If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one,
31 when he sees that the boy isn't with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sh'ol with grief.
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When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld.
32 For your servant himself guaranteed his safety; I said, 'If I fail to bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.'
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For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.
33 Therefore, I beg you, let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers.
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So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers.
34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish."
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For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.