Genesis 44:9 T 49
“Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they
are to eat with me at noon.”
17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house.
18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They
thought, “We were b
rought here because of the silver that was put back into
our sacks the f irst time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and s eize us
as slaves and take our donkeys.”
19 So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to
the house. 20 “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here
the first time to buy food. 21 But at the place where we s topped for the night
we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver — the exact weight — in
the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also
brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our
silver in our sacks.”
23 “It’s all r ight,” he said. “Don’t be a
fraid. Your God, the God of your father,
has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought
Simeon out to them.
24 The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash
their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts
for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat
there.
26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had
brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He
asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you
told me about? Is he still living?”
28 They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they
bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.
29 As he l ooked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son,
he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And
he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Deeply moved at the s ight of his
brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his
private room and wept there.
31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said,
“Serve the food.”
32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyp
tians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with
Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33 The men had been seated be
fore him in the order of t heir ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and
they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to
them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any
one else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.
A Silver Cup in a Sack
44
Now Joseph gave t hese instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill
the m
en’s s acks with as much food as they can carry, and put each
man’s silver in the m
outh of his sack. 2 Then put my cup, the silver one, in the
mouth of the youngest one’s sack, a
long with the silver for his g
rain.” And he
did as Joseph said.
3 As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go af
ter t hose men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why
have you repaid good with evil? 5 Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and
also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’ ”
6 When he c aught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7 But
they said to him, “Why does my lord say such t hings? Far be it from your
servants to do anything like that! 8 We even brought back to you from the
land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why
would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If any of your
servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my
lord’s slaves.”