Genesis 44
1He instructed the man over his household, “Fill the men's bags with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's silver in the mouth of his bag. 2Put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the youngest one's bag, along with the silver for his grain.” He did as Joseph had said. 3When the morning grew light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 4They had left the city but had not gone far when Joseph said to the man over his household, “Get up, pursue the men. When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 5Is this not the cup my lord drinks from and uses for divination? You have done evil in what you have done.’” 6He overtook them and spoke these words to them. 7They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found in the mouths of our bags. How could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? 9Whichever of your servants it is found with shall die, and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves.” 10He said, “Very well, let it be according to your words: the one it is found with will become my slave, and you will be clear of guilt.” 11They hurried and each lowered his bag to the ground, and each opened his bag. 12He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's bag. 13They tore their clothes. Each loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
14Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. 15Joseph said to them, “What is this deed you have done? Did you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” 16Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we justify ourselves? God has found out your servants' guilt. Here we are, my lord's slaves, both we and the one in whose hand the cup was found.” 17He said, “Far be it from me to do that. The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave. As for you, go up in peace to your father.”
18Judah approached him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears. Do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father and a young child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ 21You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father will die.’ 23But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24When we went up to your servant my father, we told him my lord's words. 25Our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 26We said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down, because we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one too from my presence, and harm happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in misery.’ 30Now, when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is bound up with the boy's life— 31when he sees that the boy is not there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32For your servant guaranteed the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before my father all my days.’ 33Now, please let your servant remain as my lord's slave in place of the boy. Let the boy go up with his brothers. 34For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I could not bear to see the misery that would come upon my father.”