BERESHITH (GENESIS) 44

Gen 44:1 And he commanded the one over his house, saying, “Fill the men’s
sacks with food, as they are able to bear, and put each man’s silver in the
mouth of his sack.
Gen 44:2 “And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the
youngest, and the silver for his grain.” And he did according to the word of
Yosĕph which he spoke.
Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they
and their donkeys.
Gen 44:4 And when they had gone out of the city, not having gone far,
Yosĕph said to the one over his house, “Rise up, follow the men, and when
you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?
Gen 44:5 ‘Is this not the one from which my master drinks, and with which
he indeed divines? You have done evil in what you have done.’ ”
Gen 44:6 So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.
Gen 44:7 And they said to him, “Why does my master say these words? Far
be it from us that your servants should do according to this word.
Gen 44:8 “See, we brought back to you from the land of Kena‛an the silver
which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then should we steal silver
or gold from your master’s house?
Gen 44:9 “With whomever of your servants it is found – he shall die and we
shall become my master’s slaves as well.”
Gen 44:10 And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words: he
with whom it is found becomes my slave, and you are innocent.”
Gen 44:11 And they hurried, each man let down his sack to the ground, and
each opened his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, with the oldest first and with the youngest last,
and the cup was found in Binyamin’s sack.
Gen 44:13 And they tore their garments, and each man loaded his donkey
and went back to the city.
Gen 44:14 And Yehuḏah and his brothers came to Yosĕph’s house, and he
was still there. And they fell before him on the ground.
Gen 44:15 And Yosĕph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did
you not know that a man like me indeed divines?”
Gen 44:16 And Yehuḏah said, “What do we say to my master? What do we
speak? Or how do we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the crookedness
of your servants. See, we are my master’s slaves, both we and he also with
whom the cup was found.”
Gen 44:17 But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose hand
the cup was found, he becomes my slave. And you, go up in peace to your
father.”
Gen 44:18 And Yehuḏah came near to him and said, “O my master, please
let your servant speak a word in my master’s hearing, and do not let your
displeasure burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.
Gen 44:19 “My master asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a
brother?’
Gen 44:20 “And we said to my master, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a
young child of his old age, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his
mother’s children, and his father loves him.’
Gen 44:21 “And you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, and let
me set my eyes on him.’
Gen 44:22 “And we said to my master, ‘The boy is not able to leave his
father, for if he leaves his father, his father shall die.’
Gen 44:23 “But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother
comes down with you, you do not see my face again.’
Gen 44:24 “And it came to be, when we went up to your servant my father,
that we told him the words of my master.
Gen 44:25 “And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’
Gen 44:26 “But we said, ‘We are not able to go down. If our youngest
brother is with us, then we shall go down, for we are not able to see the
man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
Gen 44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife
bore me two sons,
Gen 44:28 and the one went out from me, and I said, “Truly, he is torn, torn
to pieces!” And I have not seen him since.
Gen 44:29 ‘And if you take this one from me too, and harm comes to him,
you shall bring down my grey hair with evil to the grave.’
Gen 44:30 “And now, if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not
with us – since his own life is bound up in his life –
Gen 44:31 then it shall be, when he sees that the boy is not with us, that he
shall die. So your servants shall bring down the grey hair of your servant our
father with evil to the grave.
Gen 44:32 “For your servant went guaranty for the boy to my father, saying,
‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall be a sinner before my father
forever.’
Gen 44:33 “And now, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a
slave to my master, and let the boy go up with his brothers.
Gen 44:34 “For how do I go up to my father if the boy is not with me, lest I
see the evil that would come upon my father?”