| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave these instructions to his palace manager: “Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money back into his sack. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” So the manager did as Joseph instructed him. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3The brothers were up at dawn and were sent on their journey with their loaded donkeys. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4But when they had gone only a short distance and were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his palace manager, “Chase after them and stop them. When you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you repaid my kindness with such evil? |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup, which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!’” |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7“What are you talking about?” the brothers responded. “We are your servants and would never do such a thing! |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Didn’t we return the money we found in our sacks? We brought it back all the way from the land of Canaan. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9If you find his cup with any one of us, let that man die. And all the rest of us, my lord, will be your slaves.” |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10“That’s fair,” the man replied. “But only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go free.” |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12The palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15“What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?” |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves—all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack.” |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17“No,” Joseph said. “I would never do such a thing! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace.” Judah Speaks for His Brothers |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19“My lord, previously you asked us, your servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20And we responded, ‘Yes, my lord, we have a father who is an old man, and his youngest son is a child of his old age. His full brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’ |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21“And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’ |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22But we said to you, ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’ |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’ |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24“So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25Later, when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more food,’ |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26we replied, ‘We can’t go unless you let our youngest brother go with us. We’ll never get to see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27“Then my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife had two sons, |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28and one of them went away and never returned. Doubtless he was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Now if you take his brother away from me, and any harm comes to him, you will send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave. ’ |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30“And now, my lord, I cannot go back to my father without the boy. Our father’s life is bound up in the boy’s life. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31If he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die. We, your servants, will indeed be responsible for sending that grieving, white-haired man to his grave. |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32My lord, I guaranteed to my father that I would take care of the boy. I told him, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the blame forever.’ |
| 33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33“So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. |
| 34[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 34For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!” |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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