Genesis 44-45

New Living Translation

Joseph’s Silver Cup

44 When 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 Then 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 The brothers were up at dawn and were sent on their journey with their loaded donkeys. ⁴ But 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 Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup,^[a] which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!’”

⁶ When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed.

⁷ “What are you talking about?” the brothers responded. “We are your servants and would never do such a thing! ⁸ Didn’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 If 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 “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 They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them. ¹² The palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! ¹³ When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city.

¹⁴ Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. ¹⁵ “What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”

¹⁶ Judah 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 “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 Then 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 “My lord, previously you asked us, your servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And 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 “And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’ ²² But we said to you, ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’ ²³ But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’

²⁴ “So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said. ²⁵ Later, when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more food,’ ²⁶ we 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 “Then my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife had two sons, ²⁸ and 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 Now 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.^[b]’

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 If 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 My 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 “So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. ³⁴ For 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!”

Joseph Reveals His Identity

45 Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. ² Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.

³ “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. ⁴ “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. ⁵ But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. ⁶ This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.^{[c] 8} So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser^[d] to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.

⁹ “Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! ¹⁰ You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. ¹¹ I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’”

¹² Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph! ¹³ Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt. Describe for him everything you have seen, and then bring my father here quickly.” ¹⁴ Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same. ¹⁵ Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.

Pharaoh Invites Jacob to Egypt

¹⁶ The news soon reached Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have arrived!” Pharaoh and his officials were all delighted to hear this.

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is what you must do: Load your pack animals, and hurry back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Then get your father and all of your families, and return here to me. I will give you the very best land in Egypt, and you will eat from the best that the land produces.’”

¹⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry your little children and your wives, and bring your father here. ²⁰ Don’t worry about your personal belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ So the sons of Jacob^[e] did as they were told. Joseph provided them with wagons, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them supplies for the journey. ²² And he gave each of them new clothes—but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and 300 pieces^[f] of silver. ²³ He also sent his father ten male donkeys loaded with the finest products of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other supplies he would need on his journey.

²⁴ So Joseph sent his brothers off, and as they left, he called after them, “Don’t quarrel about all this along the way!” ²⁵ And they left Egypt and returned to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan.

²⁶ “Joseph is still alive!” they told him. “And he is governor of all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned at the news—he couldn’t believe it. ²⁷ But when they repeated to Jacob everything Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, their father’s spirits revived.

²⁸ Then Jacob exclaimed, “It must be true! My son Joseph is alive! I must go and see him before I die.”