Joseph Tests His Brothers

44 Then he commanded the one over his household saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they are able to carry and put money in the opening of each man’s sack. ² Put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest along with his grain money.” So he did as Joseph told him.

³ When the morning dawned, the men were sent off, they and their donkeys. ⁴ They left the city and did not get far, when Joseph said to the one over his household, “Get up, go after the men. When you catch up to them, say to them, “Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Isn’t this the one from which my lord drinks? He even uses it especially to discern by divination. What you’ve done is evil!” ⁶ So he caught up to them and spoke these words to them.

⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing as this. ⁸ Look, the money we found in the opening of our bags, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. So how could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ⁹ Whoever among your servants is found with it, let him die! And we, we’ll also be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ “Even now let it be according to your words,” he said. “The one with whom it is found shall be my slave. But the rest of you shall be innocent.”

¹¹ Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and each man opened his sack. ¹² He searched them beginning with the eldest and finishing with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they tore their clothing, and each one loaded up his donkey and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers entered Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. ¹⁵ “What’s this deed you’ve done?” Joseph said to them, “Didn’t you know that a man like me can discern by divination?”

¹⁶ Then Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we as well as the one in whose hand the cup was found.”

¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The one in whose hand the cup was found—he will be my slave. But you, go up to your father in peace.”

Parashat Vayigash

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

¹⁸ Then Judah approached him and said, “I beg your pardon, my lord. Please let your servant say a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t be angry with your servant, since you are like Pharaoh. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants saying, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ So we said to my lord, ‘We have a father who is old, a child born to him of his old age is young. Now his brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can look at him.’ ²² But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave his father, he would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you won’t see my face again.’

²⁴ “Now when we went up to your servant, my father, we told him my lord’s words. ²⁵ Then our father said, ‘Go back, buy us a little grain for food.’ ²⁶ So we said, ‘We won’t go down unless we have our youngest brother with us—then we’ll go down. For we won’t see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷ “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You yourselves know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One went out from me, so I said, “He must have been torn to shreds,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ And if you also take this one away from before me and an accident happens to him, then you’ll bring my grey hair down to the evil of Sheol.’

³⁰ “Now if I come to your servant my father and the boy isn’t with us, since his life is bound to his life, ³¹ when he sees that the boy is no more, he’ll die. Then your servants will bring the grey hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in grief. ³² For your servant became pledge for the boy with my father saying, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before my father all my days.’ ³³ So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave in the boy’s place, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go up to my father and the boy is not with me? Else I must see the evil that would come upon my father!”