Bereshis 44
Orthodox Jewish Bible
44 And he commanded the ish over Bais Yosef, saying, Fill the sacks of the anashim with ochel, as much as they can carry, and put kesef ish in the mouth of his sack.
2 And put my cup, gevi’a hakesef (cup of silver), in the mouth of the sack of the katon, and his kesef for shever (grain). And he did according to the davar Yosef had spoken.
3 As soon as the boker ohr, the anashim were sent away, they and their chamorim.
4 And when they were gone out of the ir, and not yet far off, Yosef said unto the ish over Bais Yosef, Up, follow after the anashim; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded ra’ah for tovah?
5 Is not this it in which adoni drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done ra’ah in so doing.
6 And he overtook them, and he spoke unto them these same devarim.
7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith adoni these words? Chalilah (far be it) that thy avadim should do according to this thing;
8 Hinei, the kesef, which we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought back unto thee out of Eretz Kena’an; how then should we be ganavim stealing kesef or zahav out of the bais adonecha?
9 With whomsoever of thy avadim it be found, both let him die, and we also will be avadim of adoni.
10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your devarim; he with whom it is found shall be to me eved; and ye shall be nekiyim (blameless).
11 Then they speedily took down every ish his sack to the ground, and opened every ish his sack.
12 And he searched, and began at the gadol (eldest), and ended at the katon (youngest); and the gevi’a (cup, goblet) was found in the sack of Binyamin.
13 Then they tore their garments, and loaded every ish his chamor, and returned to the ir.
14 And Yehudah and his achim came to Bais Yosef; for he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground.
15 And Yosef said unto them, What ma’aseh (deed) is this that ye have done? Know ye not that an ish like me can find things out as a menachesh (diviner)?
16 And Yehudah said, What shall we say unto adoni? What shall we speak? Or how hall we clear ourselves? HaElohim hath found out the avon (iniquity) of thy avadim; look at us, we are now avadim la’adoni, both we, and he also with whom the gevi’a (cup) is found.
17 And he [Yosef] said, Chalilah that I should do so; but the ish in whose yad the gevi’a is found, he shall be to me eved; and as for you, go back in shalom unto avichem.
[VAYIGGASH]
18 Then Yehudah came near unto him, and said, Oh, adoni, let thy eved speak now a davar in oznei adoni, and let not thine anger burn against thy eved; for thou art even like Pharaoh.
19 Adoni asked his avadim, saying, Have ye an av, or an ach?
20 And we said unto adoni, We have an av, a zaken, and a yeled zekunim katan (child of his old age, a little one); and achiv is dead, and he alone is left of immo, and aviv loveth him.
21 And thou saidst unto thy avadim, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
22 And we said unto adoni, The na’ar cannot leave aviv; for if he should leave aviv, aviv would die.
23 And thou saidst unto thy avadim, Except achichem hakaton (your youngest brother) come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy eved Avi we told him the divrei adoni.
25 And avinu said, Shuvu, (go back, return) and buy us a little ochel.
26 And we said, We cannot go down; if achinu hakaton (our youngest brother) be with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the face of HaIsh, except achinu hakaton be with us.
27 And thy eved Avi said unto us, Ye know that my wife bore me two banim;
28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn to pieces; and I saw him not ad-hennah (until now);
29 And if ye take this also from me, and ason (evil, harm) befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hair in ra’ah (misery) to Sheol.
30 Now therefore when I come to thy eved Avi, and the na’ar be not with us; seeing that his nefesh is bound up in the nefesh of the na’ar;
31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the na’ar is not with us, that he will die; and thy avadim shall bring down the gray hair of thy eved avinu with yagon (sorrow) to Sheol,
32 For thy eved became surety for the na’ar unto Avi, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame before Avi kol hayamim.
33 Therefore, let thy eved, now, abide instead of the na’ar, an eved to adoni; and let the na’ar go up with his achim.
34 For how shall I go up to Avi, and the na’ar be not with me? Lest I see the rah that would overtake Avi.
1 Mosebok 44
Swedish New Living Bible (Nya Levande Bibeln)
44 När bröderna var klara för hemresan befallde Josef sin husföreståndare att fylla alla deras säckar med så mycket säd de kunde föra med sig och sa till honom att lägga tillbaka de pengar som de hade betalat med överst i säckarna.
2 Josef gav också order om att hans egen silverbägare skulle läggas överst i Benjamins säck tillsammans med pengarna för säden. Husföreståndaren gjorde som han hade blivit tillsagd.
3 Bröderna steg upp i gryningen och gav sig iväg med sina tungt lastade åsnor.
4 När de hade kommit ett stycke från staden, sa Josef till sin husföreståndare: Skynda dig efter dem! Stoppa dem och fråga varför de handlar på det här sättet mot mig, när jag, deras välgörare, har varit så god mot dem.
5 Fråga dem: 'Vad menar ni med att stjäla min husbondes personliga silverbägare, som han använder till att spå med? Fattar ni vad ni har gjort?'
6 Husföreståndaren hann ifatt dem och sa till dem allt som han hade fått order om.
7 Vad pratar du om egentligen? frågade de. Vilka slags människor tror du vi är, eftersom du kan anklaga oss för något så fruktansvärt?
8 Tog vi inte med oss tillbaka de pengar som vi hade funnit i säckarna? Varför skulle vi då stjäla silver eller guld från din husbondes hus?
9 Om du hittar denna bägare hos någon av oss, så ska han dö, och alla vi övriga är villiga att bli slavar åt din husbonde så länge vi lever.
10 Det låter nog bra, men det räcker med att den som stal bägaren blir min slav, svarade mannen. Ni andra går fria.
11 De tog snabbt ned sina säckar från åsneryggarna och öppnade dem.
12 Husföreståndaren började leta i den äldste broderns säck och gick sedan igenom de övrigas. Han hittade slutligen bägaren i Benjamins säck.
13 Då slet de sönder sina kläder i förtvivlan, lastade åsnorna igen och återvände till staden.
14 Josef var fortfarande hemma när Juda och hans bröder kom, och de föll ned på marken inför honom.
15 Vad är det ni försöker göra? frågade Josef. Förstår ni inte att en man som jag vet vem som stal den?
16 Juda svarade uppgivet: Vad ska vi säga, herre? Hur kan vi be om nåd? Hur kan vi bevisa att vi är oskyldiga? Gud straffar oss för våra synder. Vi har alla återvänt för att bli dina slavar, både alla vi andra och han i vars säck bägaren återfanns.
17 Nej, sa Josef. Bara den som stal bägaren ska bli min slav. Resten av er kan återvända hem till er far.
18 Då steg Juda fram och sa: Låt mig bara få säga en sak, herre. Ha tålamod med mig bara ett ögonblick, för jag vet att du kan döma mig omedelbart, som om du vore Farao själv.
19 Du frågade oss om vår far var i livet och om vi hade ytterligare någon bror,
20 och vi svarade: 'Ja, far lever. Han är nu en gammal man, och han har fått ett barn på gamla dagar, som nu är en ung man, och som hans far är mycket fäst vid. Han är den ende som är kvar av sin mors barn eftersom hans bror är död.'
21 Och du sa till oss: 'För hit honom, så att jag kan få se honom.'
22 Men vi sa: 'Herre, pojken kan inte lämna sin far, för då kommer hans far att dö.'
23 Men du sa till oss: 'Kom inte tillbaka hit, om ni inte har er yngste bror med er.'
24 Därför återvände vi till vår far och berättade för honom vad du hade sagt.
25 Och när han sa: 'Gå tillbaka och köp oss lite mat
26 svarade vi: 'Vi kan absolut inte resa utan att ta vår yngste bror med oss.'
27 Då sa far till oss: 'Ni vet att min hustru Rakel fick två söner, och att
28 en av dem gick bort för att aldrig återvända, förmodligen söndersliten av vilda djur, för jag har aldrig sett honom sedan dess.
29 Om ni tar hans bror från mig och något ont drabbar honom också, kommer jag att dö av sorg.'
30 Herre, om jag nu går tillbaka till min far och pojken inte är med oss - jag känner far och vet hur fäst han är vid pojken - kommer han att dö, när han ser att pojken saknas.
31 Vi kommer att bli skyldiga till hans för tidiga död.
32 Herre, jag lovade min far att jag skulle ta hand om pojken. Jag sa till honom, att om jag inte hade honom med mig tillbaka, så skulle jag bära skulden för alltid.
33 Herre, låt mig stanna som slav i stället för pojken, och låt honom få återvända hem med sina bröder.
34 Hur skulle jag kunna återvända hem till far utan pojken? Skona mig från att behöva se min fars sorg och förtvivlan.
Genesis 44
International Standard Version
The Brothers Leave for Canaan
44 Later, Joseph[a] commanded his palace manager, “Fill the men’s sacks to full capacity with food and replace each man’s money at the top of the sack. 2 Then place my cup—the silver one—in the top of the sack belonging to the youngest one, along with the money he brought to buy[b] grain.” So the manager[c] did precisely what Joseph told him to do.
3 Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way, along with their donkeys. 4 They had not traveled far from the city when Joseph ordered his palace manager, “Get up, follow those men, and when you’ve caught up with them, ask them, ‘Why did you repay evil for good? 5 Don’t you have[d] the cup that my master uses to drink from and also uses to practice divination? You’re wrong to have done this.’” 6 So he went after them and made that accusation.
7 “Your Excellency,” they replied, “Why do you speak like this? Far be it from your servants to act like this. 8 Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money that we found at the top of our sacks. How, then, could we have stolen silver or gold from your master’s palace? 9 Go ahead and execute whichever one of your servants is discovered to have it, and we’ll remain as your master’s slaves.”
10 “Agreed,” he responded. “Just as you’ve said, the one who is found to have it in his possession will become my slave, and the rest of[e] you will be innocent.”
11 So they quickly dismounted, unloaded their sacks onto the ground, and each one of them opened his own sack. 12 The palace manager[f] searched for the cup, beginning with the oldest brother’s sack and ending with the youngest brother’s sack, and there it was!—in Benjamin’s sack. 13 At this, they all tore their clothes,[g] reloaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.
Joseph Confronts His Brothers
14 Joseph was waiting for them back at his palace when his brothers returned. They fell to the ground in front of him, 15 and Joseph asked them, “Why did you do this? Don’t you know that I’m an expert at divination?”
Judah Explains Their Predicament
16 “What can we say, Your Excellency?” Judah replied. “How can we explain this or justify ourselves? God has discovered the sin of your servants, and now we’ve become slaves to you, Your Excellency, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been discovered.”
17 “Far be it from me to do this,” Joseph[h] responded. “The man in whose possession the cup was discovered will be my slave, but the rest of you may leave in peace to be with your father.”
18 But Judah approached him and begged him, “Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately.[i] Please don’t be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh. 19 Your Excellency asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or brother?’ 20 and we answered Your Excellency, ‘We have an aged father and a younger child who was born when he was old. His brother is now dead, so he’s the only surviving son of his mother. His father loves him.’
21 “But then you ordered your servants, ‘Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.’ 22 So we told Your Excellency, ‘The young man cannot leave his father, because if he were to do so, his father would die.’ 23 But then you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you won’t see my face again.’ 24 Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said.
25 “‘Go back,’ our father ordered, ‘and buy us a little food.’
26 “But we told him, ‘We can’t go back there. If our youngest brother accompanies us, we’ll go back, but we cannot see the man’s face again unless our youngest brother accompanies us.’
27 “Then your servant, our father, told us, ‘You know my wife bore me two sons. 28 One of them left me, so I concluded “I’m certain that he has been torn to pieces,” and I haven’t seen him since then. 29 If you take this one from me, too, and then something harmful happens to him, then it will be death for me and my sad, gray hair!’[j]
30 “So when I go back to your servant, my father, and the young man isn’t with us, since he’s constantly living life focused on his son,[k] 31 when he notices that the young man hasn’t come back with us, he’ll die, and your servants really will have brought death to your servant, our father,[l] along with his sad, gray hair! 32 Also, your servant pledged his own life as[m] a guarantee of the young man’s safety. I told my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me forever.’ 33 Therefore, please allow your servant to remain as a slave to Your Excellency, instead of the young man, and let the young man go back home with his brothers. 34 After all, how can I go back to my father if the young man doesn’t accompany me? I’m afraid of what might happen to my father.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 44:1 Lit. he
- Genesis 44:2 The Heb. lacks he brought to buy
- Genesis 44:2 Lit. So he
- Genesis 44:5 Lit. Isn’t this
- Genesis 44:10 The Heb. lacks the rest of
- Genesis 44:12 Lit. Then he
- Genesis 44:13 I.e., a response of despair
- Genesis 44:17 Lit. he
- Genesis 44:18 Lit. speak a word in your ears
- Genesis 44:29 Lit. then you’ll send me and my gray hair to Sheol; i.e. to the realm of the dead
- Genesis 44:30 Lit. since his soul is bound to his son’s soul
- Genesis 44:31 Lit. have brought your servant, our father, to Sheol; i.e. to the realm of the dead
- Genesis 44:32 The Heb. lacks his own life as
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