Joseph Tests His Brothers

44 Then he commanded ^(A)the steward of his house, ^(B)“Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack, ² and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his ^(C)steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?^{[a] 5} Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and ^(D)by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’”

⁶ When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. ⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, ^(E)the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? ^9 (F)Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be ^(G)my lord's servants.” ¹⁰ He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and 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 And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. ¹³ Then they ^(H)tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They ^(I)fell before him to the ground. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me ^(J)can indeed practice divination?” ¹⁶ And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out ^(K)the guilt of your servants; behold, we are ^(L)my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah went up to him and said, ^(M)“Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and ^(N)let not your anger burn against your servant, for ^(O)you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, ^(P)and a young brother, ^(Q)the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ^(R)‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, ^(S)his father would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ^(T)‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’

²⁴ “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And when ^(U)our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ ²⁶ we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me ^(V)two sons. ²⁸ One left me, and I said, ^(W)“Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. ²⁹ If you ^(X)take this one also from me, ^(Y)and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’

³⁰ “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, ³¹ as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. ³² For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ^(Z)‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ ³³ Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family

45 Then Joseph could not ^(AA)control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, ^(AB)“I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, ^(AC)whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ^(AD)for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are ^(AE)yet five years in which there will be neither ^(AF)plowing nor harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ^(AG)ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. ^10 (AH)You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ^11 (AI)There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ ¹² And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is ^(AJ)my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and ^(AK)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households, and come to me, and ^(AL)I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take ^(AM)wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Have no concern for^[b] your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them ^(AN)wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To each and all of them he gave ^(AO)a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels^[c] of silver and ^(AP)five changes of clothes. ²³ To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ^(AQ)“Do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw ^(AR)the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

14 Now at Iconium ^(A)they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. ^2 (B)But the ^(C)unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against ^(D)the brothers.^{[a] 3} So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for ^(E)the Lord, who bore witness to ^(F)the word of his grace, ^(G)granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. ⁴ But the people of the city ^(H)were divided; ^(I)some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. ⁵ When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, ^(J)to mistreat them and ^(K)to stone them, ⁶ they learned of it and ^(L)fled to ^(M)Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, ⁷ and there they continued to preach the gospel.

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

⁸ Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was ^(N)crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and ^(O)seeing that he had faith to be made well,^{[b] 10} said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he ^(P)sprang up and began walking. ¹¹ And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ^(Q)“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” ¹² Barnabas they called ^(R)Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ And the priest of ^(S)Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and ^(T)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^(U)tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, ¹⁵ “Men, ^(V)why are you doing these things? We also are men, ^(W)of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that ^(X)you should turn from these ^(Y)vain things to ^(Z)a living God, ^(AA)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶ In past generations he ^(AB)allowed all the nations ^(AC)to walk in their own ways. ¹⁷ Yet ^(AD)he did not leave himself without witness, for he ^(AE)did good by ^(AF)giving you rains from heaven and ^(AG)fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with ^(AH)food and ^(AI)gladness.” ¹⁸ Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Paul Stoned at Lystra

^19 (AJ)But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, ^(AK)they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. ²⁰ But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. ²¹ When they had preached the gospel to that city and had ^(AL)made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, ^22 (AM)strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them ^(AN)to continue in ^(AO)the faith, and saying that ^(AP)through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. ²³ And when they had ^(AQ)appointed ^(AR)elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting ^(AS)they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

²⁴ Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. ²⁵ And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, ²⁶ and from there they sailed to Antioch, ^(AT)where they had been ^(AU)commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. ²⁷ And when they arrived and gathered the church together, ^(AV)they declared all that God had done with them, and ^(AW)how he had ^(AX)opened ^(AY)a door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they remained no little time with the disciples.