1 And he commanded the one {asher al beito: household overseer} over his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food as much as they are able to carry, and put the silver {keseph: payment money} of each man in the mouth of his sack.”
2 And you shall put my cup {gevi'i: personal vessel}, the silver cup, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, and the silver for his grain. Then he did according to the word of Joseph {Yosef: wise planner}, which he had spoken.
3 When the morning {boker: early daylight period} became bright, the men were sent away with their donkeys {chamor: load-bearing animals}.
4 When they went out from the city but had not gone far, Joseph {Yosef: strategic governor} said to the steward {asher al beito: chief household official} of his house, “Get up, pursue after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil {ra'ah: serious wrongdoing} in place of good?’”
5 Is this not the cup from which my master {adoni: honored authority} drinks, and in which he certainly divines {nachesh: intense omen-seeking}? You have done evil in what you have done.
6 And he overtook {vayyasigem: quickly reached} them and spoke to them these words {hadvarim: specific accusations}.
7 And they said to him, “Why does my lord {adoni: respectful title} speak such words as these? Far be it {chalilah: strong rejection} for your servants to do such a thing as this!”
8 Behold, the silver {kesef: precious medium of trade} that we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. So how could we steal from the house of your master {adoneikha: recognized authority} silver or gold?
9 Whoever {asher: any one of us} among your servants is found with it shall die {met: penalty of death}, and we also will become slaves to my lord.
10 And he said, “Even now, as you have spoken, so it shall be: the one with whom it is found will be my slave {eved: permanent bondservant}; but you will be innocent {nekiyim: free from guilt}.”
11 Then they hurried, and each man brought down his sack {amtachat: travel bag} to the ground {erets: earth surface}, and each man opened his sack.
12 And he searched, starting with the oldest {gadol: firstborn ranking} and ending with the youngest {katon: least in age}; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
13 Then they tore their clothes {simlah: outer garment of mourning}; each man loaded his donkey, and they made their way back to the city {ir: significant town center}.
14 Then Judah {Yehudah: family spokesman} and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, while he was still there; they fell before him to the ground {artsah: complete prostration}.
15 And Joseph said to them, “What is this deed {maaseh: specific wrongful act} you have done? Do you not know that a man like me surely practices divination {nachesh: emphatic omen-seeking}?”
16 And Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak, and how can we justify ourselves? God {Elohim, Searcher of Hearts} has uncovered the guilt {avon: serious wrongdoing} of your servants. See, we are servants to my lord—both we and also the one in whose hand the cup was found.”
17 And he said, “Far be it {chalilah: unthinkable wrong} from me to do this. The man in whose hand the cup is found—he will be my servant; you may go up in peace {shalom: complete well-being} to your father.”
18 Then Judah drew near and said, “My lord {adoni: high-ranking superior}, I implore you to let your servant speak a single word before you. May your anger {af: fierce displeasure} not smolder against your servant, for your authority is akin to that of Pharaoh himself.”
19 My lord {adoni: master of authority} asked his servants, saying, “Do you have a father {av: patriarchal head}, or a brother?”
20 And we said to my lord {adoni: honored ruler}, “We have a father who is old {zaken: advanced in years}, and a younger son born in his old age, a little one. His brother is dead, and he alone remains to his mother, and his father loves him.”
21 Then you said to your servants {avadecha: subordinate attendants}, “Bring him down to me, and I will set my eyes {einai: attentive oversight} on him.”
22 And we said to my lord {adoni: superior official}, “The boy {naar: dependent youth} is not able to leave his father; for if he leaves his father, his father will die.”
23 And you said to your servants, “If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not continue {tosifun: go on or add} to see my face {panai: personal audience} again.”
24 And it came to pass, when we went up to your servant {avdecha: humble self-description} my father, that we told him the words {divrei: reported message} of my lord.
25 And our father {avinu: family patriarch} said, “Return and buy a little food {okhel: necessary sustenance} for us.”
26 And we said, “We are unable to descend unless our youngest {katan: youngest sibling} brother accompanies us; only then will we descend, for we are unable to see the face {penei: formal presence} of the man without him.”
27 And your servant {avdecha: deferential address}, my father, said to us, “You know that my wife bore me two {shnayim: precisely two} sons.”
28 And the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn apart {tarof toraf: utterly devoured},” and I have not seen him to this day {ad-hennah: up to now}.
29 And if you also remove this one from my presence, and calamity befalls him, you will cause my gray hair {seivah: frail old age} to descend in sorrow to Sheol {sheolah: realm of death}.
30 And now, when I come to your servant {avdekha: humble subordinate}, my father, and the boy is not with us—since my father’s life {nefesh: life essence} is bound up with the boy’s life—
31 An outcome is inevitable: when he observes {raah: perceives fully} that the boy is missing, he will die; and then your servants will carry your servant our father’s gray hair down to Sheol {sheol: realm of the dead} in sorrow.
32 For your servant stood as surety for the boy {naar: vulnerable younger one} to my father, stating, “Should I fail to bring him to you, I will have sinned {chatati: lasting moral guilt} before my father all the days.”
33 And now, please let your servant {eved: bound household worker} remain instead of the boy {naar: younger family member} as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go up with his brothers.
34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy {naar: younger brother} is not with me, lest I see the calamity {ra: overwhelming disaster} that will befall my father?