Genesis 44

Genesis 44:1

Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.

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Genesis 44:2

Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.

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Genesis 44:4

They had not gone far from the city when Joseph told his steward, “Pursue the men at once, and when you overtake them, ask, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

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Genesis 44:5

Is this not the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wicked!’”

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Genesis 44:6

When the steward overtook them, he relayed these words to them.

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Genesis 44:7

“Why does my lord say these things?” they asked. “Your servants could not possibly do such a thing.

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Genesis 44:8

We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found in the mouths of our sacks. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

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Genesis 44:9

If any of your servants is found to have it, he must die, and the rest will become slaves of my lord.”

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Genesis 44:10

“As you say,” replied the steward. “But only the one who is found with the cup will be my slave, and the rest of you shall be free of blame.”

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Genesis 44:11

So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

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Genesis 44:12

The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest—and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

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Genesis 44:13

Then they all tore their clothes, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.

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Genesis 44:14

When Judah and his brothers arrived at Joseph’s house, he was still there, and they fell to the ground before him.

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Genesis 44:15

“What is this deed you have done?” Joseph declared. “Do you not know that a man like me can surely divine the truth?”

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Genesis 44:16

“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”

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Genesis 44:17

But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”

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Genesis 44:18

Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.

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Oh my Lord "No paraphrase ," says Dr. A. Clarke , "can heighten the effect of Judah's address to Joseph. To add , would be to diminish its excellence; to attempt to explain , would be to obscure its beauties; to clothe the ideas in other language than that of Judah , and his translators in our Bible , would ruin its energy , and destroy its influence. It is perhaps one of the most tender , affecting pieces of natural oratory ever spoken or penned , and we need not wonder to find that , when Joseph heard it , he could not refrain himself , but wept aloud. His soul must have been insensible beyond what is common to human nature , had he not immediately yielded to a speech so delicately tender , and so powerfully impressive."

Genesis 44:19

My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

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Genesis 44:20

And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

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Genesis 44:21

Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’

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Genesis 44:22

So we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

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Genesis 44:23

But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

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Genesis 44:24

Now when we returned to your servant my father, we relayed your words to him.

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Genesis 44:25

Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us some food.’

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Genesis 44:26

But we answered, ‘We cannot go down there unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother is not with us, we cannot see the man.’

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Genesis 44:27

And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

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Genesis 44:28

When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.

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Genesis 44:29

Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’

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Genesis 44:30

So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy's life,

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Genesis 44:31

sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

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Genesis 44:32

Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’

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Genesis 44:33

Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers.

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therefore What must Benjamin have felt when he heard his brother conclude his speech by a proposal which could never have been thought of if it had not been actually made! Perhaps the annals of the whole world do not produce an instance of so heroic and disinterested affection in any mere man.

Genesis 44:34

For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him."

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