| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Later, Joseph 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. | 1Then Joseph commanded his steward: "Fill the men's bags with as much food as they can carry, and put each one's money at the top of his bag. |
| 2Then 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 grain." So the manager did precisely what Joseph told him to do. | 2Put my cup, the silver one, at the top of the youngest one's bag, along with his grain money." So he did as Joseph told him. |
| 3Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way, along with their donkeys. | 3At morning light, the men were sent off with their donkeys. |
| 4They 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? | 4They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Get up. Pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid evil for good? |
| 5Don't you have the cup that my master uses to drink from and also uses to practice divination? You're wrong to have done this.'" | 5Isn't this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wrong!'" |
| 6So he went after them and made that accusation. | 6When he overtook them, he said these words to them. |
| 7"Your Excellency," they replied, "Why do you speak like this? Far be it from your servants to act like this. | 7They said to him, "Why does my lord say these things? Your servants could not possibly do such a thing. |
| 8Look, 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? | 8We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found at the top of our bags. How could we steal gold and silver from your master's house? |
| 9Go ahead and execute whichever one of your servants is discovered to have it, and we'll remain as your master's slaves." | 9If any of us is found to have it, he must die, and we also will become my lord'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 you will be innocent." | 10The steward replied, "What you have said is right, but only the one who is found to have it will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless." |
| 11So they quickly dismounted, unloaded their sacks onto the ground, and each one of them opened his own sack. | 11So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. |
| 12The palace manager 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. | 12The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. |
| 13At this, they all tore their clothes, reloaded their donkeys, and returned to the city. | 13Then they tore their clothes, and each one loaded his donkey and returned to the city. |
| 14Joseph was waiting for them back at his palace when his brothers returned. They fell to the ground in front of him, | 14When Judah and his brothers reached Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him." |
| 15and Joseph asked them, "Why did you do this? Don't you know that I'm an expert at divination?" | 15What is this you have done?" Joseph said to them. "Didn't you know that a man like me could uncover the truth by divination?"" |
| 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." | 16What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants' iniquity. We are now my lord's slaves--both we and the one in whose possession the cup was found." |
| 17"Far be it from me to do this," Joseph 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." | 17Then Joseph said, "I swear that I will not do this. The man in whose possession the cup was found will be my slave. The rest of you can go in peace to your father." |
| 18But Judah approached him and begged him, "Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately. Please don't be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh. | 18But Judah approached him and said, "Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. |
| 19Your Excellency asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or brother?' | 19My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother? |
| 20and 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.' | 20and we answered my lord, '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.' |
| 21"But then you ordered your servants, 'Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.' | 21Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him to me so that I can see him.' |
| 22So we told Your Excellency, 'The young man cannot leave his father, because if he were to do so, his father would die.' | 22But we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.' |
| 23But then you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you won't see my face again.' | 23Then you said to your servants, 'If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.'" |
| 24Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said. | 24This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported your words to him. |
| 25"'Go back,' our father ordered, 'and buy us a little food.' | 25But our father said, 'Go again, and buy us some 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.' | 26We told him, 'We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother isn't with us, we cannot see the man.' |
| 27"Then your servant, our father, told us, 'You know my wife bore me two sons. | 27Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons. |
| 28One 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. | 28One left--I said that he must have been torn to pieces--and I have never seen him again. |
| 29If 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!' | 29If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.'" |
| 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, | 30So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us--his life is wrapped up with the boy's life-- |
| 31when 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, along with his sad, gray hair! | 31when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. |
| 32Also, your servant pledged his own life as 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.' | 32Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, 'If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.' |
| 33Therefore, 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. | 33Now please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. |
| 34After 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." | 34For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father." |
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