Bereshis 44

1. 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.