Genesis 44 ISV NLT Parallel

◄ Genesis 44 ►

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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.

1When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave these instructions to his palace manager: “Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money back into his sack.

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.

2Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” So the manager did as Joseph instructed him.

3Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way, along with their donkeys.

3The brothers were up at dawn and were sent on their journey with their loaded 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?

4But when they had gone only a short distance and were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his palace manager, “Chase after them and stop them. When you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you repaid my kindness with such evil?

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.'"

5Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup, which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!’”

6So he went after them and made that accusation.

6When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed.

7"Your Excellency," they replied, "Why do you speak like this? Far be it from your servants to act like this.

7“What are you talking about?” the brothers responded. “We are your servants and would never 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?

8Didn’t we return the money we found in our sacks? We brought it back all the way from the land of Canaan. Why would we steal silver or gold 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 you find his cup with any one of us, let that man die. And all the rest of us, my lord, will be your 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."

10“That’s fair,” the man replied. “But only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go free.”

11So they quickly dismounted, unloaded their sacks onto the ground, and each one of them opened his own sack.

11They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them.

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 palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to 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.

13When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again 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,

14Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and 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?"

15“What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”

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."

16Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves—all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack.”

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."

17“No,” Joseph said. “I would never do such a thing! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace.” Judah Speaks for His Brothers

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.

18Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself.

19Your Excellency asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or brother?'

19“My lord, previously you asked us, your 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 responded, ‘Yes, my lord, we have a father who is an old man, and his youngest son is a child of his old age. His full brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’

21"But then you ordered your servants, 'Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.'

21“And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’

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 you, ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for 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.'

23But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’

24Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said.

24“So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said.

25"'Go back,' our father ordered, 'and buy us a little food.'

25Later, when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more 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 replied, ‘We can’t go unless you let our youngest brother go with us. We’ll never get to see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

27"Then your servant, our father, told us, 'You know my wife bore me two sons.

27“Then my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife had 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.

28and one of them went away and never returned. Doubtless he was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since.

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!'

29Now if you take his brother away from me, and any harm comes to him, you will send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave. ’

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,

30“And now, my lord, I cannot go back to my father without the boy. Our father’s life is bound up in 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!

31If he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die. We, your servants, will indeed be responsible for sending that grieving, white-haired man to his grave.

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.'

32My lord, I guaranteed to my father that I would take care of the boy. I told him, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the blame forever.’

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.

33“So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return 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 return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”

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