Genesis 44: The silver cup, and Judah's plea

In plain English: Joseph gave orders to the steward of his house: "Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.

In plain English: Put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with his money for the grain." And the steward did as Joseph said.

In plain English: At first light the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.

In plain English: They had left the city and had not gone far when Joseph said to his steward, "Go after the men at once. When you catch up with them, ask them, 'Why have you paid back good with evil?

In plain English: Isn't this the cup my master drinks from, and the one he uses to divine (to read signs)? What you have done is wrong.'"

The Hebrew word: "Divines" is nachash: to find out hidden things or the future by reading signs. The words Joseph gives his steward to say repeat the verb ("divining, he divines"), to make it strong, and so do Joseph's own words in verse 15.

How it is translated: In its 9 verses this Bible says "divination", "divines" or "divined" in 6, and "enchantments" or "enchanter" in 4. The Law later forbids it, using the same word (Leviticus 19:26).

Good to know: Joseph tells his steward to say this, and he says it himself in verse 15. The text does not say whether Joseph really used the cup this way, or said it as part of his test. Readers differ on this.

In plain English: He caught up with them and said these words to them.

In plain English: They said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Your servants would never do such a thing!

In plain English: Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?

In plain English: If any of your servants is found to have it, let him die, and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves."

In plain English: He said, "Very well, let it be as you say: the one who is found to have it will be my slave, and the rest of you will be free of blame."

In plain English: Each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

In plain English: The steward searched, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

In plain English: Then they tore their clothes. Each man loaded his donkey, and they went back to the city.

In plain English: Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They threw themselves to the ground in front of him.

In plain English: Joseph said to them, "What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?"

In plain English: Judah said, "What can we say to my lord? What can we say? How can we prove we are innocent? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. Look, we are my lord's slaves, both we and the one who was found with the cup."

In plain English: Joseph said, "I would never do that. Only the man who was found with the cup will be my slave. As for the rest of you, go back in peace to your father."

In plain English: Then Judah came up to him and said, "Please, my lord, let your servant say a word in your hearing, and do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.

In plain English: My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'

In plain English: We told my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a young son born to him in his old age. That son's brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

In plain English: Then you told your servants, 'Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself (or: look after him).'

In plain English: We told my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father. If he left him, his father would die (or: the boy would die).'

In plain English: But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'

In plain English: When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him what my lord had said.

In plain English: Our father said, 'Go back and buy us a little food.'

In plain English: We said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go down, because we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'

In plain English: Your servant, my father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.

In plain English: One of them went away from me, and I said that he must have been torn to pieces. I have not seen him since.

In plain English: If you take this one from me too, and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.'

In plain English: So now, if I go back to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, since his life is bound up with the boy's life,

In plain English: when he sees that the boy is not there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray hairs of your servant, our father, down to Sheol in sorrow.

In plain English: Your servant promised my father to be responsible for the boy. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I will carry the blame before my father forever.'

In plain English: So now, please let your servant stay here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers.

In plain English: How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I am afraid of seeing the misery that would come on my father."