Joseph's plan to stay his brethren, 1-10. Judah's supplication, 11-13. Joseph makes himself known
to his brethren and sends them back for his father, 14-24. (Cf. Gen. xliv.3-10, 12-18, 27-8,
30-2; xlv.1-2, 5-9, 12, 18, 20-1, 23, 25-8.)
[Chapter 43]
- And he did as Joseph had told him, and filled all their sacks for them with food and put
their
money in their sacks, and put the cup in Benjamin's sack.
- And early in the morning they
departed, and it came to pass that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said unto the steward
of his house: 'Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, "For good ye have requited me with evil;
you have stolen from me the silver cup out of which my lord drinks." And bring back to me
their
youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment.'
- And he ran
after them and said unto them according to these words.
- And they said unto him: 'God
forbid that thy servants should do this thing, and steal from the house of thy lord any utensil, and
the money also which we found in our sacks the first time, we thy servants brought back from the
land of
Canaan.
- How then should we steal any utensil? Behold here are we and our sacks
search, and wherever thou findest the cup in the sack of any man amongst us, let him be slain, and
we and our
asses will serve thy lord.'
- And he said unto them: 'Not so, the man with whom I find,
him only
shall I take as a servant, and ye shall return in peace unto your house.'
- And as he was
searching in their vessels, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, it was found in
Benjamin's
sack.
- And they rent their garments, and laded their asses, and returned to the city and
came to the
house of Joseph, and they all bowed themselves on their faces to the ground before him.
- And Joseph said unto them: 'Ye have done evil.' And they said: 'What shall we say and how shall
we defend ourselves? Our lord hath discovered the transgression of his servants; behold we are
the
servants of our lord, and our asses also.
- 'And Joseph said unto them: 'I too fear the
Lord; as for you, go ye to your homes and let your brother be my servant, for ye have done evil.
Know ye not
that a man delights in his cup as I with this cup? And yet ye have stolen it from me.'
- And Judah said: 'O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ear two
brothers did thy servant's mother bear to our father: one went away and was lost, and hath not
been found, and he alone is left of his mother, and thy servant our father loves him, and his life
also is bound up with
the life of this (lad).
- And it will come to pass, when we go to thy servant our father,
and the lad is
not with us, that he will die, and we shall bring down our father with sorrow unto
death.
- Now rather let me, thy servant, abide instead of the boy as a bondsman unto my lord, and
let the lad go with his brethren, for I became surety for him at the hand of thy servant our father,
and if I do not
bring him back, thy servant will hear the blame to our father for ever.'
- And Joseph saw
that they were all accordant in goodness one with another, and he could not refrain himself, and
he told them
that he was Joseph.
- And he conversed with them in the Hebrew tongue and fell on
their neck and
wept.
- But they knew him not and they began to weep. And he said unto them: 'Weep
not over me, but hasten and bring my father to me; and ye see that it is my mouth that speaketh
and the
eyes of my brother Benjamin see.
- For behold this is the second year of the famine, and
there are
still five years without harvest or fruit of trees or ploughing.
- Come down quickly ye
and your households, so that ye perish not through the famine, and do not be grieved for your
possessions, for
the Lord sent me before you to set things in order that many people might live.
- And
tell my father that I am still alive, and ye, behold, ye see that the Lord has made me as a father to
Pharaoh,
and ruler over his house and over all the land of Egypt.
- And tell my father of all my
glory, and
all the riches and glory that the Lord hath given me.'
- And by the command of the
mouth of Pharaoh he gave them chariots and provisions for the way, and he gave them all
many-coloured
raiment and silver.
- And to their father he sent raiment and silver and ten asses which
carried corn,
and he sent them away.
- And they went up and told their father that Joseph was alive,
and was measuring out corn to all the nations of the earth, and that he was ruler over all the land
of Egypt.
- And their father did not believe it, for he was beside himself in his mind; but when he
saw the wagons which Joseph had sent, the life of his spirit revived, and he said: 'It is enough for
me if Joseph lives; I will go down and see him before I die.'
Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 |
4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 |
38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 |
44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 |
50
From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
by R.H. Charles, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913
Scanned and Edited by Joshua Williams, Northwest Nazarene College