1Senere gav Josef sin husholder befaling om at fylde brødrenes sække med alt det korn, som æslerne kunne bære. „Sørg for at lægge de penge, de har betalt for kornet, tilbage i hver sæk!” beordrede han.2„Og i den yngste brors sæk skal du desuden lægge mit sølvbæger.” Husholderen gjorde, som Josef havde sagt.3Ved daggry næste morgen fik brødrene lov at tage af sted med deres æsler.4Men de var kun lige kommet ud af byen, da Josef sagde til sin husholder: „Sæt efter dem og stands dem. Sig så til dem: ‚Hvorfor har I gengældt godt med ondt?5Hvorfor har I taget min herres personlige sølvbæger, som han bruger til at tage varsler af? Hvordan kunne I gøre noget så usselt?’ ”6Husholderen indhentede hurtigt brødrene og sagde det, Josef havde givet ham besked på.7„Hvad mener du?” svarede brødrene. „Sådan noget kunne vi da aldrig finde på at gøre!8Bragte vi måske ikke de penge tilbage, som lå oven i vores sække sidste gang? Hvorfor i alverden skulle vi stjæle guld eller sølv fra din herres hus?9Hvis du finder bægeret hos en af os, skal vedkommende dø! Og resten af os skal være din herres slaver!”10„Nej,” svarede husholderen. „Det er kun den, bægeret findes hos, der skal være min herres slave, I andre kan godt rejse hjem.”11Brødrene løftede hurtigt sækkene af æslerne og åbnede dem.12Husholderen begyndte at gennemsøge den ældste brors sæk, og sådan fortsatte han hele rækken ned til den yngste. Bægeret blev fundet i Benjamins sæk.13Da flængede brødrene i fortvivlelse deres tøj, læssede igen deres æsler og vendte tilbage til byen.14Josef var stadig hjemme i sit hus, da Juda og hans brødre ankom. De faldt på knæ for ham med ansigtet mod jorden.15„Hvad er I ude på?” spurgte Josef. „Er I ikke klar over, at en mand som jeg har spåmænd, der kunne fortælle mig, hvem der stjal det?”16Da sagde Juda: „Oh, herre, hvad skal vi sige til vores forsvar? Hvordan kan vi bevise, at vi er uskyldige? Gud har bragt vores skyld for dagens lys. Vi er nu Deres slaver—både vi og vores bror, som bægeret blev fundet hos.”17„Nej,” svarede Josef. „Kun den, som stjal bægeret, skal være min slave. Resten af jer kan frit rejse hjem til jeres far.”
Juda tilbyder at blive slave for at redde Benjamin
18Da trådte Juda et skridt frem mod Josef og sagde: „Herre, tillad mig at tale til Dem. Hav tålmodighed med mig et øjeblik. Jeg ved, at De har magt til at dræbe mig på stedet, for De er jo som Farao selv.19De spurgte os, herre, om vi havde en far eller en bror.20Dertil svarede vi: ‚Ja, vores far er gammel, og han har endnu en søn derhjemme, som han fik i sin alderdom. Denne søns bror er død, så nu er han den eneste, hans mor efterlod sig. Derfor holder hans far så meget af ham.’21Så sagde De, herre: ‚Bring ham til mig, så jeg kan se ham!’22Men vi svarede: ‚Det er umuligt, herre! Drengen kan ikke forlade sin far, for hans far vil dø af sorg, hvis der sker ham noget.’23Men De insisterede: ‚Kom ikke tilbage, medmindre jeres yngste bror er med!’24Derefter rejste vi hjem til vores far og fortalte ham, hvad De havde sagt.25Og da han senere bad os om at tage til Egypten igen og købe mere korn,26sagde vi til ham: ‚Det kan ikke lade sig gøre, medmindre du lader vores yngste bror rejse med os. Uden ham vil vores rejse være forgæves.’27Så sagde vores far: ‚I ved jo, at min elskede kone fødte mig to sønner.28Den ene forsvandt. Han blev nok flået ihjel af et rovdyr, for jeg så ham aldrig igen.29Hvis der nu også sker noget med den anden søn, dør jeg af sorg.’30Derfor kan De nok forstå, herre, at hvis jeg kommer hjem uden den dreng, som min far er så stærkt knyttet til,31så dør han af sorg, og det er vi skyld i.32Herre, jeg har personligt lovet min far at tage mig af drengen på denne rejse—ja, jeg sagde ligefrem: ‚Hvis jeg ikke bringer ham tilbage i god behold, tager jeg selv hele skylden!’33Herre, tillad mig derfor at blive Deres slave i stedet for drengen. Lad ham få lov at tage hjem sammen med sine brødre.34Hvordan kan jeg tage hjem til min far uden drengen? Jeg vil ikke kunne holde ud at se min fars sorg.”
1Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, (1.Mos 42,25; 1.Mos 43,16; 1.Mos 44,4)2and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.4They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?[1] (1.Mos 44,1)5Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’” (1.Mos 30,27; 1.Mos 44,15; 2.Kong 21,6; 2.Krøn 33,6)6When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words.7They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!8Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? (1.Mos 43,21)9Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.” (1.Mos 31,32; 1.Mos 44,16)10He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.”11Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.12And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.13Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. (1.Mos 37,29)14When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. (1.Mos 37,7; 1.Mos 37,9; 1.Mos 42,6; 1.Mos 43,26; 1.Mos 43,28)15Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” (1.Mos 44,5)16And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” (1.Mos 37,18; 1.Mos 44,9; 4.Mos 32,23)17But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”18Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. (1.Mos 41,40; 1.Mos 43,20; 2.Mos 32,22)19My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’20And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ (1.Mos 37,3; 1.Mos 43,8; 1.Mos 44,30)21Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ (1.Mos 42,15; 1.Mos 42,20; 1.Mos 43,3; 1.Mos 43,5)22We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ (1.Mos 44,31)23Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’ (1.Mos 43,3)24“When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.25And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ (1.Mos 43,2)26we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’27Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. (1.Mos 46,19)28One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. (1.Mos 37,33)29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’ (1.Mos 42,4; 1.Mos 42,36; 1.Mos 42,38)30“Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life,31as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.32For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ (1.Mos 43,9)33Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.34For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”