Josefs sølvbæger
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.”
A Silver Cup in a Sack
1Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. 2Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.
3As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 5Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.’ ”
6When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7But they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”
10“Very well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”
11Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
14Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 15Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?”
16“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”
17But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”
18Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
21“Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’ 22And we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’ 23But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
25“Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’ 26But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27“Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’
30“So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, 31sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. 32Your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!’
33“Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. 34How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”
