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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Genesis 44 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/44.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/genesis/44-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Genesis 44</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../genesis/43.htm" title="Genesis 43">◄</a> Genesis 44 <a href="../genesis/45.htm" title="Genesis 45">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/genesis/44.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Joseph’s Silver Cup</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>When 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Then 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.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>The brothers were up at dawn and were sent on their journey with their loaded donkeys. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>But 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? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!’”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>“What are you talking about?” the brothers responded. “We are your servants and would never do such a thing! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Didn’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? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>If 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.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>“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.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>The palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Judah 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.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>“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.”</p><p class="hdg">Judah Speaks for His Brothers</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Then 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.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“My lord, previously you asked us, your servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>And 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.’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>“And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>But we said to you, ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>“So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Later, when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more food,’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>we 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.’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>“Then my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife had two sons, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>and one of them went away and never returned. Doubtless he was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Now 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.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a>’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>“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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>If 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>My 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.’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>“So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/44-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>For 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!”</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">44:5 </span><span class="ft">As in Greek version; Hebrew lacks this phrase.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">44:29 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">to Sheol;</span><span class="ft"> also in 44:31.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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