He did as Joseph told him. He filled all their sacks with food for them and placed their money in their sacks. He put the cup in Benjamin’s sack.

Early in the morning they went (off). But when they had left that place, Joseph said to the man of his house: ‘Pursue them. Run and reprimand them as follows: «You have repaid me with evil instead of good. You have stolen from me the silver cup with which my master drinks». Bring their youngest brother back to me and bring him quickly, before I go out to the place where I rule’.

He ran after them and spoke to them in line with this message.

They said to him: ‘Heaven forbid that your servants should do such a thing and should steal any container from the house of your master. Your servants have brought back from the land of Canaan the money that we found in our sacks the first time.

How, then, should we steal any container? Here we and our sacks are. Make a search, and anyone of us in whose sack you find the cup is to be killed, while we and our donkeys are to serve your master’.

He said to them: ‘(That) is not the way it will be. I will take only the man with whom I find it as a servant, and you may go safely to your home’.

As he was searching among their containers, he began with the oldest and ended with the youngest. It was found in Benjamin’s sack.

They tore their clothing, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city. When they arrived at Joseph’s house, all of them bowed to him with their faces to the ground.

Joseph said to them: ‘You have done an evil thing’. They said: ‘What are we to say and what shall we say in our defense. Our master has discovered the crime of his servants. We ourselves and our donkeys, too, are our master’s servants’.

Joseph said to them: ‘As for me, I fear the Lord. As for you, go to your houses, but your brother is to be enslaved because you have done something evil. Do you not know that a man takes pleasure in his cup as I do in this cup? And you stole it from me’.

Then Judah said: ‘Please, master, allow me, your servant, to say something in my master’s hearing. His mother gave birth to two brothers for your servant our father. One has gone away and been lost; no one has found him. He alone is left of his mother(‘s children). And your servant our father loves him and his life is tied together with the life of this one.

If we go to your servant our father and if the young man is not with us, then he would die and we would bring our father down in sorrow to death.

Rather, I your servant will remain in place of the child as a servant of my master. Let the young man go with his brothers because I took responsibility for him from your servant our father. If I do not bring him back, your servant will be guilty to our father forever.

When Joseph saw that the minds of all of them were in harmony one with the other for good (ends), he was unable to control himself, and he told them that he was Joseph.

He spoke with them in the Hebrew language. He wrapped his arms around their necks and cried. But they did not recognize him and began to cry.

Then he said to them: ‘Do not cry about me. Quickly bring my father to me and let me see him before I die, while my brother Benjamin also looks on.

For this is now the second year of the famine and there are still five more years without harvest, without fruit (growing on) trees, and without plowing.

You and your households come down quickly so that you may not die in the famine. Do not worry about your property because the Lord sent me first before you to arrange matters so that many people may remain alive.

Tell my father that I am still alive. You now see that the Lord has made me like a father to the pharaoh and to rule in his household and over the entire land of Egypt.

Tell my father about all my splendor and all the wealth and splendor which the Lord has given me’.

By personal command of the pharaoh he gave them wagons and provisions for the trip, and he gave all of them colored clothing and silver.

To their father he sent clothing, silver, and ten donkeys which were carrying grain. Then he sent them away.

They went up and told their father that Joseph was alive and that he was having grain distributed to all the peoples of the earth and ruling over the entire land of Egypt.

Their father did not believe (it) because he was disturbed in his thoughts. But after he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent, his spirit revived and he said: ‘It is enough for me that Joseph is alive. Let me go down and see him before I die’.