Page:The Holy Bible (YLT).djvu/52

His policy to detain them. have gone out of the city—they have not gone far off—and Joseph hath said to him who is over his house, 'Rise, pursue after the men; and thou hast overtaken them, and thou hast said unto them, Why have ye recompensed evil for good? Is not this that with which my lord drinketh? and he observeth diligently with it; ye have done evil in that which ye have done.'

And he overtaketh them, and speaketh unto them these words, and they say unto him, 'Why doth my lord speak according to these words? far be it from thy servants to do according to this word; lo, the money which we found in the mouth of our bags we brought back unto thee from the land of Canaan, and how do we steal from the house of thy lord silver or gold? with whomsoever of thy servants it is found, he hath died, and we also are to my lord for servants.'

And he saith, 'Now, also, according to your words, so it is; he with whom it is found becometh my servant, and ye are acquitted;' and they hasten and take down each his bag to the earth, and each openeth his bag;  and he searcheth—at the eldest he hath begun, and at the youngest he hath completed—and the cup is found in the bag of Benjamin; and they rend their garments, and each ladeth his ass, and they turn back to the city.

And Judah—his brethren also—cometh in unto the house of Joseph, and he is yet there, and they fall before him to the earth; and Joseph saith to them, 'What is this deed that ye have done? have ye not known that a man like me doth diligently observe?'

And Judah saith, 'What do we say to my lord? what do we speak? and what—do we justify ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; lo, we are servants to my lord, both we, and he in whose hand the cup hath been found;' and he saith, 'Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the cup hath been found, he becometh my servant; and ye, go ye up in peace unto your father.'

And Judah cometh nigh unto him, and saith, 'O, my lord, let thy servant speak, I pray thee, a word in the ears of my lord, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant—for thou art as Pharaoh. My lord hath asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father or brother? and we say unto my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father hath loved him.

'And thou sayest unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, and I set mine eye upon him; and we say unto my lord, The youth is not able to leave his father, when he hath left his father, then he hath died;  and thou sayest unto thy servants, If your young brother come not down with you, ye add not to see my face.

'And it cometh to pass, that we have come up unto thy servant my father, that we declare to him the words of my lord; and our father saith, Turn back, buy for us a little food,  and we say, We are not able to go down; if our young brother is with us, then we have gone down; for we are not able to see the man's face, and our young brother not with us.

'And thy servant my father saith unto us, Ye—ye have known that two did my wife bare to me, and the one goeth out from me, and I say, Surely he is torn—torn! and I have not seen him since; when ye have taken also this from my presence, and mischief hath met him, then ye have brought down my grey hairs with evil to sheol.

'And now, at my coming in unto thy servant my father, and the youth not with us (and his soul is bound up in his soul), then it hath come to pass when he seeth that the youth is not, that he hath died, and thy servants have brought down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to sheol;  for thy servant obtained the youth by surety from my father, saying, If I bring him not in unto thee—then I have sinned against my father all the days.

'And now, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the youth a servant to my lord, and the youth goeth up with his brethren for how do I go up unto my father, and the youth not with me? lest I look on the evil which doth find my father.'

XLV. AND Joseph hath not been able to refrain himself before all those standing by him, and he calleth, 'Put out every man from me;' and no man hath stood with him when Joseph maketh himself known unto his brethren and he giveth forth his voice in weeping, and the Egyptians hear, and the house of Pharaoh heareth.

And Joseph saith unto his brethren, 'I am Joseph, is my father yet alive?' and his brethren have not been able to answer him, for they have been troubled at his presence.

And Joseph saith unto his brethren, 'Come nigh unto me, I pray you,' and they come nigh; and he saith, 'I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt; and now, be not grieved, nor let it be displeasing in your eyes that ye sold me hither, for to preserve life hath God sent me before you.

'Because these two years the famine is in the heart of the land, and yet are five years, in which there is neither ploughing nor harvest; and God sendeth me before you, to place of you a remnant in the land, and to give life to you by a great escape;  and now, ye—ye have not sent me hither, but God, and He doth set me for a father to Pharaoh, and for lord to all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

'Haste, and go up unto my father, then ye have said to him, Thus said Joseph thy son, God hath set me for lord to all Egypt; come down unto me, stay not, and thou hast dwelt in the land of Goshen, and been near unto me, thou and thy sons, and thy son's sons, and thy flock, and thy herd, and all that thou hast,  and I have nourished thee there—for yet are five years of famine—lest thou become poor, thou and thy household, and all that thou hast.

'And lo, your eyes are seeing, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my 32