Genesis 44

1 Forsothe Joseph comaundid the dispendere of his hous, and seide, Fille thou her sackis with wheete, as myche as tho moun take, and putte thou the money of ech in the hiynesse of the sak;

And Joseph charged the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put the money of each in the mouth of his sack.

2 forsothe put thou in the mouth of the sak of the yongere my silueren cuppe, and the prijs of wheete which he yaf; and it was doon so.

And put my silver cup into the sack of the youngest, and the price of his corn. And it was done according to the word of Joseph, as he said.

3 And whanne the morewtid roos, thei weren delyuered with her assis.

The morning dawned, and the men were sent away, they and their asses.

4 And now thei hadden go out of the citee, and hadden go forth a litil; thanne Joseph seide, whanne the dispendere of his hous was clepid, Rise thou, pursue the men, and seye thou whanne thei ben takun, Whi han ye yolde yuel for good?

And when they had gone out of the city, [and] were not far off, then Joseph said to his steward, Arise, and pursue after the men; and thou shalt overtake them, and say to them, Why have ye returned evil for good?

5 The cuppe, which ye han stole, is thilk in which my lord drynkith, and in which he is wont to dyuyne; ye han do a ful wickid thing.

Why have ye stolen my silver cup? is it not this out of which my lord drinks? and he divines augury with it; ye have accomplished evil in that which ye have done.

6 He dide as Joseph comaundid, and whanne thei weren takun, he spak bi ordre.

And he found them, and spoke to them according to these words.

7 Whiche answeriden, Whi spekith oure lord so, that thi seruauntis han do so greet trespas?

And they said to him, Why does our lord speak according to these words? far be it from thy servants to do according to this word.

8 We brouyten ayen to thee fro the lond of Chanaan the monei which we founden in the hiynesse of sackis, and hou is it suynge that we han stole fro `the hows of thi lord gold ether siluer?

If we brought back to thee out of the land of Chanaan the money which we found in our sacks, how should we steal silver or gold out of the house of thy lord?

9 At whom euere of thi seruauntis this that thou sekist is foundun, die he, and we schulen be seruauntis of my lord.

With whomsoever of thy servants thou shalt find the cup, let him die; and, moreover, we will be servants to our lord.

10 Which seide to hem, Be it doon bi youre sentence; at whom it is foundun, be he my seruaunt; forsothe ye schulen be gilteles.

And he said, Now then it shall be as ye say; with whomsoever the cup shall be found, he shall be my servant, and ye shall be clear.

11 And so thei diden doun hastili the sackis on erthe, and alle openyden tho whiche he souyte;

And they hasted, and took down every man his sack on the ground, and they opened every man his sack.

12 and bigan at the more til to the leeste, and foond the cuppe in `the sak of Beniamyn.

And he searched, beginning from the eldest, until he came to the youngest; and he found the cup in Benjamin's sack.

13 And whanne thei hadden `to-rent her clothis, and hadden chargid eft the assis, thei turneden ayen in to the citee.

And they rent their garments, and laid each man his sack on his ass, and returned to the city.

14 And Judas entride `the firste with brithren to Joseph; for he hadde not go yit fro the place; and alle felden togidere on erthe bifore hym.

And Judas and his brethren came in to Joseph, while he was yet there, and fell on the ground before him.

15 To whiche he seide, Whi wolden ye do so? whether ye witen not, that noon is lijk me in the kunnyng of dyuinyng?

And Joseph said to them, What is this thing that ye have done? know ye not that a man such as I can surely divine?

16 To whom Judas seide, What schulen we answere to my lord, ether what schulen we speke, ether moun iustli ayenseie? God hath founde the wickidnesse of thi seruauntis; lo! alle we ben the seruauntis of my lord, bothe we and he at whom the cuppe is foundun.

And Judas said, What shall we answer to our lord, or what shall we say, or wherein should we be justified? whereas God has discovered the unrighteousness of thy servants; behold, we are slaves to our lord, both we and he with whom the cup has been found.

17 Joseph answeride, Fer be it fro me, that Y do so; he be my seruaunt that stal the cuppe; forsothe go ye fre to youre fadir.

And Joseph said, Far be it from me to do this thing; the man with whom the cup has been found, he shall be my servant; but do ye go up with safety to your father.

18 Sotheli Judas neiyede neer, and seide tristili, My lord, Y preye, thi seruaunt speke a word in thin eeris, and be thou not wrooth to thi seruaunt; for aftir Farao thou art my lord.

And Judas drew near him, and said, I pray, Sir, let thy servant speak a word before thee, and be not angry with thy servant, for thou art next to Pharao.

19 Thou axidist first thi seruauntis, Han ye a fadir, ether a brother?

Sir, thou askedst thy servants, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?

20 And we answeriden to thee, my lord, An eld fadir is to vs, and a litil child that was borun in his eelde, whos brother of the same wombe is deed, and his modir hath hym aloone; forsothe his fadir loueth hym tendirli.

And we said to [my] lord, We have a father, an old man, and he has a son of his old age, a young one, and his brother is dead, and he alone has been left behind to his mother, and his father loves him.

21 And thou seidist to thi seruauntis, Brynge ye hym to me, and Y schal sette myn iyen on hym.

And thou saidst to they servants, Bring him down to me, and I will take care of him.

22 We maden suggestioun to thee, my lord, the child may not forsake his fadir; for if he schal leeue the fadir, he schal die.

And we said to [my] lord, The child will not be able to leave his father; but if he should leave his father, he will die.

23 And thou seidist to thi seruauntis, If youre leeste brother schal not come with you, ye schulen no more se my face.

But thou saidst to they servants, Except your younger brother come down with you, ye shall not see my face again.

24 Therfor whanne we hadden stied to thi seruaunt, oure fadir, we telden to hym alle thingis whiche my lord spak; and oure fadir seide,

And it came to pass, when we went up to thy servant our father, we reported to him the words of our lord.

25 Turne ye ayen, and bie ye to you a litil of wheete;

And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.

26 to whom we seiden, We moun not go; if oure leeste brother schal go doun with vs, we schulen go forth togidere; ellis, if he is absent, we doren not se the `face of the lord.

And we said, We shall not be able to go down; but if our younger brother go down with us, we will go down; for we shall not be able to see the man's face, our younger brother not being with us.

27 To whiche thingis the fadir answeride, Ye witen that my wiif childide twei sones to me;

And thy servant our father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two [sons];

28 oon yede out, and ye seiden, a beeste deuouride hym, and hidir to he apperith not;

and one is departed from me; and ye said that he was devoured of wild beasts, and I have not seen him until now.

29 if ye taken also this sone, and ony thing bifallith to hym in the weye, ye schulen lede forth myn hoor heeris with morenyng to hellis. (Sheol h7585)

If then ye take this one also from my presence, and an affliction happen to him by the way, then shall ye bring down my old age with sorrow to the grave. (Sheol h7585)

30 Therfor if Y entre to thi seruaunt, oure fadir, and the child faile, sithen his lijf hangith of the lijf of the child,

Now then, if I should go in to they servant, and our father, and the boy should not be with us, (and his life depends on this [lad's] life)

31 and he se that the child is not with vs, he schal die, and thi seruauntis schulen lede forth hise hoor heeris with sorewe to hellis. (Sheol h7585)

—it shall even come to pass, when he sees the boy is not with us, [that] he will die, and thy servants will bring down the old age of thy servant, and our father, with sorrow to the grave. (Sheol h7585)

32 Be Y propirli thi seruaunt, which resseyuede this child on my feith, and bihiyte, and seide, If Y schal not brynge ayen hym, Y schal be gilti of synne ayens my fadir in al tyme;

For thy servant has received the boy [in charge] from his father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, and place him before thee, I shall be guilty towards my father for ever.

33 and so Y schal dwelle thi seruaunt for the child in to the seruyce of my lord, and the child stie with hise britheren;

Now then I will remain a servant with thee instead of the lad, a domestic of my lord; but let the lad go up with his brethren.

34 for Y may not go ayen to my fadir, if the child is absent, lest Y stonde a witnesse of the wretchidnesse that schal oppresse my fadir.

For how shall I go up to my father, the lad not being with us? lest I behold the evils which will befall my father.