Genesis 44

²⁵Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”

²So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,

¹For behold, the Lord God of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,

¹⁹So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

²So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

⁸I am not giving a command, but I am testing the sincerity of your love through the earnestness of others.

³you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

¹⁵And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

³²They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.

²⁰Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

³²But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”

¹²They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never leave his house.

¹⁶Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,

⁵They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

¹⁷and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.

⁶He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

²⁷But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”

²⁶You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.

¹⁵“What is this deed you have done?” Joseph declared. “Do you not know that a man like me can surely divine the truth?”

¹⁰Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

¹¹casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.

³³Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, and they quickly grasped at this word and replied, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” “Go and get him!” said the king. Then Ben-hadad came out, and Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

¹⁶Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.

¹⁷“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”

¹⁸Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

²²While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:

²⁵Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male.

²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.

¹³“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

²²“The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today.

²³If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself hold us accountable.

¹²Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

¹⁸“Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,

¹⁰Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

¹¹For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

³⁵As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.

²¹But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.

²²We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”

¹⁹You shall not steal.

³²If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

¹⁸But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

³⁸if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,

³⁹if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,

³O Lord my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands,

⁴if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,

¹⁶“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”

¹¹If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

³But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.

³³Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers.

¹⁷But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”

²⁴As he began the settlements, a debtor owing ten thousand talents was brought to him.

²⁵Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

¹⁴May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

²Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.

³³They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

²⁶But we answered, ‘We cannot go down there unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother is not with us, we cannot see the man.’

²⁷And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

³⁷Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.

¹⁹And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying aloud.

⁶Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

²On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.

²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

³⁰returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

¹⁸His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

²⁵Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”

⁷We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.”

⁸“Do you intend to reign over us?” his brothers asked. “Will you actually rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements.

⁴They had not gone far from the city when Joseph told his steward, “Pursue the men at once, and when you overtake them, ask, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

⁵Is this not the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wicked!’”

¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

⁸But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care.

²⁶Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”

¹⁰“What have you done?” replied the Lord. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.

¹Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”

⁹If any of your servants is found to have it, he must die, and the rest will become slaves of my lord.”

⁷To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.

²³But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord—and be assured that your sin will find you out.

²There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.

¹⁸And he had the family of Zabdi come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.

²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

³²They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

³³His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the Lord.

²“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.

²⁹that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

¹⁸and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

²²“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.

⁴⁰You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

³⁰Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

³²Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

⁴⁴And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”

²²Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,

⁷They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

²⁹When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

⁷And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

⁸Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.

³⁸But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

²⁷And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

²⁸When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.

¹²As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

²¹The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

⁸Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

¹⁵And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

²⁰Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

⁴But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”

⁴Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”

²⁹When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

⁶I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

³⁸But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

³⁰So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life,

³But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

¹⁵And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

²⁹When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

³⁰“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

²So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

⁷And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’

¹⁹The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

¹⁶Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.

¹⁷During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.”

²²Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,

²³and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.

²⁸And Jacob did just that. He finished the week’s celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.

¹⁸Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

¹⁹Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to another. Stay here with me.”

³³His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

¹³Israel said to him, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph replied.

¹⁴Then Israel told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when Joseph arrived in Shechem,

³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

³⁸But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

³⁸But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

¹⁴May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

¹⁷On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’

³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

³¹sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

³For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

⁴I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.

¹After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

³⁴For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”

²⁹And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the Lord your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

³¹sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

¹⁷But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”

³³The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

²⁹Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’

³⁵All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

¹⁷The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

¹³Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.

²²Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day, and that he was sure to tell Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s house.

²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”

⁸And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.

⁹I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.

¹⁶By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

⁸But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

³²Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

³For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

⁶For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”

⁸Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.

²⁹If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—

³The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

¹⁴³Trouble and distress have found me, but Your commandments are my delight.

³³And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.

³⁴And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.