Jubilees 43

1And Joseph devised a plan by which he might know their thoughts, whether there was a thought of peace among them. And he said to the man who was over his house, "Fill all their sacks with grain, and put their money back in the middle of their bags; and put my silver cup, the cup from which I drink, in the sack of the youngest." And he sent them away.

2And he did as Joseph told him, and filled all their sacks with grain, and put their money in their sacks; and he put the cup in Benjamin's sack. And when morning dawned, they went away.

3And it happened, when they had gone out from there, Joseph said to the man of his house, "Pursue them, run and overtake them, saying, 'Instead of good you have repaid me evil; you have stolen from me the silver cup from which my lord drinks.' And bring back to me their youngest brother, and bring him quickly before I enter into my judgment."

4And he ran after them and spoke to them according to this word. And they said to him, "Far be it from your servants to do this thing, and to steal from your lord's house any money or gold. The money that we found before in our sacks we, your servants, brought back from the land

5of Canaan. How then should we steal any goods? Look, we and our sacks—search them. And with whomever you find the cup in the sack of any one man among us, let him be put to death; and we and our donkeys also will become servants to our lord.

6"we will be servants to our lord." And he said to them, "Not so. The man with whom I found it—he alone

7I will take him as a servant, and you may go in peace to your houses." And while they were searching in their goods, beginning with the eldest and finishing with the youngest, it was found in Benjamin's sack.

8And they tore their garments, and loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city and came to the house.

9And they came to Joseph, and all of them bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. And Joseph said to them, "You have done evil." And they said, "What shall we say, and how shall we clear ourselves? Our Lord has found the guilt of your servants."

10his servants. Look, we are servants to our lord, we and our donkeys also." And Joseph said to them, "God forbid that I should do this. You, go to your houses; but your youngest brother shall be my servant, because you have done evil. Did you not know that a man surely divines with his cup, as I do?

11And Judah said, "I beg you, my lord, let your servant speak a word in my lord's hearing. His mother bore two brothers to your servant, our father. One went out and was lost, and no one has found him; and he alone remains from his mother, and your servant..."

12our father loves him, and his life is bound up with his life. And it will happen, when we go to your servant our father, if the boy is not with us, that he will die, and we will afflict our father with sorrow to death.

13And I, your servant, remain alone instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the young man go with his brothers, for I became surety for him from the hand of your servant, our father. And if I do not bring him back, your servant will bear the blame before our father all our days.’

14And Joseph saw that the heart of all of them was united, each man with the other, for good; and he wept,

15And he could no longer restrain himself, and told them that he was Joseph. And he spoke with them in the Hebrew language.

16And he embraced their necks and wept, but they did not recognize him, and they also wept. And he said to them,

17Do not weep over me, but hurry and bring my father to me, and you see that it is my mouth that speaks, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin also see. For behold, this is the second year of the famine,

18And there are still five years in which there will be no plowing, and no fruit of trees, and no harvest.

19for preservation, go down, you and your households, so that you may not be consumed by the famine and not be distressed on account of your possessions. For God sent me before you quickly, so that they may live.

20a numerous people. And tell my father that I am still alive, and look, you yourselves see that God has made me as a father to Pharaoh and as ruler in his house,

21and over all the land of Egypt. And tell my father of all my honor and of all that has been given to me."

22And by the command of Pharaoh he gave them wagons and provisions for the journey.

23And he gave all of them changes of garments and silver. And to their father also he sent garments and silver.

24and ten donkeys carrying grain. And he sent them away. And they went up and told their father that Joseph was alive, and that he was distributing grain to all the peoples of the earth and ruling.

25over all the land of Egypt. And their father did not believe them, for his mind was stunned. But when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent, the life of his spirit was renewed, and he said, "It is enough for me if Joseph is alive. I will go down and see him before I die."