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;
When his brothers were ready to return home, Joseph said to the man who was in charge of things in his house, “Fill the sacks of those men with as much grain as they can carry [on their donkeys]. And put in the top of each man’s sack the silver that he paid for the grain.
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.
Then put my silver cup in the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the silver that he paid for the grain.” So the servant did what Joseph told him to do.
3 And whanne the morewtid roos, thei weren delyuered with her assis.
The next morning at dawn the men started on the way home with their donkeys.
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?
When they had not gone far from the city, Joseph said to the servant in charge of things in his house, “Pursue those men immediately. When you catch up to them, say to them, ‘We did good things for you! Why have you paid us back by doing something bad to us?
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.
[You have stolen the cup] that my master drinks from [RHQ]! It is the cup that he uses to find out things that nobody knows! What you did was very wicked!’”
6 He dide as Joseph comaundid, and whanne thei weren takun, he spak bi ordre.
The servant [left immediately and] when he caught up with them, he told them what Joseph had told him to say.
7 Whiche answeriden, Whi spekith oure lord so, that thi seruauntis han do so greet trespas?
But one of them replied to him, “Sir, why do you say such things? We are your servants, and we would never do anything like that!
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?
We even brought back to you from Canaan land the silver that we found inside the tops of our sacks! So (we certainly would not steal silver or gold from your master’s house!/Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?) [RHQ]
9 At whom euere of thi seruauntis this that thou sekist is foundun, die he, and we schulen be seruauntis of my lord.
If you discover that any of us has that cup, you can execute him, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”
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.
The man replied, “Okay, I will do what you say. But the one who has the cup will not be executed. Instead, he will become my slave, and the rest of you may return home.”
11 And so thei diden doun hastili the sackis on erthe, and alle openyden tho whiche he souyte;
Each of the men quickly lowered his sack down from the donkey to the ground and opened it.
12 and bigan at the more til to the leeste, and foond the cuppe in `the sak of Beniamyn.
Then the servant started to search for the cup in each sack. He started with the oldest brother’s sack and ended with the youngest one’s sack. And he found the cup in Benjamin’s sack and showed it to them.
13 And whanne thei hadden `to-rent her clothis, and hadden chargid eft the assis, thei turneden ayen in to the citee.
The brothers tore their clothes [because they were so dismayed]. They loaded the sacks on the donkeys again 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.
When Judah and his [older and younger] brothers entered Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there. The servant told Joseph what had happened. Then the brothers threw themselves down on the ground in front of Joseph.
15 To whiche he seide, Whi wolden ye do so? whether ye witen not, that noon is lijk me in the kunnyng of dyuinyng?
He said to them, “Why did you do this? Do you not know that a man like me can find out things that nobody knows?” [RHQ]
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.
Judah replied, “Sir, what can we say? How can we prove that we (are innocent/did not steal the cup)? God has (paid us back/punished us) for the sins [we committed many years ago]. So now we will become your slaves—both we and the one in whose sack the cup was 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.
But Joseph replied, “No, I could never do anything like that. Only the man in whose sack the cup was found will become my slave. The rest of you can return to your father peacefully.”
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.
Then Judah came near to Joseph and said, “Sir, please let me say something to you. You are equal to the king himself, so you could command that I be executed; but do not be angry with me for speaking to you.
19 Thou axidist first thi seruauntis, Han ye a fadir, ether a brother?
You asked us, ‘Is your father still living, and do you have another 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.
We answered, ‘Our father is alive, but he is an old man. He has a young son who was born after our father became an old man. That son had an [older] brother, who is now dead. So the youngest son is the only one of his mother’s sons who is still alive, and his father loves him very much.’
21 And thou seidist to thi seruauntis, Brynge ye hym to me, and Y schal sette myn iyen on hym.
Then you said to us, ‘The next time you come here, bring your younger brother down to me, so that I can see 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.
We said to you, ‘No, we cannot do that, because the boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father will die from sorrow.’
23 And thou seidist to thi seruauntis, If youre leeste brother schal not come with you, ye schulen no more se my face.
But you told us, ‘If your youngest brother does not come back with you, I will not let you see me 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,
When we returned to our father, we told him what you said.
25 Turne ye ayen, and bie ye to you a litil of wheete;
[Months later] our father said, ‘Go back to Egypt and buy some more grain!’
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.
But we said, ‘We cannot go back by ourselves. We will go only if our youngest brother is with us. We will not be able to see the man who sells grain if our youngest brother is not with us.’
27 To whiche thingis the fadir answeride, Ye witen that my wiif childide twei sones to me;
Our father replied, ‘You know that my wife [Rachel] gave birth to two sons for me.
28 oon yede out, and ye seiden, a beeste deuouride hym, and hidir to he apperith not;
One of them disappeared, and I said, “A wild animal has surely torn him to pieces.” And I have not seen him since then.
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)
I am an old gray-haired man. If you take this other one from me, too, and something harms him, you would cause me to die because of my sorrow.’ (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,
“So please listen. My father will remain alive only if his youngest son remains alive.
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)
If he sees that the boy is not with us when we return to him, he will die. We will cause our gray-haired father to die because of his sorrow. (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;
I guaranteed/promised to my father that the boy would return safely. I told him, ‘You can require me to do what I am promising. If I do not bring him back to you, you can say forever that (I am to blame/it is my fault) [for not bringing him back to you].’
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;
“So, please let me remain here as your slave instead of my youngest brother, and let the boy return home with his other older brothers.
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.
(I cannot return to my father if the boy is not with me!/How can I return to my father if the boy is not with me?) [RHQ] I do not want to see how miserable/sad my father would become!”
