The Book of Genesis, Chapter 44ΓΕΝΕΣΙΣ ΜΔ′

Καὶ ἐνετείλατο Ιωσηφ τῷ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ λέγων· Πλήσατε τοὺς μαρσίππους τῶν ἀνθρώπων βρωμάτων, ὅσα ἐὰν δύνωνται ἆραι, καὶ ἐμβάλετε ἑκάστου τὸ ἀργύριον ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ μαρσίππου αὐτοῦ.

And Joseph commanded the one over his house, saying: 'Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they are able to carry, and put each man's silver at the mouth of his sack.'

καὶ τὸ κόνδυ μου τὸ ἀργυροῦν ἐμβάλετε εἰς τὸν μάρσιππον τοῦ νεωτέρου καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τοῦ σίτου αὐτοῦ. ἐγενήθη δὲ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα Ιωσηφ καθὼς εἶπεν.

'And my silver cup — the silver one — put into the sack of the youngest, along with the price of his grain.' And it came to pass according to Joseph's word, as he had said.

τὸ δὲ πρωὶ διέφαυσεν, καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες ἀπελύθησαν αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ ὄνοι αὐτῶν.

And morning dawned, and the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

ἐξελθόντων δὲ αὐτῶν τὴν πόλιν, οὐκ ἀπέσχον μακράν, καὶ Ιωσηφ εἶπεν τῷ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ· Ἀναστὰς δίωξον ὀπίσω τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ καταλήμψῃ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐρεῖς αὐτοῖς· Τί ὅτι ἀνταπεδώκατε πονηρὰ ἀντὶ καλῶν;

And when they had gone out of the city and were not yet far off, Joseph said to the one over his house: 'Arise, pursue after the men, and you will overtake them and say to them: "Why have you repaid evil for good?"'

οὐ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐν ᾧ πίνει ὁ κύριός μου, αὐτὸς δὲ οἰωνισμῷ οἰωνίζεται ἐν αὐτῷ; ἐπονηρεύσασθε ἃ ἐποιήσατε.

'Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he surely divines? You have done evil in what you have done.'

εὑρὼν δὲ αὐτοὺς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα.

And having found them, he spoke these words to them.

οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· Ἵνα τί λαλεῖ ὁ κύριος κατὰ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα; μὴ γένοιτο τοῖς παισίν σου ποιῆσαι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο.

And they said to him: 'Why does our lord speak such words? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!'

εἰ τὸ μὲν ἀργύριον ὃ εὕρομεν ἐν τοῖς μαρσίπποις ἡμῶν ἀπεστρέψαμεν πρὸς σὲ ἐκ γῆς Χανάαν, πῶς ἂν κλέψαιμεν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ κυρίου σου ἀργύριον ἢ χρυσίον;

'If we even brought back to you the silver that we found in our sacks from the land of Canaan, how then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?'

παρ᾽ ᾧ ἂν εὑρεθῇ τὸ κόνδυ τῶν παίδων σου, ἀποθανέτω, καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ ἔσομεθα παῖδες τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν.

'With whichever of your servants the cup is found — let him die; and we also will be slaves to our lord.'

ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Καὶ νῦν ὡς λέγετε, οὕτως ἔσται· παρ᾽ ᾧ ἂν εὑρεθῇ, αὐτὸς ἔσται μου παῖς, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἔσεσθε ἀθῷοι.

And he said: 'Now then, let it be as you say: with whichever one it is found, he will be my slave; but you will be innocent.'

καὶ ἔσπευσαν καὶ καθεῖλαν ἕκαστος τὸν μάρσιππον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ ἤνοιξαν ἕκαστος τὸν μάρσιππον αὐτοῦ.

And they hurried, and each brought down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.

ἠρεύνησεν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου ἀρξάμενος ἕως τοῦ νεωτέρου κατέπαυσεν, καὶ εὑρέθη τὸ κόνδυ ἐν τῷ μαρσίππῳ τῷ Βενιαμιν.

And he searched, beginning from the eldest and ceasing at the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

καὶ διέρρηξαν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπέθηκεν ἕκαστος τὸν μάρσιππον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν ὄνον αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν.

And they tore their garments, and each loaded his sack upon his donkey, and they returned to the city.

εἰσῆλθεν δὲ Ιουδας καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Ιωσηφ ἔτι αὐτοῦ ὄντος ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἔπεσον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν.

And Judah and his brothers came to Joseph — he was still there — and they fell before him on the ground.

εἶπεν δὲ αὐτοῖς Ιωσηφ· Τί τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο ὃ ἐποιήσατε; οὐκ ᾔδειτε ὅτι οἰωνισμῷ οἰωνίζεται ἄνθρωπος οἷος ἐγώ;

And Joseph said to them: 'What is this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man such as I surely divines?'

εἶπεν δὲ Ιουδας· Τί ἀντεροῦμεν τῷ κυρίῳ ἢ τί λαλήσομεν ἢ τί δικαιωθῶμεν; ὁ θεὸς εὗρεν τὴν ἀδικίαν τῶν παίδων σου· ἰδοὺ ἐσμεν οἰκέται τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς καὶ παρ᾽ ᾧ εὑρέθη τὸ κόνδυ.

And Judah said: 'What shall we say to our lord, or what shall we speak, or how shall we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are slaves to our lord — both we and the one with whom the cup was found.'

εἶπεν δὲ Ιωσηφ· Μὴ γένοιτό μοι ποιῆσαι τοῦτο· ὁ ἄνθρωπος παρ᾽ ᾧ εὑρέθη τὸ κόνδυ, αὐτὸς ἔσται μου παῖς· ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀνάβητε μετὰ σωτηρίας πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν.

And Joseph said: 'Far be it from me to do this! The man with whom the cup was found — he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.'

ἐγγίσας δὲ αὐτῷ Ιουδας εἶπεν· Δέομαί σου, κύριε· λαλησάτω δὴ ὁ παῖς σου ῥῆμα ἐναντίον σου, καὶ μὴ θυμωθῇς τῷ παιδί σου, ὅτι σὺ εἶ μετὰ Φαραω.

And Judah approached him and said: 'I beg you, my lord; let your servant speak a word before you, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.'

κύριε, σὺ ἠρώτησας τοὺς παῖδάς σου λέγων· Εἰ ἔχετε πατέρα ἢ ἀδελφόν;

'My lord, you questioned your servants, saying: "Do you have a father or a brother?"'

καὶ εἴπαμεν τῷ κυρίῳ· Ἔστιν ἡμῖν πατὴρ πρεσβύτερος καὶ παιδίον γήρους νεώτερον αὐτῷ, καὶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπέθανεν, καὶ κατελείφθη αὐτὸς μόνος τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτὸν ἠγάπησεν.

'And we said to our lord: "We have an aged father, and a young child of his old age, and his brother has died; he alone was left of his mother, and his father loves him."'

εἶπας δὲ τοῖς παισίν σου· Καταγάγετε αὐτὸν πρός με, καὶ ἐπιμελήσομαι αὐτοῦ.

'And you said to your servants: "Bring him down to me, and I will take care of him."'

εἴπαμεν δὲ τῷ κυρίῳ· Οὐ δυνήσεται τὸ παιδίον καταλιπεῖν τὸν πατέρα· ἐὰν γὰρ καταλίπῃ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ, ἀποθανεῖται.

'And we said to our lord: "The child is not able to leave his father; for if he leaves his father, he will die."'

εἶπας δὲ τοῖς παισίν σου· Ἐὰν μὴ ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν ὁ νεώτερος καταβῇ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν, οὐ προσθήσεσθε ἰδεῖν τὸ πρόσωπόν μου.

'And you said to your servants: "Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again."'

ἐγενήθη δὲ ἡνίκα ἀνέβημεν πρὸς τὸν παῖδά σου τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν, ἀπηγγείλαμεν αὐτῷ τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ κυρίου.

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

εἶπεν δὲ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν· Βαδίσατε πάλιν, ἀγοράσατε ἡμῖν μικρὰ βρώματα.

'And our father said: "Go again, buy us a little food."'

εἴπαμεν δέ· Οὐ δυνησόμεθα καταβῆναι· ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν ὁ νεώτερος καταβαίνει μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν, καταβησόμεθα· οὐ γὰρ δυνησόμεθα ἰδεῖν τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ νεωτέρου ἀδελφοῦ ἡμῶν μὴ ὄντος μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν.

'And we said: "We are not able to go down; but if our youngest brother goes down with us, we will go down; for we are not able to see the man's face with our youngest brother not being with us."'

εἶπεν δὲ ὁ παῖς σου ὁ πατήρ μου πρὸς ἡμᾶς· Ὑμεῖς οἴδατε ὅτι δύο ἔτεκέν μοι ἡ γυνή μου·

'And your servant my father said to us: "You know that my wife bore me two sons;"'

καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ εἷς ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, καὶ εἴπατε ὅτι Θηριόβρωτος γέγονεν, καὶ οὐκ εἶδον αὐτὸν ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἀπεστάλη·

'"And the one went out from me, and you said: 'He has been torn by a wild beast,' and I have not seen him from the time he was sent away;"'

ἐὰν οὖν λάβητε καὶ τοῦτον ἐκ προσώπου μου καὶ συμβῇ αὐτῷ μαλακία ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, κατάξετέ μου τὸ γῆρας μετὰ λύπης εἰς ᾅδου.

'"And if you take this one also from my presence and harm befalls him on the road, you will bring down my old age with grief to Hades."'

νῦν οὖν ἐὰν εἰσπορεύωμαι πρὸς τὸν παῖδά σου τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ τὸ παιδίον μὴ ᾖ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν — ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ ἐκκρέμαται ἐκ τῆς ψυχῆς τούτου —

'Now therefore, if I go to your servant my father, and the child is not with us — his soul hangs from the soul of this one —'

καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν μὴ ὂν τὸ παιδίον μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν, τελευτήσει· καὶ κατάξουσιν οἱ παῖδές σου τὸ γῆρας τοῦ παιδός σου καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν μετὰ λύπης εἰς ᾅδου.

'and it will come about when he sees that the child is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the old age of your servant and our father with grief to Hades.'

ὁ γὰρ παῖς σου ἐνεγυήσατο τὸ παιδίον παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου λέγων· Ἐὰν μὴ ἀγάγω αὐτὸν πρὸς σέ, ἡμαρτηκὼς ἔσομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας.

'For your servant became surety for the child before my father, saying: "If I do not bring him back to you, I will have sinned against my father all my days."'

νῦν οὖν μεινάτω δὴ ὁ παῖς σου ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδίου οἰκέτης τοῦ κυρίου μου, τὸ δὲ παιδίον ἀναβήτω μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ.

'Now therefore, let your servant remain instead of the child as a slave to my lord, and let the child go up with his brothers.'

πῶς γὰρ ἀναβήσομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου τοῦ παιδίου μὴ ὄντος μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν; ἵνα μὴ ἴδω τὰ κακά, ἃ εὑρήσει τὸν πατέρα μου.

'For how shall I go up to my father with the child not being with us? — lest I see the evils that will find my father.'