¹ And he commanded him who was over his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry; and put every man's money in the mouth of his sack.

² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain-money. And he did according to the word of Joseph which he had spoken.

³ In the morning, when it was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

⁴ They were gone out of the city, [and] not [yet] far off, when Joseph said to him who was over his house, Up! follow after the men; and when thou overtakest them, thou shalt say to them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good?

⁵ Is not this [it] in which my lord drinks, and in which indeed he divines? Ye have done evil [in] what ye have done.

⁶ And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these words.

⁷ And they said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from thy servants to do such a thing!

⁸ Behold, the money that we found in our sacks' mouths we have brought again to thee from the land of Canaan; and how should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?

⁹ With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

¹⁰ And he said, Now also [let] it [be] according to your words: let him with whom it is found be my bondman, but ye shall be blameless.

¹¹ And they hasted and laid down every man his sack on the ground, and opened every man his sack.

¹² And he searched carefully: he began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

¹³ Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was still there; and they fell down before him to the ground.

¹⁵ And Joseph said to them, What deed is this which ye have done? Did ye not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?

¹⁶ And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak, and how justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he in whose hand the cup has been found.

¹⁷ And he said, Far be it from me to do so! The man in whose hand the cup has been found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.

¹⁸ Then Judah came near to him, and said, Ah! my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

²⁰ And we said to my lord, We have an aged father, and a child born to him in his old age, [yet] young; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.

²¹ And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set mine eye on him.

²² And we said to my lord, The youth cannot leave his father: if he should leave his father, [his father] would die.

²³ And thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

²⁴ And it came to pass when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵ And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food.

²⁶ But we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.

²⁷ And thy servant my father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two [sons];

²⁸ and the one went out from me, and I said, He must certainly have been torn in pieces; and I have not seen him [again] hitherto.

²⁹ And if ye take this one also from me, and mischief should befall him, ye will bring down my grey hairs with misery to Sheol.

³⁰ And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us, -- seeing that his life is bound up with his life,

³¹ it will come to pass when he sees that the lad is not [there], that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.

³² For thy servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, then I shall be guilty toward my father all my days.

³³ And now, let thy servant stay, I pray thee, instead of the lad a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren;

³⁴ for how should I go up to my father if the lad were not with me? -- lest I see the evil that would come on my father.

¹ On that day did king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' oppressor to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

² And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device which he had devised against the Jews.

⁴ And the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. And Esther arose and stood before the king,

⁵ and said, If it please the king and if I have found grace before him, and the thing seem right to the king, and I be pleasing in his sight, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king's provinces.

⁶ For how shall I endure to see the evil that shall befall my people? and how shall I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

⁷ And king Ahasuerus said to queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he stretched forth his hand against the Jews.

⁸ Write ye then for the Jews as seems good to you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring. For a writing that is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, cannot be reversed.

⁹ Then were the king's scribes called at that time, in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the princes of the provinces which are from India even to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language.

¹⁰ And he wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback riding on coursers, horses of blood reared in the breeding studs:

¹¹ [stating] that the king granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that might assault them, [their] little ones and women, and to [take] the spoil of them for a prey,

¹² upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, upon the thirteenth of the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

¹³ That the decree might be given in every province, a copy of the writing was published to all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers mounted on coursers [and] horses of blood went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the fortress.

¹⁵ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a mantle of byssus and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.

¹⁶ The Jews had light, and joy, and gladness, and honour.

¹⁷ And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.