thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have ye a father, or a brother?' and we said unto my lord, ' We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.' And thou saidst unto thy servants, 'Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.' And we said unto my lord, 'The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.' And it came to pass, when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, 'Go again, and buy us a little food.' And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down, for we may not see the man's face except our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons, and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces, and I saw him not since, and if ye take this also from me, and mischief befal him, ye shall bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to

the grave.' Now therefore, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and thy servants shall bring down the grey hairs of our father with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, 'If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame unto my father for ever.' Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren, for how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father?"

Judah little guessed how deeply every word told upon his listener, and that under the semblance of the stern Egyptian governor, a brother's heart was yearning over his brethren, and "the old man their father." When Judah ended, Joseph could no longer restrain himself, but hastily bidding all his Egyptian attendants to leave them, he wept aloud, and made himself known to his wondering brothers. Amid his tears he said, "I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live ?"

But his brothers were so utterly astonished and so frightened, that they could not answer him, and he intreated them to come near, and he kissed them all, and wept again and again, but he fell upon Benjamin's neck, and embraced him with double fondness, and Rachel's two sons once more were in each other's arms. Benjamin had no reason to fear Joseph, for he had done nothing against him, but the others were afraid, remembering their past conduct. But Joseph comforted them, saying, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest; and God hath sent me before you to preserve you and posterity upon the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance; so now it was not you that sent me hither, but GoD: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, "Thus saith thy son Joseph, GOD hath made me lord of all Egypt; come

down unto me, tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I nourish thee, for there are yet five years of famine, lest thou and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.' And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen, and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither."

By this time Joseph's brethren saw that there was no cause for fear, but that all past offences were forgiven, and that their brother still loved them, so they ventured to return his affection, and to talk freely with him. Soon it became generally known that Joseph's brothers were come, and King Pharaoh and all his court joined in the rejoicings, and the king desired Joseph to send waggons for his father, and all the women and children of the family, and to make them welcome to all the best of the land of Egypt, for that all he had should be given for their service.

127

ISRAEL COMING TO EGYPT.

JOSEPH now made arrangements for his father's coming to Egypt; he gave his brothers waggons and plenty of provisions, and, according to the Eastern custom of making presents, he gave handsome raiment to all his brothers; but the most abundant and the best were for Benjamin, and to him Joseph also gave three hundred pieces of silver. Besides all this, Joseph sent twenty asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and with food of all kinds for his father.

When the brothers reached Canaan, where Jacob must have been awaiting their return so anxiously, they told the wonderful news to their father. "Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt."

Then Jacob's heart fainted, for he could not believe what was told him; and it was not until all Joseph's messages had been repeated to him, and that he saw the Egyptian waggons that were come for him, that his spirit revived within him. Then indeed it was with a thankful heart that the venerable patriarch said, "It is enough, Joseph my son is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die."