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Stories of the Bible, Volume 1: The People of the Chosen Land

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<h2 class="nobreak">JOSEPH.</h2> "Now let us thank the Eternal Power; convinced That Heaven but tries our virtue by affliction, That oft the cloud which wraps the present hour Serves but to brighten all our future days." Jacob had twelve sons; but the one dearest to the old father's heart was Joseph, a lad of only seventeen years when Jacob came back into the land of Canaan. The older of these sons were selfish, cruel men; and more than that, they had forsaken the God of Abraham, and were worshipping graven images. Poor old Jacob's heart was heavy! "Go now to Bethel," said a voice to him one night in a dream. "Make an altar there to thy God." Jacob obeyed; and when the altar was built, he called his sons together and told[71] them the visions he had had. He told them the stronghold God had always been to him in his life, and begged them to forsake their idols and turn again to the true God. Then Jacob went on to Hebron, where Abraham had lived, and where Isaac still lived, an old, old man, nearly two hundred years old. It was a joyous meeting—this meeting between Isaac and Jacob. Esau, too, came, and Isaac blessed them both and bade them love each other. Isaac died very soon after, and Jacob, an old man now himself, sat in the door of the tent of his fathers. To Joseph, Jacob had given a coat of many colors, as a token of his great love for him. And because of this Joseph's brothers hated him only the more. Jealousy burned in their hearts, and they plotted together to slay the boy. [72]One night Joseph had a vision. In the dream eleven stars came and stood before him and bowed themselves to the ground. And a voice said, "So shall your brothers one day bow before you." Joseph told his vision to Jacob and to his brothers. The father observed the sayings, but the brothers were made only the more angry. Now, his brothers spent their days upon the hillside tending their flocks. And one day Jacob said to Joseph, "Go, my son, and see if any evil has befallen your brothers." So Joseph set out. It was a long way to the pasture lands, and the boy was tired and footsore. And when he reached the place no sign could he find of his brothers. "Tell me," asked Joseph of the men upon the plains, "where are my brothers that watch their sheep here upon these hillsides?" [73]The men answered, saying, "Your brothers have gone to the place called Dothan, which is many miles from here." Then Joseph, after resting, started on towards Dothan. There his brothers saw him, and recognized him afar off by the bright colors of his coat. "Here comes our dreamer," sneered one brother. "He who shall reign over us," sneered another. Then the face of the oldest brother grew black and bitter. "Let us kill him," he said, "and cast him into some pit." "No," said Rueben, "we need not stain our hands with his blood. Let us only cast him into the pit, and then tell our father Jacob that a wild beast has slain him." This plan seemed most pleasing to them; [75]and when Joseph came near, they fell upon him, tore his coat from him, and made ready to throw him into a pit. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_023.jpg" width-obs="350" height-obs="500" alt="JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN." title="" /> JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN. </div> But just then there came along the highway a company of merchants, bound for Egypt. They had a long train of camels, and these were loaded with fruits and spices. "Let us sell Joseph to these merchants," said one of the brothers. And when the merchants came up, they pushed Joseph towards them and sold him for twenty pieces of silver. Then they killed a kid, and dipped the coat in the kid's blood, and went back with it to Jacob. "O father Jacob! This coat have we found by the wayside, and we know not whether it be the coat of Joseph or not!" The old father looked at the coat. He saw the blood upon it; then he bowed his head[76] and groaned. Too well did he know it to be the coat of his dear son, Joseph. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_024.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="422" alt="DESPAIR OF JACOB. (Schopin.)" title="" /> DESPAIR OF JACOB. (Schopin.) </div> All day long the old man wept, refusing to be comforted. "I will go down into my grave unto my son mourning," he said. But the sons cared not for his grief. It was enough that they were rid of the brother whom they hated. <hr class="scr" /> [77] <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/dec_004.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="136" alt="" title="" /></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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