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<div class='chaptertitle'>JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.</div> Ja-cob had twelve sons, and he was more fond of Jo-seph than of all the rest; for he was the child of his old age. And he gave him a fine coat, and made a great pet of him. This did not please the rest of the sons, and they showed their hate of Jo-seph in all sorts of ways. One night Jo-seph had a strange dream, and he told it to Le-vi, Sim-e-on, and the rest, and it made them hate him all the more. He said, As we bound sheaves in the field, lo, my sheaf rose and stood up straight. And your sheaves stood round, and bowed to my sheaf. And those who heard him said, Shalt thou in-deed reign o'er us? And his words and his deeds filled them with a fierce hate. And it was not long ere he told them of a fresh[77] dream he had had, in which he saw the sun and moon and e-lev-en stars bow down to him. And he told it to Ja-cob, and his e-lev-en sons. And Ja-cob took him to task, and said to him, What does this dream mean? Are all of us to bow down to the earth to thee? And he made up his mind to watch these signs, which might be sent of God. <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_020.jpg" width-obs="355" height-obs="500" alt="" /> JO-SEPH'S DREAM.</div> Now Ja-cob had large flocks of sheep and goats at Shech-em, and all of his sons but Jo-seph had gone there to feed them. And Ja-cob said to Jo-seph, Go and see if it be well with thy breth-ren, and with the flocks, and bring me back word. [78] And Jo-seph went out from the vale of Heb-ron to the land of Shech-em. When he came there he found that his broth-ers had gone on to Do-than. And <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Ja-cob'">Jo-seph</ins> went to Do-than and found them. And as soon as he came in sight they thought of a way in which they might get rid of him. <div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_021.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="280" alt="" /> SHECH-EM, THE FIRST CAP-I-TAL OF THE KING-DOM OF IS-RAEL.</div> Come, let us kill him, they said; and throw him in-to a pit, and say that a wild beast ate him up. Then we shall see what will be-come of his dreams. But Reu-ben heard it, and saved him out of their hands. And he said, Let us not kill the lad. Shed no blood; but cast him in-to this pit, and lay no hand[79] on him. For he meant to take him out of the pit, and bear him home to his fath-er. But when Jo-seph came near these men who should have been kind to him, they took off his coat and threw him in-to the pit, which was dry, or he would have drowned. These old dry wells were left as traps in which to catch the wild beasts that prowled round in the dead of night, and well these bad men knew what would be Jo-seph's fate. As they sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a lot of men and cam-els on their way to E-gypt, with spices, and balm and myrrh. <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_022.jpg" width-obs="247" height-obs="400" alt="" /> JO-SEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTH-ERS.</div> And Ju-dah—one of Ja-cob's sons—said, Let us not kill the lad, for he is of our own flesh, but let us sell him to these men. And the rest thought it was a good scheme. So they drew Jo-seph up out of the[80] pit and sold him for a small sum, and those who bought the lad took him down with them to E-gypt. And the bad men took Jo-seph's coat and dipped it in the blood of a kid they had slain. And they brought it to Ja-cob, and said, This have we found. Is it thy son's coat? And Ja-cob knew it at once, and said, It is my son's coat. Jo-seph has no doubt been the prey of some wild beast. And his grief was great. The men who bought Jo-seph brought him down to E-gypt and sold him to Pot-i-phar for a slave. And the Lord was with Jo-seph, who served Pot-i-phar so well, that the rich man put him in charge of his home and lands. But Pot-i-phar's wife told false tales, and Jo-seph, who had done no wrong, was thrust in-to jail. Pha-ra-oh was then king of E-gypt. And it came to pass that he fell out with his but-ler and chief cook, and had them shut up in the same place where Jo-seph was bound. And the man on guard put them in charge of Jo-seph, who went in and out of the ward as he chose. And one morn when he came in to them he saw they were sad, and asked them why it was. And they said, We have dreamed dreams, and there is no one to tell us what they mean. And Jo-seph said, Tell me them, I pray you. And the chief but-ler told his dream to Jo-seph[81] first. And he said, In my dream I saw a vine, that put forth three branch-es and brought forth ripe grapes. And Jo-seph said to him, In three days shall Pha-ra-oh lift up thine head, and put thee back in thy place, and thou shalt serve him as of old. But think of me when it shall be well with thee; speak of me to the king, and bring me out of this house. And the but-ler said that he would. <div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_023.jpg" width-obs="340" height-obs="400" alt="" /> JO-SEPH'S COAT.</div> Then the chief cook told his dream; and he said, In my dream I had three white bas-kets on my head. And in the top one were all sorts of bake meats for the king. And the birds did eat out of the bas-ket that I bore on my head. [82] And Jo-seph said to him, In three days shall Pha-ra-oh lift up thy head and hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat the flesh from thy bones. The third day was the king's birth-day, and he made a great feast. And he put the chief but-ler back in his place, and hung the chief cook; just as Jo-seph had said he would do. But the chief but-ler gave not a thought to Jo-seph, nor spoke one good word for him to the king, as he had said he would. Two years from this time the king had a dream, from which he woke, and then fell a-sleep and dreamt the self-same dream. This was such a strange thing that it made the king feel ill at ease. And he sent for all the wise men in the land to tell him what these dreams meant. Then the chief but-ler spoke to the king, and said that when he and the cook were in jail, there was a young man there, a Jew, whom the chief of the guard made much use of. And we told him our dreams, and he told us what they meant. And it came out just as he said. Then the king sent at once for Jo-seph, and said to him: In my dream I stood on the bank of the Nile. And there came up out of the riv-er sev-en fat cows, and they fed in a field near by. Then sev-en lean cows came up that were naught but skin and bone. And the lean cows ate up the fat cows. And[83] yet no one would have known it, for they were just as lean as when I first saw them. Then I woke, but soon fell a-sleep once more. Then I dreamt, and in my dream I saw sev-en ears of corn come up on one stalk, full and good. And lo, sev-en ears that were thin and dried up with the east wind sprang up af-ter them. And the poor ears ate up the good ones. Jo-seph said, For sev-en years there will be no lack of food in the land, and all will go well; and then there will come a time of great want, and rich and poor will be in need of food, and not a few will starve to death. Let the king choose a wise man to see that corn is laid up in the land when the good years bring the rich growth, so that there will be no lack of food in the years when the crops are small. <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_024.jpg" width-obs="290" height-obs="350" alt="" /> PHA-RA-OH'S DREAM.</div> And the king said to Jo-seph, Since God hath[84] showed thee all this there is none so wise as thou art. So he put him in charge of all the land of E-gypt, and he was to rank next to the king. And the king took a ring from his own hand and put it on Jo-seph's hand, and when he rode out, men bowed the knee, and his word was law in all the land. And Jo-seph took a wife, and he who was brought to E-gypt a slave, was now a rich man. And there came years when the grain grew rank in the fields, and the crops were large. And Jo-seph saw that a large part of it was laid up, and that there was no waste of the good food. For the end of those rich years came and then there was a time of dearth in all the lands, when the earth would not yield, and men and beasts were in want of food. But there was no lack of corn in E-gypt. And Jo-seph sold the corn that he had stored in the barns, and crowds came in to buy it. When Ja-cob heard that corn could be bought in E-gypt, he told his sons to go down and buy some, that they might not starve to death. And ten of them went down to buy corn in E-gypt. But Ja-cob kept Ben-ja-min at home, for fear he would be lost to him as Jo-seph was lost. <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_025.jpg" width-obs="486" height-obs="600" alt="" /> JO-SEPH AND HIS BROTH-ERS.</div> When Ja-cob's ten sons came to the place where Jo-seph was, they bowed down to the ground. And[86] Jo-seph knew them at once, but they did not know him, or give a thought to his dreams. And Jo-seph spoke in a rough voice, and said, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Ca-naan to buy food. And he said, Ye are spies, and have come to see how poor the land is. And they said to him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are we come. We are all one man's sons; and we are true men, and not spies. But Jo-seph would have it that they were spies. And they said, There were twelve of us, sons of one man. Young Ben-ja-min is at home with his fa-ther, and one is dead. And Jo-seph said, Go prove that ye are not spies; let one of the ten that are here go and fetch the young lad, Ben-ja-min. And he put them in jail for three days. And he said, Let one of you be bound, and kept in the guard-house, while the rest of you take back the corn that you need. And they said that they would do this. Then he took Sim-e-on from their midst, and had him bound, and put in the guard-house. And he sent word to his men to fill their sacks with corn, and to put back the price in each sack, and[87] to give them food to eat on the way. And thus did Jo-seph do good to those who did ill to him. When Ja-cob's nine sons went home they told all that had been said and done to them, and that the lord of the land bade them bring Ben-ja-min down to E-gypt or he would think they were spies, and their lives would not be safe. Ja-cob said, My son shall not go down with you, for his broth-er is dead, and he is all I have left. If harm should come to him on the way, I should die of grief. <div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_026.jpg" width-obs="336" height-obs="400" alt="" /> THE MEET-ING OF JO-SEPH AND BEN-JA-MIN.</div> When the corn they had brought from E-gypt was all gone, Ja-cob told his sons to go down and[88] buy more. And Ju-dah spoke up and said, The man swore we should not see his face if Ben-ja-min was not with us. If thou wilt send him with us we will go; but if thou wilt not send him we will not go down. Then Ja-cob said, If it must be so, take Ben-ja-min with you, and may God give you grace with this man that he may send my two boys back to me. So the men took Ben-ja-min and went down to E-gypt, and stood face to face with Jo-seph. And they gave Jo-seph the gifts they had brought, and bowed down to the earth. And he asked how they all were, and if their fath-er was well; and when he saw Ben-ja-min he said, Is this the young broth-er of whom you spoke? And he said to the lad, God be good to thee, my son. And Jo-seph's heart was so full at sight of the boy, and he longed so to throw his arms round him, that he had to make haste and leave the room that his tears might not be seen. Then he came back and had the feast set out, and all did eat and drink, and were glad at heart. And when the time came for his guests to leave, Jo-seph told his head man to fill their sacks with corn, to put their gold back in the mouth of the sacks, and to put in the young lad's sack the cup from which Jo-seph drank at each meal. [89] This was done, and when they had gone out of the town Jo-seph bade his man go and say to them: My lord's cup is lost, and you must know who stole it. And when the man came up with Ja-cob's sons, he said just what Jo-seph told him to say. And they were all in a rage, and said: Why does my lord say such things of us? If the cup is found on one of us, kill him; and make the rest of us slaves. And each one of them cast his sack on the ground, and loosed it at the top. And the cup was found in Ben-ja-min's sack. Then they rent their clothes, and in great grief went back to Jo-seph's house and found him there. And they fell down at his feet. <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_027.jpg" width-obs="328" height-obs="350" alt="" /> JA-COB BLESS-ES JO-SEPH'S CHIL-DREN.</div> And Ju-dah said, God has found out our sins.[90] Let us be your slaves; and take him as well in whose sack the cup was found. Jo-seph said, No; but the man in whose sack the cup was found shall stay and serve me, and the rest shall go in peace. Then Ju-dah, who had sworn that he would bring back the boy, said to Jo-seph: If we go home, and our fath-er sees the lad is not with us, he will die of grief. For his life is bound up in the lad's life. Jo-seph could not keep back his tears, and when he had sent all the men of E-gypt out of the room, he said to his broth-ers, Come near, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Jo-seph, whom ye sold in-to E-gypt. But grieve not that ye did this thing, for God did send me here that I might save your lives. Go home and tell my fath-er that God hath made me lord of all E-gypt, and bid him come down to me at once. And say that he shall dwell near me, in the land of Go-shen, and I will take care of him. Then he fell on Ben-ja-min's neck, and they wept; and he kissed his broth-ers and shed tears, but they were tears of joy. Ja-cob took all that he had and went down to E-gypt. And three-score and ten souls went with him. And they dwelt in the land of Go-shen, and Ja-cob died there. [91] Jo-seph's breth-ren thought that he would hate them now that their fath-er was dead. And they fell down at his feet and wept and prayed that he would do them no harm. Jo-seph bade them fear not, for he would take care of them and be kind to them. They had meant to do him an ill turn when he was a lad, but God had made it turn out for good, and it was all right. And Jo-seph lived to a good old age, and had two sons, whose names were E-phra-im and Ma-nas-seh. <hr class="chap" /> <h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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