While Joseph continued in prison, he recollected, with regret, the comforts of his father's house; but his exaltation was now so great, and his means of doing good so enlarged, that he thought it his duty to settle his mind entirely to his present situation. Pharaoh appears to have continued very stedfast in his attachment to Joseph. What a dreadful situation would he and his people have been in, had not the LORD so wonderfully interposed for their relief!

In this Section we have a fresh instance to warn us against human attempts to interpret dreams. In former ages, as we learn from this and other passages of Scrip ture, GoD sometimes gave intimation to kings of particular nations concerning future events, in which they and their people were concerned. But in general dreams do not admit of any interpretation at all, because they are the mere sports of fancy, or rather the remnants of ideas, which have before passed in the mind.

Kings are instructed by this portion of Scripture to seek out as ministers, men not only "discreet and wise," but those "in whom the SPIRIT OF GOD is;" or persons who regulate their lives, in all the relative duties, by the revealed will of God. From the example of Joseph, Ministers may learn, that they should, in the management of public affairs, consult the welfare of both king and people, and establish such laws as may give their country consequence with other nations. The subjects of a kingdom are led from this portion of Scripture, to consider it as an interposition of Providence in their favour when they have righteous rulers; and private persons are admonished, in the time of afffliction, to place their trust and confidence in GOD, who can so order events, as by a happy reverse of

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fortune

fortune to make them forget all their former sorrows, and bless them with prosperity in the height of their affliction.

SECTION XLVIII.

JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.

From Genesis, Chap. xlii.

Now when Jacob knew that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get ye down thither, and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and not die.

And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren: for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befal him.

And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land Ca

naan.

And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him, with their faces to the earth.

And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? and they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he

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dreamed

dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land you are come.

And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land you are come.

And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one

is not.

And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies.

Hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh, ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely ye are spies.

And he put them altogether into ward three days. And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live, for I fear GOD.

If

ye

be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison; go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses; but bring your youngest brother unto me: so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye

would

would not hear? therefore behold also his blood is required.

And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

And he turned himself about from them, and wept: and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before

their eyes.

Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack: and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money for behold it was in his sack's mouth.

And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored: and lo, it is even in my sack: and their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this GOD hath done unto us?

And they came unto Jacob their father, unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befel unto them, saying,

The man who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies.

We be twelve brethren, sons of our father: one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.

And bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true

men;

men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.

And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when, both they and their father saw the bundles of money they were afraid.

And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

And he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befal him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

In times of public calamity, the minds of men are frequently struck with a kind of consternation that prevents their making any exertions for their own relief: This seems to have been the case with Jacob's sons. "The famine was sore in the land," the labours of the husbandman were ineffectual, the LORD had withdrawn his blessing, and the wretched inhabitants of Canaan were in danger of perishing for want of sustenance. Utterly at a loss for expedients in this dreadful emergency, Joseph's brethren "looked on each other” with fearful expectation, not knowing which of them would first feel the dire effects of this afflicting evil.

It appears that Jacob indulged the same kind of partiality for Benjamin, as he formerly did for Joseph;

but