let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened unto him. And they lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

And Reuben returned unto the pit to deliver Joseph; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not! and I, whither shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: know now whether it is thy son's coat or not. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat! an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph without doubt is torn in pieces. And he rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon him, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, I shall go to my grave mourning! And his father wept for him.

Now the Ishmaelites brought Joseph down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites. So Joseph was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And Joseph found grace in his sight: for he was a goodly person and well favoured; and Potiphar made him overseer in his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And the

Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake.

GENESIS XLI, XLII

And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered all the food of the seven years up which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain.

Now when Israel knew that there was grain in Egypt, he said unto his sons, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Israel sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest harm befall him. And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves to 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 with 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 said unto them, Ye are spies! to see the nakedness of the land ye 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 are ye come. And they

said, We 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 even what 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 truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. And he put them all together 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 your prison-house; but go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses: and 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 not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required. And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. them. And Joseph turned himself about from them, and wept. And he returned to them, and spake to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with grain, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way and thus it was done unto them. And they laded their beasts with their grain, and departed thence.

:

GENESIS XLIII, XLV

Now the famine was sore in the land of Canaan. And it came to pass, when the sons of Israel had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said unto them, Go down again, buy us a little food. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. And their father said unto them, If it must be so now, let it be. Take your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release

unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And I, if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. And the men took their brother Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

And
And

And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph bade; and brought the men to Joseph's house. And when Joseph came home, they bowed down themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? And they said, Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive. they bowed the head, and made obeisance. Joseph lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste; for his heart yearned over his brother: and he sought where to weep. And when Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him, he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.