{103}
And Joseph said unto him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, to me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head."
And Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee."
And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: but he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.
{104}
THE SEVEN FAT KINE AND THE SEVEN LEAN KINEWhich Joseph Told the King Meant Seven Fat Years of Plenty and Seven Lean Years of Want. The Hebrew Boy is Made Chief Ruler of Egypt. The Famine Comes.
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, well favored and fatfleshed; and they fed in the reed-grass. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favored and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. And the ill favored and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
And he slept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, full and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven full and good ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
Then spoke the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, "I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And{105}there was with us there a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged."
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in to Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it."
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood upon the brink of the river: and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favored; and they fed in the reed-grass: and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favored and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: and the lean and ill favored kine ate up the first seven fat kine: and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favored as at the beginning. So I awoke.
"And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up upon one stalk, full and good: and, behold, seven ears,{106}withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears: and I told it unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me."
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven lean and ill favored kine that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they shall be seven years of famine. That is the thing which I spoke unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous. And the reason that the dream was doubled to Pharaoh is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. And the food shall be for{107}a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine."
And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?"
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou: thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou." And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt."
And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, "Bow the knee": and he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."
And Pharaoh gave Joseph Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera the priest of On to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of{108}Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph laid up corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left measuring; for it was without measure. And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, which his wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore to him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For," said he, "God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." And the name of the second called he Ephraim: "For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. 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 when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; what he saith to you, do."
And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn; because the famine was sore in all the earth.
{109}
{110}
A VIEW OF THE PYRAMIDS, WITH A VILLAGE IN THE FOREGROUNDFrom a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.
The pyramids, which are seen in the distance in this picture, were considered one of the "Seven Wonders of the World." There are seventy of them in Egypt and they were built as tombs of the Pharaohs. The "Great Pyramid" is four hundred and eighty feet and nine inches high; it is supposed to have taken one hundred thousand men fifty years to build it, and the date is given as from 3229 to 2123 B.C.
{111}
THE SONS OF JACOB COME TO EGYPT TO BUY CORN.They Do Not Recognize, in the Ruler of the Land, the Brother Whom They Sold. He Commands Them to Bring Their Youngest Brother to Egypt.
Now Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do ye look one upon another?"
And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is corn 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 corn from Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, "Lest peradventure mischief befall him."
And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land: 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 to them, and spoke 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 remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and 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."
{112}
And he said to them, "Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are 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 it that I spoke 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 bound, 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 prison 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 corn 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 distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us."
And Reuben answered them, saying, "Spoke 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.
And he turned himself about from them, and wept;{113}and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the way: and thus was it done unto them. And they loaded their asses with their corn, and departed thence. And as one of them opened his sack to feed his ass in the lodging place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. And he said unto his brethren, "My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack": and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, "What is this that God hath done unto us?"
And they came to Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them; saying, "The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said to him, 'We are true men; we are no spies: we are 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 land, said unto us, 'Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren with me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go your way: and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true 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{114}when they and their father saw their 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 spoke 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 only is left: if mischief befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave."
JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS.Jacob at First Refuses, but at Length Consents, to Let Benjamin Go. Joseph Places the Money in the Sacks. He Threatens the Brothers with Punishment. He tells His Brothers Who He Is, Forgives Them, and Takes Them Into His Favor.
And the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, "Go again, buy us a little food."
And Judah spoke 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.'"
{115}
And Israel said, "Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?"
And they said, "The man asked strictly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying, 'Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother?' and we told him according to the nature of these words: could we in any wise know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"
And Judah said unto Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time."
And their father Israel said unto them, "If it be so now, do this; take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: take also 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 if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."
And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. And when{116}Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon."
And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses."
And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke unto him at the door of the house, and said, "Oh my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we know not who put our money in our sacks."
And he said, "Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money."
And he brought Simeon out to them. And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. And they made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon: for they heard that they should eat there.
And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed{117}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 spoke? Is he yet alive?" and they said, "Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive." And they bowed the head, and made obeisance.
And he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spoke 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 he entered into his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face and came out; and he refrained himself, and said, "Set on food."
And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, who ate with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one with another. And he took of the food and sent portions to them from before him: but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money."
{118}
And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was light the men were sent away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say to them, 'Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this the cup from which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.'"
And he overtook them, and he spoke unto them these words. And they said unto him, "Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? God forbid that thy servants should do such a thing. Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen."
And he said, "Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless."
Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left off at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the city. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said{119}unto them, "What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can indeed divine?"
And Judah said, "What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."
And he said, "God forbid that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father."
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, "Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word to my lord, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for 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 to 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 to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.' And we said, 'We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will{120}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 to us, 'Ye know that my wife bore me two sons: and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces"; and I have not seen him since: and if ye take this one also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs in 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 gray hairs of thy servant 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 to my father for ever.' Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, 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 I see the evil that shall come on my father."
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me."
And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, "I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?"
And his brethren could not answer him; for they were{121}troubled at his presence. And Joseph said to his brethren, "Come near to me, I pray you."
And they came near. And he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. And now 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 there are yet five years, in the which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive 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 ruler over 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 children's 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 come to poverty, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast. 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."
And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his{122}brethren, and wept with them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
And the report thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brethren are come": and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Say unto thy brethren, 'This do ye; load your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.' Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your possessions; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours."
And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and victual for his father by the way.
So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said to them, "See that ye fall not out by the way."
And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. And they told him, saying, "Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart fainted, for he{123}believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die."
JACOB IN EGYPT.The Famine Wastes the Land. Death of Jacob. Death of Joseph.
And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob."
And he said, "Here am I."
And he said, "I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes."
And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his family with him: his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his family brought he with him into Egypt.
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the{124}land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, and know that thou art yet alive."
And Joseph said to his brethren, and to his father's house, "I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and will say unto him, 'My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.' And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, 'What is your occupation?' that ye shall say, 'Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers': that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians."
Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen."
And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to his brethren, "What is your occupation?"
And they said to Pharaoh, "Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers."
And they said to Pharaoh, "To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants'{125}flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying, "Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee: the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of thy life?"
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with food, according to their families.
And there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of{126}Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for our money faileth."
And Joseph said, "Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle if money fail."
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with food in exchange for all their cattle for that year. And when that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate."
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was sore upon them: and the land became Pharaoh's. And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
{127}
{128}
A VIEW IN LUXORFrom a photograph belonging to Miss Clara L. Bodman and used by her kind permission.
{129}
Only the land of the priests bought he not: for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore they sold not their land. Then Joseph said unto the people, "Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."
And they said, "Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."
And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests alone became not Pharaoh's. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were an hundred forty and seven years. And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, "If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace: there they{130}buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah: the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth."
And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he laid himself down upon his bed and died. And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of embalming: and the Egyptians wept for him threescore and ten days.
And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 'My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.'"
And Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear." And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great{131}company. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians": wherefore the name of it was called "The Mourning of Egypt," which is beyond Jordan. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a buryingplace, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully requite us all the evil which we did unto him." And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying, "Thy father did command before he died, saying, 'So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, in that they did unto thee evil': and now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father."
And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are thy servants." And Joseph{132}said unto them, "Fear not: for am I in the place of God? And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones." And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them.
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. And Joseph said unto his brethren, "I die: but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence."
So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
{133}
The Great Captains
The word "captain" following the use in the Bible and all literature down to the present day, is not the particular term, designating the commander of a small company of soldiers, but a general term, standing for leadership in the largest sense. Moses, according to this meaning of the word, was one of the greatest of the worlds captains, for he took a cowardly, unorganized mob of slaves and led them through the most appalling difficulties and dangers, to freedom, and to a position where national existence was possible. While there was little actual fighting in the journey from Egypt to Palestine, yet there was necessity, every step of the way, for the highest qualities of leadership.
Joshua was a great captain in the more strictly military sense of the word. He found the force organized and disciplined by the leadership of Moses, and he used it as a skillful swordsman uses a keen and tempered blade. In his campaigns he displayed the abilities of the great military genius.
{134}
Slow glides the Nile: amid the margin flags,Closed in a bulrush ark, the babe is left,--Left by a mother's hand. His sister waitsFar off; and pale, 'tween hope and fear, beholdsThe royal maid, surrounded by her train,Approach the river bank,--approach the spotWhere sleeps the innocent: she sees them stoopWith meeting plumes; the rushy lid is oped,And wakes the infant, smiling in his tears,As when along a little mountain lakeThe summer south-wind breathes, with gentle sigh,And parts the reeds, unveiling, as they bend,A water-lily floating on the wave.
{135}
{136}
VIEW FROM RAMAH, THE TRADITIONAL HOME OF SAMUELCopyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.
"We know not with certainty the situation of Ramah. Of Samuel as of Moses it may be said, 'No man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.' But the lofty peak above Gibeon, which has long borne his name, has this feature (in common, to a certain extent, with any high place which can have been the scene of his life and death), that it overlooks the whole of that broad table-land, on which the fortunes of the Jewish monarchy were afterwards unrolled. Its towering eminence, from which the pilgrims first obtained their view of Jerusalem, is no unfit likeness of the solitary grandeur of the prophet Samuel, who lived and died in the very midst of the future glory of his country"
{137}
The Story of the Man Who Led a Race of Slaves Out of Bondage, and Became the Emancipator of a Great Nation.THE ISRAELITES ARE ENSLAVED IN EGYPT.The Slave Who Was Brought Up in a King's Palace. Moses Kills One of the Egyptian Taskmasters and Flees from the Country.
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: come, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land."
Therefore they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor: and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.