Joseph and His Brothers
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you to preserve life.” Feeling that they had already suffered enough
for their cruelty toward him, he nobly sought to banish their fears and
lessen the bitterness of their self-reproach.
“For these two years,” he continued, “hath the famine been in the
land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be
earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a
posterity in the earth, and to save your lives 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 a ruler
throughout 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 yet there are five years
of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come
to poverty. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother
Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.” “And he fell
upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon
his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them:
and after that his brethren talked with him.” They humbly confessed
their sin and entreated his forgiveness. They had long suffered anxiety
and remorse, and now they rejoiced that he was still alive.
The news of what had taken place was quickly carried to the king,
who, eager to manifest his gratitude to Joseph, confirmed the gov-
ernor’s invitation to his family, saying, “The good of all the land of
Egypt is yours.” The brothers were sent away abundantly supplied
with provision and carriages and everything necessary for the removal
of all their families and attendants to Egypt. On Benjamin, Joseph
bestowed more valuable gifts than upon the others. Then, fearing that
disputes would arise among them on the homeward journey, he gave
them, as they were about to leave him, the charge, “See that ye fall not
out by the way.”
The sons of Jacob returned to their father with the joyful tidings,
“Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” At
first the aged man was overwhelmed; he could not believe what he
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heard; but when he saw the long train of wagons and loaded animals,
and when Benjamin was with him once more, he was convinced, and