The man answered, They are gone from here, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. Dothan was still farther off than Shechem so Joseph went after his brethren, and came toward Dothan. And when they saw him coming, even while he was yet a good way off, they began to talk with each other about killing him. They said to one another, See, this dreamer comes; now let us kill him, and throw him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast has devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

When Reuben, one of his brethren, heard what they said, he

wanted to save Joseph from them; so he persuaded them to put him into the pit without harming him he said, Lower him into Reuben this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not hurt him. thought that afterwards he would come back when the others were gone, and take Joseph out and bring him home to his

they might not see him, for what they said made him weep. Afterward he came back and talked to them again. Still he pretended to think they were spies. Then he took Simeon, one of his brothers, and bound him, and all the rest saw him do it, for Simeon was to stay in Egypt while the others went home to bring Benjamin.

And Joseph commanded his servants to fill his brothers' sacks with corn, and to put the money that each one had paid back again into his sack; but he did not tell his brethren of this, and they did not know that their money was put back. So when their asses were loaded, all of them except Simeon started on their journey to their home in Canaan. And they came to the inn on the road, where travellers stopped to rest.

Here, as one

out of it, he

And he said

of them opened his sack to give his ass some food saw his money, for it was in his sack's mouth. to his brethren, My money is given back to me; it is in my sack. Then they were afraid, for they did not know who had put it there.

And they went on their journey, and came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, and told him of the things that had happened to them while they were gone. They said, The man who is the lord of the country spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies. And we said, We are no spies, but are true men. 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 country, said to us, This is the way I shall know whether you are true men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take food for your families, and go and bring your youngest brother unto me. Then I shall know that you are no spies, but true men; and I will give your brother up to you again, and you may buy corn in the land.

And when they came to empty the corn out of their sacks, they found every man's bundle of money that he had paid for the corn put back into the sack. They and their father saw the bundles of money, and were afraid. And Jacob was troubled, and said to his sons that they had taken away his children from him; for Joseph was gone and Simeon was gone, and now they

wanted to take Benjamin away. Then Reuben, who had two sons of his own, spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I do not bring Benjamin back to thee; give him to me, and I will bring him to thee again. But Jacob said that Benjamin should not go down into Egypt; for Joseph was dead, and if any harm happened to Benjamin, it would be a greater trouble than he could bear.

CHAPTERS XLIII :-XLV.

(B. C. 1706.)

The brothers go down into Egypt again. They bring Benjamin. Joseph makes himself known to them, and sends for his father.

Now

W the famine was very dreadful in the land of Canaan. And when they had eaten up the corn which they brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah told his father they would go down and buy food, if he would let Benjamin go with them, but if he would not let Benjamin go, they would not go down; for the man, the lord of the country, had said to them, Ye shall not see my face except your brother be with you. Then Israel, that was Jacob, for now he had two names, asked his sons why they were so unkind to him as to tell the man they had another brother. But they answered, The man asked us, saying, Is your father yet alive? have you another brother? Could we know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

And Judah told Israel, his father, to send Benjamin with him, and under his care; then, he said, they would arise and go, that they might not starve, but have food for their father and themselves and their little children. Judah said he would watch over him, and that no harm should happen to him. His father should trust Benjamin to him, and if he did not bring him back safely, then he would bear the blame for ever. For if they had not stayed so long, they would have been to Egypt and come back by that time.

Then their father, Israel, told them that if it must be so, if they must take Benjamin, they had better take also a present to the man. Do this, he said: take some of the best fruits of the land, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds: and take more money with you, and the money that was brought back in the mouths of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. Take also your brother, and arise and go again unto the man. And Israel prayed for his sons, that God would make the man kind to them; for, he said, if his children were taken away from him, he would be left lonely and sorrowful indeed.

So they took the present, and the money, and Benjamin, and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph again. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, who took care of his house, Bring these men home and make ready, for they shall eat dinner with me at noon. And the servant did as Joseph commanded; but the men were afraid when they came to Joseph's house. They said to one another, that it was because they had carried the money home in their sacks the first time they were brought there, and that now Joseph was going to blame them for it, so that he might make them his slaves, and take away their asses from them.

And they came near to Joseph's steward, and talked with him at the door of the house, and said, O sir, indeed we came down the first time only to buy food. And they told him that as they were going home to Canaan, when they stopped at the inn, they opened their sacks and found the money they had paid for their corn put back into their sacks. Every man's money was in the mouth of his sack. And now, they said, they had brought that money back with them, and other money beside, to buy food. But they could not tell who had put their money into their sacks when they went home before.

Then Joseph's steward told them not to fear. And he brought Simeon out to them, the one who had been left bound in Egypt while they went home to Canaan. And the steward gave them water to wash their feet, and he gave food to their asses. they made ready the present which they had brought for Joseph,

And

Joseph had the care of them there. And each of these men dreamed a dream the same night, and when Joseph came in to them in the morning, he saw that they looked sad. Then he asked them, Why look ye so sadly to-day? They answered, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it; that is, no one to explain what it means; for an interpreter is a person who explains to us something which we do not understand. And Joseph asked the men if God could not interpret all things; and he told them to tell him their dreams.

So the chief butler told his dream to Joseph. He said that he thought he saw a vine, and on the vine were three branches. While he was looking, there came out buds on the branches, and very soon these buds changed into bunches of ripe grapes. And the butler thought he was holding Pharaoh's wine-cup in his hand, so he took the grapes and pressed the juice out of them into the cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh that he might drink. This was the chief butler's dream.

And Joseph interpreted it to him, for God showed Joseph what the dream meant. He said, the three branches which the butler saw on the vine, meant three days; for within three days Pharaoh would send and take him out of prison, and bring him to the king's house again. And there he should wait on the king and give the cup into his hand, as he used to do when he was butler before. Then Joseph asked the chief butler to remember him when he should come to the king's house, and to speak to Pharaoh about him, so that he might be brought out of the prison; because, Joseph said, he had been stolen away from the land of the Hebrews, that is, the land of Canaan; and since he had been in Egypt, he had done nothing that they should put him in prison for.

When the chief baker saw that the butler's dream meant something good, he told Joseph his dream. He said, that he thought he was carrying three baskets on his head, one above the other. In the highest basket were all kinds of baked meats for Pharaoh, and the birds flew down and ate the meats out of the basket. Then Joseph told him that this was the interpretation of his dream. The three baskets meant three days. Within