and despair when Jacob should hear that Benjamin was to return to him no more.

Then the good and affectionate Joseph could restrain himself no longer. He caused all present to leave the room, save only his brethren. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians who stood without could hear him. He caused his brethren to draw near to him; and as they stood wondering around, he said to them, "I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live?" What a surprise was this for his brethren! We are told that they could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. Well might they be troubled. Before them stood the great Zaphnath-paaneah, the ruler of the land of Egypt -the man who was second to Pharaoh alone, and greater even than Pharaoh in wisdom and in glory! And this man, to whom all the land of Egypt looked for safety in these dark days of dearth and famine, was the brother whom they had wickedly sold into servitude; who had besought them for mercy when they would not hear; whom they had hated and envied for the dreams he had dreamed-for the dreams which were now so marvellously fulfilled, as they stood, humbly and penitently, before him.

Joseph could not fail to see what was passing in their hearts, and most nobly and generously did he hasten.

to reassure them. He said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now, therefore, 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 yet there are five years in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God hath 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."

I have given you these words, my dear readers, exactly as they stand written in the Bible, for they show what a great and good man Joseph was. He was not angry with his brethren for the evil they had done him, but saw only the mighty hand of God, that turned that evil into good. And you may be very sure that the brethren felt this kindness of Joseph's more deeply than they would have felt any reproaches he could have addressed to them.

And now the good son was anxious only to see his father Jacob once again. He charged his brethren to return home quickly, and to beg Jacob to come immediately to dwell in Egypt with all his household, and

to bring with him his flocks and herds and all his possessions, that Joseph might nourish him in the five years of famine that were yet to come. And he charged his brethren to tell Jacob of all Joseph's glory in Egypt, and to report to him all that they had seen; and above all to make haste to bring Jacob down into Egypt.

He said, "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, and 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 ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall make haste and bring down my father hither."

Then he fell upon Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck, and he embraced all his brethren with tears; and the reconciliation between Joseph and his brethren was complete, and their fears and troubles were changed into gladness and joy.

JACOB'S JOURNEY INTO EGYPT.

They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their 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.

Genesis, xlvii. 4.

SOON Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, heard that the brethren of Joseph had arrived, and the news pleased him well. He commanded Joseph to tell his brethren to make haste and bring their father into Egypt, and desired that they should be furnished, out of the land of Egypt, with waggons, in which they might bring the women and children from Canaan; and he promised that Jacob should have a dwelling-place assigned to him in Egypt, and that a share of the good things of Egypt should be given to him. Joseph, therefore, gave his brethren waggons, as Pharaoh had commanded; and he likewise gave them provision for the way. Moreover, each man received changes of raiment; but to his brother Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. For his father Jacob he prepared a present of the good things of the land of Egypt; and thus he sent his brethren away rejoicing.

When they came into the land of Canaan, they brought their father the wonderful intelligence that Joseph was not only alive, but was ruler over all the land of Egypt. Poor Jacob's heart sank within him when he heard these wonderful tidings, for they seemed to him far too good to be true. But he could not long remain in doubt: there stood the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry Israel and his family into Egypt; and at the sight of these the spirit of Jacob revived within him, and he said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die."

And

So Jacob went forth out of Canaan, with all his family, and all that he had, to go to his son Joseph in Egypt. On the way he passed by Beer-sheba, and there he offered sacrifices to the Lord God of Israel. at Beer-sheba the Lord appeared to him, and renewed the promise made long ago to Abraham and repeated to Isaac. The Lord promised to be with the Israelites in Egypt, and in due time to bring them forth from thence.

When Jacob approached the land of Goshen, in Egypt, where his descendants were to dwell for many years, he sent Judah before him to show him the way; and in due time they reached the land of Goshen. When Joseph heard that his father was drawing near,