And they approached the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke with him at the door of the house, and said, Pray, sir, we came down the first time to buy corn for food; and it happened, when we came to the haltingplace, that we opened our bags, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, our money in its full weight; and we have brought it back in our hand; and other money have we brought down in our hand to buy corn for food; we do not know who put our money in our bags. And he said, Peace be to you, fear not; your God and the God of your father has given you the treasure in your bags; I have received 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 provender to their asses. And they made ready the present before Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should there eat a meal. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and prostrated themselves before him to the ground. And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive? And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is still alive. And they bowed and prostrated themselves. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son. And Joseph hastened, for his love was warmed for his brother; and he sought where to weep, and he entered into his chamber and wept there. And he washed his face, and went out, and restrained himself, and said, Set on the meal. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves; for the Egyptians cannot eat a meal with the Hebrews, for

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that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the first-born according to his primogeniture, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another. And he sent portions to them from himself, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of the portions of all the rest. And they drank and were merry with him. And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his bag's mouth. And put my cup, the silver cup, into the mouth of the bag of the youngest, and the money of his purchase of corn. And he did in accordance with the word that Joseph had spoken. When morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. When they had left the city, and had not yet gone far, Joseph said to his steward, Rise, pursue after the men, and when thou overtakest them, say to them, Wherefore have you returned evil for good? Is not this it of which my lord drinks, and whereby he surely divines? You have done evil in what you did. And he overtook them, and spoke to them those words. And they said to him, Wherefore does my lord say these words? God forbid that thy servants should do a thing like that. Behold, the money which we found in the mouths of our bags we returned to thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of the house of thy lord silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be bondmen to thy lord. And he said, Is it now indeed right according to your words? he with whom it is found shall be my servant; but you shall be blameless. And they hastened, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. And he searched and began with the eldest, and finished with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's bag. And they rent their clothes, and loaded every man

his ass, and returned to the city. And Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can certainly divine? And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he in whose hand the cup has been found. And he said, God forbid that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup has been found, he shall be my servant, but you go up in peace to your father.

And Judah stepped near to him, and said: O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thy anger burn against thy servant; for thou art as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, Have you a father or a brother? And we said to my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a young one; and his brother is dead; and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him. And thou saidst to thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes upon him. And we said to my lord, The youth cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die. And thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your youngest brother come down with you, you shall see my face no more. And when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little corn for food. And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down, for we may not see the man's face if our youngest brother be not with us. And thy servant my father said to us, You 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 saw him not since; and if you take this one also from

me, and an accident befall him, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow into the grave. Now, therefore, when I come to thy servant my father, and the youth be not with us, since his soul is bound up in the youth's soul, it will happen, when he sees that the youth is not with. us, that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow into the grave. For thy servant became surety for the youth to my father, saying, If I do not bring him to thee, then I will have sinned to my father for ever. Now, therefore, I pray thee let thy servant remain instead of the youth as a bondman with my lord; and let the youth go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father, and the youth is not with me? lest perhaps I see the evil that will befall my father.

Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, Let every man go out from me. And there stood no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph; does my father yet live? And his brothers could not answer him, for they were confounded before him. And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. And now be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither; for God sent me before you for the preservation of life. For these two years has the famine been in the land, and there are yet five years in which there will neither be ploughing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So, now, it was not you that sent me hither, but God, and He has made me governor to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a

ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Hasten, and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus says thy son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me; tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near 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 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 speaks to you. And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hasten, 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 brothers, and wept upon them; and after that his brothers spoke to him.

'The report was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brothers are come; and it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to thy brothers, This do, load your animals, and go, proceed to the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the best part of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do: take you carriages out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. And do not regard your utensils; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. And the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them carriages, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels 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,