might be shown. But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his interpreter.

KING PHARAO'S DREAM.

AND two years after this, king Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river, out of which came up seven kine or cattle, very beautiful and fat, and they fed in marshy places. Other seven also came up out of the river, ill-favoured and leanfleshed, and they fed on the very bank of the river in green places; and the seven thin cows devoured and ate up those who were very beautiful and well fed. So Pharao awoke.

And the king slept again, and dreamed another dream. Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, full and fair. Then seven other ears sprung up, thin and blasted, and devoured all the beauty of the former; and Pharao awaked after his rest.

And when morning was come, the king, being struck with fear about his dream, sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men, all the magicians or sorcerers, and called them together, and told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it. Then at length the chief butler remembering, said, "I confess my sin; the king, being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers, where, in one night, we both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come. There was there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers, to whom we told our dreams, and we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so; for I was re

stored to my office, and he was hanged on a gibbet." And the butler remembered with sorrow and contrition how he had forgotten Joseph and his earnest request that he would set him at liberty from his unjust imprisonment, and he entreated the king to give Joseph his liberty. Forthwith, at the king's command, Joseph was brought out of the prison; and they shaved him, and, changing his apparel, brought him in to Pharao.

And when Joseph was in the king's presence, Pharao related to him his dreams, saying that there was no one who could expound these dreams to him; "and I have heard," said the king, "that thou art very wise at interpreting them."

Then Joseph answered, "The king's dream is one; God hath shown to Pharao what He is about to do. The seven beautiful kine and the seven full ears are seven years of plenty, and both contain the same meaning of the dream; and the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come, which shall be fulfilled in this order: Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt, after which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity that all the abundance before shall be forgotten, for the famine shall consume all the land, and the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty and this is the meaning of the seven thin kine eating up the seven well-fleshed ones." And the king having had two dreams, both tending to show the same thing, proved, Joseph said, that God meant to show the certainty of the thing, and that His word would be speedily fulfilled. "Now, therefore," said he, "let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt, that he may appoint over

seers over all the countries, and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits during the seven fruitful years that shall now presently ensue, and let all the corn be laid up under Pharao's hands and be reserved in the cities, and let it be in readiness against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed with scarcity." The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants; and he said to them, "Can we find such another man that is full of the Spirit of God?" He said therefore to Joseph, "Seeing God hath shown thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and like unto thee? Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee;" and the king added, that he had now appointed Joseph ruler over the whole land of Egypt, throughout which no man should move hand or foot, as it were, without Joseph's command, by which expressions he meant to describe the absolute power he put into his hands as governor.

And he took a ring from his own hand, and put it on Joseph's finger, and put on him a robe of silk, and a chain of gold round his neck; and making Joseph enter his second chariot, he made a crier go before him, desiring all men to bend the knee before him, and proclaiming him governor over the whole land of Egypt.

And he called Joseph a name which in the Egyptian language signifies the "saviour of the world," and gave him a wife named Aseneth; and by this time Joseph was about thirty years old.

THE FAMINE IN EGYPT.

THEN the events which Joseph had foretold began to take place. First came the seven fruitful years, when all the land sent forth abundance, corn and all other grain and all fruits in plenty; when the wheat was like the grains of sand on the sea-shore, so Scripture terms it, so great was the quantity of it; and according to the wise advice given by Joseph, there was a store-house in each city, and corn was laid up in it.

And when these seven plentiful years were over, then the famine began in all its terrors; and as it daily increased, there was soon no bread for the people and their children, and they cried to their king, Pharao, to help them. And Pharao said to them, "Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall tell you.'

Then the people went to Joseph, who opened all the store-houses in each city, and sold out the corn and fruits to the inhabitants, and the people from the provinces also came up into Egypt to buy food; and just before the famine came on, Joseph had two little sons born, whose names were Manasses and Ephraim.

And the famine, stretching far and wide, reached into the land of Chanaan, where Jacob and his sons were dwelling; and Jacob, hearing that corn was sold in Egypt, desired his sons to go down there to buy it, that they might not all, as he said, be consumed with want. So the ten elder brothers of Joseph set out to go to Egypt; but his younger brother, Benjamin, Israel kept at home with him, fearing, he said, lest he might take any harm on the journey; for since the supposed death of Joseph,

Benjamin had become dearer than ever to his father, as the only remaining child of Rachel.

Meanwhile the ten brethren reached the land of Egypt, and like others they entered into the presence of Joseph, the governor of the land; and then the dream, which their brother had had and told them of so many years before, began to be fulfilled; for his brothers, entering Joseph's presence, bowed low before him. And he, who knew his brothers, but wished to bring them to a sense of their great sin in selling him, and to a sincere repentance for it, spoke to them in a rough manner, and asked them from whence they came. So many years had passed since their cruel treatment of their young brother, then only sixteen years old, that they did not remember Joseph, little thinking, indeed, that the great governor of Egypt, in his robes and splendour, could have any thing to do with the poor boy they had sold to the Ismaelite merchants: so when Joseph asked them from whence they came, they replied, "From the land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life." And then Joseph, still wishing to prove to them their sin, said, "You are spies; you are come to view the weaker parts of the land." But they said, "It is not so, my lord; but thy servants are come to buy food; we are all the sons of one man; we are come as peaceable men, neither do thy servants go about any evil." And he answered them, "It is otherwise; you are come to consider the unfenced parts of this land." But they again urged, "We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Chanaan; the youngest is with our father, and one is not living." Joseph, however, persisted that they were spies, and told them that they should not be allowed to depart from Egypt until their youngest brother should come. "Send one of you to fetch