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So Joseph left Pharaoh so that
he could tour all of the land of Egypt.
In the seven years of abundance,
the land of Egypt had plentiful harvests.
In those years, Joseph commanded
that all of the harvest throughout Egypt
be brought to the storehouses of the cities
and that the entire harvest be stored away.
Joseph stored away as much wheat as he could.
The wheat was like the sand of the seashore.
It was so much that
no one could count it.
Before the years of famine arrived,
Joseph's wife bore two sons for him.
Joseph called his first son Manasseh which means abundance.
He said,
"It is because God
took away all of my suffering and the fact that I'm far away from my father and family
from my memory."
He called his second son Ephraim which means fruitful
because he said,
"God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end.
Just as Joseph had predicted,
there was now seven years of famine.
Famine had also come to the other lands.
But in the land of Egypt,
the storehouses of wheat were full.
When there was famine throughout Egypt,
the people went and begged Pharaoh for wheat.
Pharaoh said to all the people,
"Go to Joseph and do everything he tells you."
When there was famine throughout the country of Egypt,
Joseph opened up the storehouses
and sold wheat to the Egyptians
because throughout Egypt the famine was severe.
The people of all the other countries also came to Egypt
so that they could buy wheat from Joseph,
because throughout all the land, famine had come.
When Jacob heard that wheat was abundant in Egypt,
he said to his children,
"Why are you standing around here
looking this way and that?
I heard that in Egypt wheat is plentiful.
Go there and buy wheat so that we might remain alive and not die."
Ten of Joseph's brothers set out
and went to Egypt so that they could buy grain.
But Jacob
did not send Benjamin who was Joseph's blood brother,
because he was afraid that harm might come to him.
Jacob's sons were among those
who had come to Egypt for wheat.
When his brothers arrived there,
they kneeled in reverence before Joseph
with their faces to the ground.
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers,
he recognized them,
but he pretended that he didn't know them
and spoke harshly to them.
He asked them,
"Where do you come from?"
They answered,
"We have come from the land of Canaan to buy wheat and food."
Joseph recognized his brothers,
but they didn't recognize Joseph.
And Joseph
remembered the dreams that he had had about them.
He said,
"You are spies!
You came to see where our country is unprotected."
They answered,
"No, Lord!
We, your servants, came to buy food.
We, your servants, are twelve brothers.
We are the sons of one father who lives in the land of Canaan.
Our little brother is with him.
One of our brothers disappeared."
Joseph said to them,
"Just as I said, you are spies!
This is how I will test you:
I swear on Pharaoh's soul that until you bring your little brother here,
I will not allow you to leave Egypt.
Send one person from among you
to go and bring your little brother here.
The others will be in prison
so that I will know whether you are telling the truth or not.
If everything you said is not the truth,
I swear by Pharaoh's soul that you are spies."
So Joseph imprisoned all of them for three days.
On the third day he said to them,
"You must do everything I say, if you want to live,
because I fear God.
If you are honest men,
one of your brothers should stay in prison.
The others should load their wheat
and take it to your families so they won't starve.
But you must bring back your little brother to me
so that I know you are telling the truth and so that you won't die."
They said to each other,
"For certain we did evil towards our younger brother;
he was pleading for his life
and we saw his distress,
but we didn't care.
This is the reason we are receiving such talk."
Reuben answered,
"I told you not to harm him,
but you didn't listen!
You see, his blood is on our hands and we must answer for it."
They didn not realize that Joseph understood their words.
Joseph turned away and wept.
When he turned back,
he ordered that they take Simon
and tie him up in front of his brothers.
After that, Joseph gave the order,
"Fill their saddle-bags with wheat!
Put each person's silver in his own sack!
Give them also food for the journey!"
They loaded their donkeys with the wheat and set out.
In the evening, they arrived at a palm grove to spend the night there.
One of them went to feed his donkey.
When he opened his sack, he saw his bag of silver inside.
He said to his brothers,
"They returned my silver coins!
Look! It is in my sack!"
They trembled with fear in their hearts.
With fear and trembling they said to each other,
"What is this disaster that God has brought on us?"