of his old age.

His brother is dead, and he is the only one left of his mother, and his father loves him dearly. Thou didst say to us, Bring the lad down to me that I may see him.

And we told thee the lad could not leave his father, for if he did the old man would surely die. And thou saidst, Except your younger brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

And we told our father these words, and when he said, Go down again and buy corn, we said we could not see thy face if our youngest brother was not with us. And the father said, Ye know that my wife Rachel bare me two sons. And one went out from me, and was torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since. And if ye take this one from me, and he comes to harm, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. And if we should go home and not have the lad with us the old man will surely die. Let me be thy servant, in his place, and let the lad go back with his brethren.

Then Joseph sent every man out of the room but himself and his brethren, and he made himself known to them. He said to them, Come near, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But be not grieved or angry with yourselves, for God did send me here before you that I might save your lives. It was not you that sent me here, but God.

Haste to my father, and tell him that God hath made me ruler over all Egypt, and bid him come down to me at once. And Joseph fell on Benjamin's neck and wept ; and Benjamin wept on his neck. And he kissed his brethren, and wept over them, and after that they talked a long while together.

Then the brethren went back to the land of Canaan, and told their father all that had taken place, and the word that Joseph had sent to him. And Jacob said, It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die.

And he and his sons, with their wives and children, their goods and their cattle, went out of the land of Canaan into the land of Goshen, where Joseph had bid them come and live. And Joseph went out and met his father at Goshen.

And Jacob said to him, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

And Joseph took care of his father and his brethren and their families, and did not let them, or their flocks or herds, lack for food. And Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years. And when he was like to die he called Joseph to his bedside

and begged him not to bury him in Egypt, but in the cave in the field of Machpelah. And Joseph did so.

When their father was dead, the brethren thought that Joseph would hate them, and that he had been good to them only for his father's sake.

And they sent a messenger to Joseph to ask him to forgive their sins. Joseph wept, and said, Fear not; I am not God.

man.

If they had done wrong they should pray to God and not to And he was kind to them and took care of them. And Joseph was one hundred and ten years old when he died. And they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

CHAPTER XIV.

PHARAOH, AND THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT.

THE Sons of Jacob had large families, and they dwelt in Egypt, and became a great nation.

Some years after Joseph's death, a new king reigned in Egypt. Pharaoh was the name given to all the kings of Egypt.

This Pharaoh did not know Joseph, and was harsh to the children of Israel, and gave them hard tasks to do. For the Hebrews were slaves to the Egyptians. The King of Egypt saw that the Hebrews were growing to be a mighty people, and he feared that they might rise up and fight against the Egyptians and drive them from the land.

So he made a law that every male child that was born among the Hebrews should be thrown into the river Nile. As soon as this was known, the poor Hebrew mothers were wild with grief. One of them hid her boy babe for three months; and then, when she could hide him no longer, she had a little boat made like an ark of the rushes that grow on the river banks. It was daubed on the outside with mud and pitch, so that it would not leak, and the child was placed therein and left among the green flags by the water's edge. And his sister stood afar off to see what would be done to him.

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river to bathe, and as she and her maidens walked along through the tall reeds, or flags, they saw the little boat. And one of the maids brought it to the king's daughter. And when she looked at the child, it began to cry. And she was sorry for

it, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. And she made up her mind to bring it up herself, and take care of it.

Then the babe's sister stepped up and asked if she should fetch a nurse for it from among the Hebrew women. Pharaoh's daughter said, Go.

And the maid went and called the child's mother. The king's daughter said, Take this child

and nurse it, and I will pay thee for it. And the woman took the child and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, which means Drawn out of the water.

One day Moses, when grown to be a man, went out to visit the Hebrews, and to watch them at their tasks. And he spied an Egyptian striking a IIebrew. And he looked around,