In the land of Canaan the deadly famine was making itself felt. Food was becoming scarce, and people were wondering what they should do. Then good news came that there was plenty of food in Egypt.
Jacob and his eleven sons were rich in silver and gold and cattle. But without grain their riches could not keep them alive. So Jacob sent his ten eldest sons to Egypt to buy corn. He kept, his youngest son, Benjamin, at home, because he loved Benjamin the best of all after Joseph was taken away from him,. He would never allow Benjamin to go far away from home lest some dreadful thing should happen to him also.
More than twenty years had now passed by since the ten brothers tore Joseph away from his father’s loving care. During those years the brothers had grown more thoughtful of each other, and they did not envy Benjamin because he was loved the best. They were kind to him. No doubt they often thought about the terrible wrong they had done by selling Joseph.
Now, as they journeyed to Egypt, perhaps they remembered that the merchants who bought Joseph were going to that same country.
And they may have passed along the very same road. But unpleasant thoughts are never cheerful traveling companions, and the brothers may have tried to think about other things. They saw new stretches of country before them and eagerly watched for the first glimpse of Egypt.
When they arrived in Egypt, things looked different from what they had expected. The fields were just as barren as those of Canaan. But they soon learned that although the famine was raging in Egypt, plenty of food was to be had there, for the great storehouses were filled with an abundance of corn. As every one who wished to buy food came to Joseph, they also came.
But the brothers did not know Joseph. More than twenty years had changed him from a mere lad into a full-grown man. Now he sat upon a throne, dressed like a prince, and every one who approached him with a request bowed humbly before him just as if he were the king. His ten brothers also bowed down before him, as the other people did.
Joseph knew his brothers at once, and when they bowed before him he remembered his dreams. Now he knew those dreams had come true, and he understood why God had permitted him to be sold into Egypt. He wished to know if his brothers had changed during the years that had passed. So he pretended that he did not know them. He spoke to them in the language of the Egyptian people and pretended to be stem and harsh.
“Who are you?” he demanded roughly.
They replied, “We are men of Canaan, and we are brothers.”
“You are spies,” he told them, “and I know you have come to see the stricken condition of our country. You wish to bring an army against us.”
“Indeed we are not spies,” they answered, “for we are true men, and we have come to buy food for ourselves and our families.”
Joseph insisted that they were surely spies, and they told him again that they were brothers, the sons of one man.
“Os your father yet alive?” he asked, “and have you another brother?” What strange questions! they thought, and they told him about their aged father and about his tender love for Benjamin.
Now Joseph wondered whether they were kind to Benjamin. He also wondered if they cared more for their father’s happiness than they did when they sold his son Joseph to the Ishmaelites. He thought, “I must find out these things before I let them know that I am Joseph.” So he said, “You must prove to me that you are not spies. I will put nine of you into prison and the other one I will send back to Canaan. If he will return with the youngest brother of whom you told me, then I will believe that you are true men.”
Into prison, where he had spent several long years, Joseph now placed his ten brothers; not because he hated them, but because he wished to know surely if they were now better men than they used to be. After three days he sent for them again, and said, “I fear God, and I want to do the right thing. If you are indeed true men you can prove it in this manner: I will send nine of you back to your aged father with food, and keep one of you in prison; you must return again and bring that younger brother of whom you spoke, or else I will know surely that you are spies.”
The brothers felt at once that this great trouble had come upon them because they had been so unkind and cruel to their young brother Joseph. They did not know this man was Joseph, and that he could understand their language, so they said to each other, “We are suffering now because of our sin. Now we know how terrified Joseph felt when we sold him and when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen.” Reuben, the eldest brother and the one who had wished to save Joseph’s life, now spoke. “I told you then that you should not sin against the boy, and you would not hear me. Now his blood is being required at our hands.”
Joseph pretended not to know what they were saying, but he heard it all and his heart was touched. Now he knew they were sorry for their sin, and he turned his face away and wept for joy. Then he dried his tears and spoke to them again in the language of the Egyptians. He took Simeon, who was the second eldest, and hound him before their eyes, and put him back into the( prison. The others he sent away to Canaan, after their sacks had been filled with com. He had commanded his servants to return their money in each sack with the corn.
On the homeward journey the brothers were sad at heart. What would their dear old father say, they wondered. Joseph was lost to him, and now Simeon was a prisoner, and Benjamin’s presence was demanded in Egypt or else Simeon would he killed! No wonder they Were sad. At the end of the first day they stopped to feed their asses, and one brother opened his sack and found his bag of money in it. More trouble seemed to be coming upon them; for they feared now that the stern ruler would believe they had stolen the money.
At last they reached home, tired and discouraged. They told their father about the sorrows that had befallen them and explained why Simeon was left in Egypt. “We can not return again except we take Benjamin,” they said.
“I can never let you take my youngest son,” Jacob replied, “for Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and now you will let some misfortune overtake Benjamin also.”
Then the brothers emptied their sacks of food in the presence of their father, and found that each one’s money had been replaced in his sack. Things seemed to be growing worse for them instead of better, Sand they were very much afraid.