The famine continued to rage in Canaan; not a cloud appeared in the sky, and not a drop of dew sparkled on the parched grass. The waters of the brooks dried up, and the wells were becoming more shallow every day. After a while the food that Jacob’s sons had brought from Egypt was nearly all eaten up. “You must go again,” said Jacob, “and buy more corn.”
But Judah answered, “We can not go unless We take Benjamin; for the ruler told us we surely should not get any more corn if we failed to bring him.”
“Why did you tell him that you had a younger brother?” Jacob asked.
Judah replied, “The man asked us whether we had yet another brother, and we only answered his questions. How could we tell that he would require us to bring him to Egypt?”
Still Jacob shook his head and refused to let Benjamin go; and the days dragged on and the food-supply grew less and less. “The brothers looked at each other sorrowfully and wondered what they should do. Although they were grown men, yet they did not dare leave their father on such an errand without his permission; for among those people the father ruled his household as long as he lived. And they could not go without Benjamin. Finally Judah said, “If you do not send us soon, both we and our children shall die of hunger; for, see, only a little food remains. I will certainly take care of Benjamin, and if any harm should befall him I will bear the blame forever.” And Reuben, the eldest, had brought two of his own boys to Jacob, saying, “You may kill my sons if I do not bring Benjamin back safely.”
At last, in the face of hunger and starvation, poor old Jacob was persuaded to send Benjamin with his brothers..“‘If my children must all be taken away from me, then I must bear the loss of them,” he said. Preparations began at once for this second journey. Jacob urged his sons to take for a present, to the ruler some of the best things that grew in Canaan, and they selected some rich spices and perfumes, wild honey, and nuts. Then they took back twice as much money as on the first journey; for their father said that perhaps their money had been restored in their sacks by mistake.
When the brothers came into Joseph’s presence the second time, and he saw that Benjamin had come with them—he sent them to his own house at once and gave orders to his servants to prepare a feast. “The men from Canaan are going to dine with me,” he said to his steward, who was the ruler of his house.
The brothers did not understand Joseph’s orders to his servants, and they were frightened because they were brought to his own house. “He thinks We stole the money,” they told each other, “and now although we are innocent he will accuse us of this wrong-doing and put us all into prison with Simeon. What shall we do?” They decided to tell the steward about their troubles.
“Ho not be afraid,” the steward said, when he heard their story, “because I had your money, and it must have been your father’s God who gave you the treasure in your sacks.’ Then he gave them food for their asses and water to wash their feet. Afterwards he brought Simeon out to them and told them that they were all invited to eat dinner with his master.
At noon Joseph came home to meet them. He spoke kindly to them and asked at once whether their father were still alive. How deeply interested he seemed to be in the dear old man they had left in Canaan! Next he turned to Benjamin and asked, “Is this the younger brother of whom you spoke?”!” When he knew that Benjamin Was indeed his own brother, he said, “The Lord be gracious to you, my son.” He longed to kiss Benjamin and embrace him at once, but he wished to learn more about his ten elder brothers before he should let them know that he was Joseph. So he hurried out of the room to hide his tears, and then washed his face lest they should see that he had been weeping. The brothers were beginning to feel more comfortable. They were glad to find Simeon well, and they hoped to be soon returning again to Canaan with food and with pleasant tidings for their anxious father. He would be glad to know the stern ruler had been kind to them this time. And he would be happy to see both Benjamin and Simeon return safe.
After the tables had been arranged, Joseph and his brothers entered the dining-hall. Other guests were present—possibly Egyptian officers. The brothers saw that three tables had been arranged—one where Joseph sat alone because he was the ruler, another where the Egyptians sat, and around the third table the brothers were assigned places according to their ages, beginning with Reuben. “How strange!” they thought, “for how can this man know which of us ig older than his brother?” f” Joseph then sent food to them from his table, to each man a portion and to Benjamin five times as much as to the others. Perhaps he wished to see if they were as jealous of Benjamin as they had once been of their brother Joseph.
The meal ended pleasantly, and the brothers thought again of returning to their home. “Fill their sacks with corn as you did before,” Joseph instructed the steward, “and put their money back into the sacks again. But in Benjamin’s sack put my silver cup( also.” And the steward did as he was bidden.
On the following morning the brothers started for home. But they had not gone far when the steward came hurrying after them. Joseph had sent him to recover the silver cup. “Why have you rewarded my master evil for good!” he asked when he told them that Joseph’s cup was missing from the house.
“God forbid that we should be guilty of stealing the cup,” they answered, “for we are honest men. Did we not return the money that we found in our sacks? Why then should your master think us guilty of this offense?”
So sure were they that none of them had done the wicked deed of which they were accused that they said, “Search us and see for yourself: if the cup is found, let that one die in whose sack it is discovered, and the others of us will become your servants.”
The steward was unwilling to render such severe punishment. “If I find the cup,” said he, “I will take him for my servant in whose sack it is found, and the others may go free.”
Then the search began. Every man lowered his sack to the ground and opened it for the steward’s examination. And one by one the men rejoiced when the missing cup was not found in their possession. The steward began the search with Reuben’s sack, and ended with Benjamin’s. And in Benjamin’s sack he found the missing cup, where he had placed it.
How astonished the brothers were at this discovery! What could they do now? Surely some one was trying to bring back the ill will of the ruler upon them. They could not part with Benjamin, and yet they had promised the steward he might take that one of them for a servant who should be guilty of such an offense. Tearing their clothes as an expression of grief, they replaced the sacks upon their asses and turned back to the capital city with Joseph’s steward and Benjamin. Joseph was waiting at his house for their coming. “What is this you have done?” he demanded, sternly, as they fell on their faces before him.
“Alas, God is punishing us for our sins. We are all your servants,” exclaimed Judah.
“God forbid that I should keep all of you,” answered Joseph, more kindly now; “only he who took the missing cup will I punish, and the others may return home.” Joseph wished to see if the others were selfish and willing to let Benjamin suffer if they could escape.
Then Judah, who had promised Jacob to bring Benjamin safely back to Canaan or else bear the blame forever, fell on his face at Joseph’s feet.,
“Please do not be angry with me, but listen to my words,” he said, ‘for I know you are even as Pharaoh. When we came at the first you asked whether we had a father or a younger brother and we told you that we had. We told you about our father’s tender love for Benjamin after his favorite son had been lost. Then you demanded us to bring Benjamin with us when we should return again to prove that we are not spies. We replied that our father would not be willing to let him come because he feared some terrible harm might befall him, too. Still you insisted that unless we bring him we should never see your face again.
“When we returned home we told our father about your words, and he was grieved. He said he would not allow Benjamin to leave him. But when the food-supply grew low, he wished to send us again,
Li gy and we answered that we could not come and see you except Benjamin be with us. Then after some days of delaying he sent us again, saying, “If trouble happen to Benjamin, I shall die of grief.’ Now, if we return without the lad our father will die, for he is old and feeble and his life is bound up in his love for Benjamin’ Let him return, I beg of you, and let me remain in his stead, for I promised our father that if ill should befall the lad I would bear the blame forever.”
Judah’s earnest words touched Joseph’s heart deeply. How different they sounded from the words he spoke so long ago when he suggested to his brothers that they sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites! Now he was offering himself to become a lifetime slave in place of his younger brother; now he was pleading for the relief of his father’s anxiety. A changed Judah, indeed. And Joseph knew that Judah’s words were sincere; he believed his brothers were better men; and he longed to embrace them all. So he quickly commanded his Egyptian servants to leave the room, and then, turning to his brothers, he said in their language, “I am your brother Joseph; does my father yet live!”
Surprize and fear overcame the brothers and they could not answer a word. Joseph saw they were afraid, and he wept aloud and called them to come nearer. “I am the same Joseph you sold into Egypt,” he told them, “but do not be afraid, nor angry with yourselves, because it was God who sent me here before you to save your lives. This terrible famine will continue for five more years, and you must bring your families and all your possessions into Egypt, or else you may die. I will take care of you here; for God has made me a father even to Pharaoh and the ruler of all his people.” Then Joseph kissed Benjamin and embraced him fondly, and each of the brothers he kissed with the same forgiving tenderness.
The Egyptian servants heard Joseph weeping, and they hurried to tell Pharaoh that Joseph’s brothers had come, and every one was glad, because every one loved Joseph. Pharaoh sent a message to Joseph, urging him to bring his father to Egypt at once.
The homeward journey was begun the second time, and now the men were taking Egyptian wagons loaded with good things to eat. Joseph sent as ai present to his father twenty asses loaded with food and other stuff, and to each of his brothers he gave Egyptian clothing. To Benjamin he gave five times as much as he gave to the other ten, and also three hundred pieces of silver.