Part 10

And he commanded the ruler of his house saying: fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his bag mouth, and put my silver cup in the sack's mouth of the youngest and his corn money also. And he did as Ioseph had said. And in the morning as soon as it was light, the men were let go with their asses. And when they were out of the city and not yet far away, Ioseph said unto the ruler of his house: up and follow after the men and overtake them, and say unto them: wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? is that not the cup of which my lord drinketh, and doth he not prophesy therein? ye have evil done that ye have done. And he overtook them and said the same words unto them. And they answered him: wherefore saith my lord such words? God forbid that thy servants should do so. Behold, the money which we found in our sack's mouths, we brought again unto thee, out of the land of Canaa: how then should we steal out of my lord's house, either silver or gold? with whosoever of thy servants it be found let him die, and let us also be my lord's bondmen. And he said: Now therefore according unto your words, he with whom it is found, shall be my servant: but ye, shall be harmless. And at once every man took down his sack to the ground, and every man opened his sack. And he searched, and began at the eldest and left at the youngest. And the cup was found in Ben Iamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass and went again unto the city. And Iuda and his brethren came to Ioseph's house, for he was yet there, and they fell before him on the ground. And Ioseph said unto them: what deed is this which ye have done? wist ye not that such a man as I can prophesy? Then said Iuda: what shall we say unto my lord, what shall we speak or what excuse can we make? God hath found out the wickedness of thy servants. Behold, both we and he with whom the cup is found, are thy servants. And he answered: God forbid that I should do so, the man with whom the cup is found, he shall be my servant: but go ye in peace unto your father. Then Iuda went unto him and said: oh my lord, let thy servant speak a word in my lord's audience, {ear} and be not wroth with thy servant: for thou art even as Pharao. My lord asked his servant saying: have ye a father or a brother? And we answered my lord, we have a father that is old, and a young lad which he begat in his age: and the brother of the said lad is dead, and he is all that is left of that mother. And his father loveth him. Then said my lord unto his servants bring him unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we answered my lord, that the lad could not go from his father, for if he should leave his father, he were but a dead man. Then saidest thou unto thy servants: except your youngest brother come with you, look that ye see my face no more. And when we came unto thy servant our father, we shewed him what my lord had said. And when our father said unto us, go again and buy us a little food: we said, that we could not go. Nevertheless if our youngest brother go with us then will we go, for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us. Then said thy servant our father unto us. Ye know that my wife bare me two sons. And the one went out from me and it is said of a surety that he is torn in pieces of wild beasts, and I saw him not since. If ye shall take this also away from me and some misfortune happen upon him, then shall ye bring my gray head with sorrow unto the grave. Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, if the lad be not with me: seeing that his life hangeth by the lad's life, then as soon as he seeth that the lad is not come, he will die. So shall we thy servants bring the gray head of thy servant our father with sorrow unto the grave. For I thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father and said: if I bring him not unto thee again. I will bear the blame all my life long. Now therefore let me thy servant bide here for the lad, and be my lord's bondman: and let the lad go home with his brethren. For how can I go unto my father, and the lad not with me: lest I should see the wretchedness that shall come on my father.

Chapter .xlv.

And Ioseph could no longer refrain before all them that stood about him, but commanded that they should go all out from him, and that there should be no man with him, while he uttered himself unto his brethren. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians and the house of Pharao heard it. And he said unto his brethren: I am Ioseph: doth my father yet live? But his brethren could not answer him, for they were abashed at his presence. And Ioseph said unto his brethren: come near to me, and they came near. And he said: I am Ioseph your brother whom ye sold into Egypt. And now be not grieved therewith, neither let it seem a cruel thing in your eyes, that ye sold me hither. For God did send me before you to save life. For this is the second year of dearth in the land, and five more are behind in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. Wherefore God sent me before you to make provision, that ye might continue in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not ye that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me father unto Pharao and lord over all his house, and ruler in all the land of Egypt. Haste you and go to my father and tell him, this sayeth thy son Ioseph: God hath made me lord over all Egypt. Come down unto me and tarry not. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gosan and be by me: both thou and thy children, and thy children's children: and thy sheep, and beasts and all that thou hast. There will I make provision for thee: for there remain yet five years of dearth, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast perish. Behold, your eyes do see, and the eyes also of my brother Ben Iamin, that I speak to you by mouth. Therefore tell my father of all my honour which I have in Egypt and of all that ye have seen, and make haste and bring in father hither. And he fell on his brother Ben Iamin's neck and wept, and Ben Iamin wept on his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them. And after that, his brethren talked with him. And when the tidings was come unto Pharao's house that Ioseph's brethren were come, it pleased Pharao well and all his servants. And Pharao spake unto Ioseph: say unto thy brethren, this do ye: lade your beasts and get you hence. And when ye be come unto the land of Canaan, take your father and your households and come unto me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. And commanded also. This do ye: take chariots with you out of the land of Egypt, for your children and for your wives: and bring your father and come. Also, regard not your stuff, for the goods of all the land of Egypt shall be yours. And the children of Israel did even so. And Ioseph gave them chariots at the commandment of Pharao, and gave them vitaille also to spend by the way. And he gave unto each of them change of raiment: but unto Ben Iamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. And unto his father he sent after the same manner: ten he asses laden with goods out of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn, bread and meat: to serve his father by the way. So sent he his brethren away, and they departed. And he said unto them: see that ye fall not out by the way. And they departed from Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Iacob their father, and told him saying. Ioseph is yet alive and is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Iacob's heart wavered, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Ioseph which he had said unto them. But when he saw the chariots which Ioseph had sent to carry him, then his spirits revived. And Israel said: I have enough, if Ioseph my son be yet alive: I will go and see him, yer that I die.

Chapter .xlvi.

Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came unto Berseba and offered offerings unto the God of his father Isaac. And God said unto Israel in a vision by night, and called unto him: Iacob, Iacob. And he answered: here am I. And he said: I am that mighty God of thy father, fear not to go down into Egypt. For I will make of thee there a great people. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also bring thee up again, and Ioseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. And Iacob rose up from Berseba. And the sons of Israel carried Iacob their father, and their children and their wives in the chariots which Pharao had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and the goods which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt: both Iacob and all his seed with him, his sons and his sons' sons with him: his daughters and his sons daughters and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt. These are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt, both Iacob and his sons: Ruben Iacob's first son. The children of Ruben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Charmi. The children of Simeon: Iemuel, Iami, Ohad, Iachin, Zohar and Saul the son of a Cananitish woman. The children of Levi: Gerson, Kahath and Merari. The children of Iuda: Er, Onan, Sela, Pharez and Zerah, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The children of Pharez, Hezron, and Hamul. The children of Isachar: Tola, Phua, Iob and Semnon. The children of Zabulon: Sered, Elon and Iaheleel. These be the children of Lea which she bare unto Iacob in Mesopotamia with his daughter Dina. All these souls of his sons and daughters make thirty and six. {.xxx. and .iij.} The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Suni, Ezbon, Eri Arodi and Areli. The children of Asser: Iemna, Iesua, Iesui, Bria and Serah their sister. And the children of Bria were Heber and Malchiel. These are the children of Silpha whom Laban gave to Lea his daughter. And these she bare unto Iacob in number sixteen souls. The children of Rahel Iacob's wife: Ioseph and Ben Iamin. And unto Ioseph in the land of Egypt were borne: Manasses and Ephraim which Asnath the daughter of Putiphar priest of On bare unto him. The children of Ben Iamin: Bela, Becher, Asbel, Gera, Naeman, Ehi, Ros, Mupim, Hupim and Ard. These are the children of Rahel which were born unto Iacob: fourteen souls altogether. The children of Dan: Husim. The children Nepthali: Iahezeel, Guni, Iezer and Sillem. These are the sons of Bilha which Laban gave unto Rahel his daughter, and she bare these unto Iacob, altogether seven souls. All the souls that came with Iacob into Egypt which came out of his loins (beside his son's wives) were all together sixty and six souls. And the sons of Ioseph, which were born him in Egypt were: two souls. So that all the souls of the house of Iacob which came into Egypt are seventy. And he sent Iuda before him unto Ioseph that the way might be shewed him unto Gosan, and they came into the land of Gosan. And Ioseph made ready his chariot and went against {to meet} Israel his father unto Gosan, and presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck and wept upon his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Ioseph: Now I am content to die, insomuch I have seen thee, that thou art yet alive. And Ioseph said unto his brethren and unto his father's house: I will go and shew Pharao and tell him: that my brethren and my father's house which were in the land of Canaan are come unto me, and how they are shepherds (for they were men of cattle) and they have brought their sheep and their oxen and all that they have with them. If Pharao call you and ask you what your occupation is, say: thy servants have been occupied about cattle, from our childhood unto this time: both we and our fathers, that ye may dwell in the land of Gosan. For an abomination unto the Egyptians are all that feed sheep. {For the Egyptians abhor all shepherds.}

Chapter .xlvij.

And Ioseph went and told Pharao and said: my father and my brethren their sheep and their beasts and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan and are in the land of Gosan. And Ioseph took a part of his brethren: even five of them, and presented them unto Pharao. And Pharao said unto his brethren: what is your occupation? And they said unto Pharao: feeders of sheep {shepherds} are thy servants, both we and also our fathers. They said moreover unto Pharao: for to sojourn in the land are we come, for thy servants have no pasture for their sheep so sore is the famishment in the land of Canaan. Now therefore let thy servants dwell in the land of Gosan. And Pharao said unto Ioseph: thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee. The land of Egypt is open before thee: In the best place of the land make both thy father and thy brethren dwell: And even in the land of Gosan let them dwell. Moreover if thou know any men of activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle. And Ioseph brought in Iacob his father and set him before Pharao. And Iacob blessed Pharao. And Pharao asked Iacob, how old art thou? And Iacob said unto Pharao: the days of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of my life been, and have not attained unto the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimages. And Iacob blessed Pharao and went out from him. And Ioseph prepared dwellings for his father and his brethren, and gave them possessions in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land: even in the land of Rameses, as Pharao commanded. And Ioseph made provision for his father, his brethren and all his father's household, as young children are fed with bread. There was no bread in all the land, for the dearth was exceeding sore: so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, were famished by the reason of the dearth. And Ioseph brought together all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and he laid up the money in Pharao's house. When money failed in the land of Egypt and of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Ioseph and said: give us sustenance: wherefore sufferest thou us to die before thee: for our money is spent. Then said Ioseph: bring your cattle, and I will give yow for your cattle, if ye be without money. And they brought their cattle unto Ioseph. And he gave them bread for horses and sheep, and oxen and asses: so he fed them with bread for all their cattle that year. When that year was ended, they came unto him the next year and said unto him: we will not hide it from my lord, how that we have neither money nor cattle for my lord: there is no more left for my lord, but even our bodies and our lands. Wherefore lettest thou us die before thine eyes, and the land to go to nought? buy us and our lands for bread: and let both us and our lands be bond to Pharao. Give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land go not to waste. And Ioseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharao. For the Egyptians sold every man his land because the dearth was sore upon them: and so the land became Pharao's. And he appointed the people unto the cities, from one side of Egypt unto the other: only the land of the Priests bought he not. For there was an ordinance made by Pharao for the priests, that they should eat that which was appointed unto them: which Pharao had given them wherefore they sold not their lands. Then Ioseph said unto the folk: behold I have bought you this day and your lands for Pharao. Take there seed and go sow the land. And of the increase, ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharao, and four parts shall be your own, for seed to sow the field: and for you, and them of your households, and for your children, to eat. And they answered: Thou hast saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and let us be Pharao's servants. And Ioseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day: that men must give Pharao the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which was not bond unto Pharao. And Israel dwelt in Egypt: even in the country of Gosan. And they had their possessions therein, and they grew and multiplied exceedingly. Moreover Iacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so that the hole age of Iacob was an hundred and forty seven years. When the time drew nye, that Israel must die: he sent for his son Ioseph and said unto him: If I have found grace in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh and deal mercifully and truly with me, that thou bury me not in Egypt: but let me lie by my fathers, and carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burial. And he answered: I will do as thou hast said. And he said: swear unto me: and he sware unto him. And then Israel bowed him unto the bed's head.

Chapter .xlviij.

After these deeds, tidings were brought unto Ioseph, that his father was sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasse and Ephraim. Then was it said unto Iacob: behold, thy son Ioseph cometh unto thee. And Israel took his strength unto him, and sat up on the bed, and said unto Ioseph: God all mighty appeared unto me at Lus in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me: behold, I will make thee grow and will multiply thee, and will make a great number of people of thee, and will give this land unto thee and unto thy seed after thee unto an everlasting possession. Now therefore thy two sons Manasse and Ephraim which were born unto thee before I came to thee, into Egypt, shall be mine: even as Ruben and Simeon shall they be unto me. And the children which thou gettest after them, shall be thine own: but shall be called with the names of their brethren in their inheritances. And after I came from Mesopotamia, Rahel died upon my hand in the land of Canaan, by the way: when I had but a field's brede to go unto Ephrat. And I buried her there in the way to Ephrat which is now called Bethlehem. And Israel beheld Ioseph's sons and said: what are these? And Ioseph said unto his father: they are my sons, which God hath given me here. And he said: bring them to me, and let me bless them. And the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said unto Ioseph: I had not thought to have seen thy face, and yet lo, God hath shewed it me and also thy seed. And Ioseph took them away from his lap, and they fell on the ground before him. Then took Ioseph them both: Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand and Manasse in his left hand, toward Israel's right hand, and brought them unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head which was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasse's head, crossing his hands, for Manasse was the elder. And he blessed Ioseph saying: God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, and the God which hath fed me all my life long unto this day; And the angel which hath delivered me from all evil, bless these lads: that they may be called after my name, and after my father Abraham and Isaac, and that they may grow and multiply upon the earth. When Ioseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. And he lift up his father's hand, to have removed it from Ephraim's head unto Manasse's head, and said unto his father: Not so my father, for this is the eldest. Put thy right hand upon his head. And his father would not, but said: I know it well my son, I know it well. He shall be also a people and shall be great. But of a troth his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be full of people. And he blessed them saying: At the example of these, the Israelites shall bless and say: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasse. Thus set he Ephraim before Manasse. And Israel said unto Ioseph: behold, I die. And God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Moreover I give unto thee, a portion of land above thy brethren which I gat out of the hands of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.

Chapter .xlix.