Works of John Bunyan Volume II Part 91

Peace, peace, said he, let not fear seize upon you For I had the disposing of your money: G.o.d, unto whom you and your father bow, Hath giv'n you treasure in your sacks I trow.

And then releasing Simon, who had been Confin'd in Joseph's house, he brought them in And set them water, and they wash'd their feet; And gave their a.s.ses provender to eat.

Then they made ready, against Joseph came, Their gifts, in order to present the same At noon; for they were told he did design To have their company with him to dine.

And now when Joseph was returned home, Into his presence they with rev'rence come, And brought their presents in and laid before him, And fell down at his feet for to adore him.

Then he inquired if they all were well, And said, When you were here I heard you tell Of an old man, your father, how does he?

Is he in health, or doth he cease to be?

Whereto in humble sort they thus reply'd, Thy servant, ev'n our father, doth abide In perfect health, which having said, They bowed their heads and great obeisance made.

And Joseph viewing Benjamin his brother (They being both the children of one mother) He asked if he were the lad of whom They spake, then said, G.o.d give thee grace, my son.

Then making haste to find a secret place To weep, because his bowels yearn'd apace Upon his brother, to his chamber went, Where having giv'n his troubled spirits vent, He washed his face, and did himself refrain, And to his brethren then came forth again, And bade his servants they should set on bread.

At his command the tables were all spread; One for himself, and for his friends another, And for the Egyptians one apart from either, That so they might not eat bread altogether; For it is held a great abomination For them to eat among the Hebrew nation, And they were placed as their age required, The eldest first, whereat the men admired.

And from his table Joseph sent them messes; But in a larger manner he expresses To Benjamin his kindness, which was such, That he appointed him five times as much As to the rest: and they drank plenteously, Till they were merry in his company.

CHAP. XLIV.

And to his steward Joseph spake, and said, Give these men corn as much as they can lade; And in their sacks bind each man's money up, And in the youngest's put my silver cup Besides his money: and he made haste and did According as his master had commanded.

And in the morning by the break of day, With a.s.ses laden they were sent away: And now, e'er they had scarce the town's end pa.s.s'd, He sent his steward after them in haste, And said, Go, follow them, and ask them why They have dealt by me so ungratefully?

And say unto them, You have done great evil To rob my master, who hath been so civil, And steal the cup wherein he drinks his wine; Is it not it whereby he doth divine?[10]

Then he pursu'd and quickly overtook Them, and these very words to them he spoke.

To whom they said, Why hath my lord such thought?

Oh, G.o.d forbid that we should be so naught;[11]

Behold, thou know'st we brought the money back The which we found bound up in each man's sack, Which shews that we had no design to cheat; How then should we now steal your master's plate?

With which of us thy servants it is found Let him be slain, and we to slavery bound.

Now as you say, said he, so let it be, He shall be bound, but you shall all go free.

Then they unladed ev'ry man his beast, And to his view expos'd their sacks in haste.

And he from first to last them searched round, And lo, the cup on Benjamin was found: Thereat surpris'd, each man his garment rent, And lade his beast, and back again they went.

And now when Judah and the rest were come To Joseph's house, (for he was yet at home) They fell before him to the ground, to whom He said, What deed is this that you have done?

Are you not sensible that such a one As I, can certainly thereof make trial?

Then Judah said, My lord, there's no denial: We cannot clear ourselves. The Lord hath sent, For our misdeed, this heavy punishment.

Behold, to be thy slaves we all are bound, Both we, and he on whom the cup was found.

Then Joseph said, The Lord forbid that I Should exercise so great severity: For he with whom 'tis found, and he alone Shall be my servant, you may all be gone.

Then unto Joseph, Judah drawing near, Said, O my lord! I pray be pleas'd to hear Thy servant speak, and be not angry now, For as King Pharaoh is ev'n so art thou.

My lord did bid thy servants to discover Whether we had a father or a brother; And we made answer that thy servants had An ancient father and a little lad, The child of his old age, who was our brother, And he the only child left of his mother, His brother being dead; and that this lad Was all the comfort that our father had.

Then thou wert pleas'd to bid thy servants bring The lad, that thou might'st have a sight of him.

And we made answer, if the lad should leave His father, it would bring him to his grave: And thou didst then protest it was in vain For us without him to come here again.

Then towards home thy servants went their way, And told our father what my lord did say.

And in a while, when all our corn was spent, Thy servant, ev'n our father, would have sent To buy more food; to whom thy servant said, We cannot go except thou send the lad.

Because the man did solemnly declare, Unless we brought him we should not come there.

And then thy servant, ev'n our father, said, Ye know that by my wife two sons I had, And one of them went forth and came no more, Which made me think some beast did him devour.

And if I now should also condescend To let this go, and mischief should attend, You will with sorrow bring me to my end.

When to my father I shall come therefore, And he shall see that I do not restore The lad again, he certainly will die, (Since in his life my father's life doth lie) And we shall bring him to his grave thereby.

For I became a surety for the lad Unto my father, unto whom I said, If I do not in safety him deliver, Then let me bear the blame to thee for ever.

I humbly pray thee, therefore, to accept Me in his stead, and let me here be kept My lord's bond-slave, and let the lad go free: For how can I, thy servant, bear to see The evil that shall on my father come, If that the lad return not safely home.

CHAP. XLV.

Then Joseph, who by no means now could hide His brotherly affection longer, cry'd, Put all men forth; and he was left alone When to his brethren he himself made known.

Then Joseph weeping lifted up his voice So loud, that Pharaoh's servants heard the noise.

And to his brethren did himself discover, And said, Lo! I am Joseph your own brother; And doth my father live? Whereat amaz'd, They could not speak, but at each other gaz'd.

Then Joseph said, Come near, I pray, behold, I am your brother Joseph whom ye sold To Egypt, be not grieved now therefore, Nor vex yourselves, for G.o.d sent me before To save life; for these two years there hath been A famine, and five more to come, wherein Seed time nor harvest shall at all be seen.

The Lord, I say, hath sent me to provide A place, and strangely save your lives beside.

So now ye sent me not, but it was rather The Lord, and he hath made me as a father Unto the king, lord of his household, and A ruler over all this s.p.a.cious land.

Unto my father, therefore, go your way, And tell him, Thus doth thy son Joseph say: The Lord hath rais'd me to a high degree In Egypt, tarry not, but come to me, And thou shalt dwell in Goshen and be nigh me, And with provision there will I supply thee; Both thou and thine, flocks, herds, and all thou hast, (For yet these five years will the famine last) Lest otherwise, provision being scant, Thou and thy family may come to want.

Behold, both you and Benjamin my brother Do see that it is I and not another.

Go tell my father this amazing story, And bring him hither to behold my glory.

Then falling on his youngest brother's neck, And he on his, they o'er each other wept.

And to the rest he did likewise, wherefore They now were more familiar than before.

And now whilst they discoursed, the report Of their arrival came to Pharaoh's court, And he was pleas'd thereat, wherefore he said To Joseph, let thy brethren straightway lade Their beasts with corn, and thus unto them say, Unto your native country haste away, And fetch your father, and your households, and I'll feed you with the good things of the land; And since you are commanded by the king, Take wagons with you hence wherein to bring Your wives, your little ones, and come down hither, Your father, you and yours altogether; And never heed to bring your household stuff, For here in Egypt you shall have enough.

Then did the Isr'elites accordingly: And Joseph ordering them a large supply Of necessaries for their journey, sent Wagons according to the king's intent.

And to each man he gave a suit of clothes, But on his brother Benjamin bestows Five suits, and as a token of his love, A sum of money over and above.

And thus he sent ev'n for his father's use, Of the best things that Egypt did produce, Ten a.s.ses load, and ten she a.s.ses load Of bread and meat, to spend upon the road.

Then sending them away, he said, I pray See that you do not fall out by the way.

And leaving Egypt with their num'rous train, Unto their father they returned again: To whom, as soon as e'er they did arrive, They said, Our brother Joseph's yet alive, And lord of all the land, which sore dismay'd Him, for he scarce believed what they said.

Then they of all that pa.s.s'd gave him relation.

And shewed the wagons for a confirmation Which being manifest before his eyes, He rais'd himself, and said, It doth suffice; Joseph my son is yet alive, and I Will go to see him once before I die.

CHAP. XLVI.

Then Isr'el setting forward on his way With all his household, came to Beersheba; And offer'd sacrifice there to implore The G.o.d his father Isaac did adore.

And in the visions of the night G.o.d spake To him, and said, Fear not to undertake This journey into Egypt, for I am The G.o.d of thy forefathers, Abraham And Isaac; to the land of Egypt I Will go with thee, and there will multiply Thy offspring, and of thee will surely make A mighty nation, and will bring thee back; And thy son Joseph there thine eyes shall close.

After which vision he from thence arose, And in the wagons which King Pharaoh sent, He and his family to Egypt went: His sons, their wives and children, and the rest Of their concerns, whereof they were possest When they in Canaan dwelt, and they were then No more in number but threescore and ten.

And when to Egypt Israel drew near He sent before him Judah, to prepare His way to Goshen, which when Joseph heard, Immediately his chariot he prepar'd; And unto Goshen he directly went, And to his father did himself present: And being over-joy'd fell on his neck, And for a good while thereupon he wept.

Then Jacob said, Since thou yet liv'st, and I Have seen thy face once more, now let me die.

And Joseph said, My brethren I will go Unto King Pharaoh, and will let him know That you, and all my father's house are come; And that your occupation when at home, Hath been in feeding cattle altogether, And that you've brought your flocks and herds all hither.

Now therefore when you come before the king, And he should ask you what your trade hath been, Say thus: Thy servants from our youth till now Have dealt in cattle, we and our fathers too, That he may let you dwell in Goshen, for Th' Egyptians do a shepherd's life abhor.

CHAP. XLVII.

Then to King Pharaoh Joseph went and said, My father and his sons, with all they had In their own country, are come down to me, And in the land of Goshen now they be.

Five of his brethren also with him went, Whom he unto King Pharaoh did present, And Pharaoh asked them about their trade, And they unto the king reply'd and said: We and our fathers while we were at home Were shepherds all, and now behold, we come With all our flocks, to get some pasture here, For in our land the famine is severe.

We therefore pray thee to appoint a portion Unto thy servants in the land of Goshen.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I empow'r thee To use thy pleasure, Goshen is before thee; Settle thy father and thy brethren there, And if among them active men there are, Commit my cattle to their special care.

And Joseph brought his aged father in Before the king, and Jacob blessed him.

And Pharaoh asking him about his age, He said, The years of my life's pilgrimage Are but an hundred thirty, very few And evil, nor have I attain'd unto The years of my forefathers longer age, Which they pa.s.s'd thro' in this their pilgrimage.

And Jacob bless'd the king again, and then Out of his presence he return'd again.

And Joseph plac'd his father and relations In Egypt, and appointed them possessions In the best of the land, ev'n in the land Of Rameses, according to the king's command: And there he nourished them with fit supplies Of bread, according to their families.

And now the people having spent their store, And famine still increasing more and more, Egypt and Canaan too, for want of bread, Were sore distress'd and almost famished.

And Joseph took the money they did bring To buy their corn, and kept it for the king.

Wherefore the people came to represent Their case to him, both corn and coin being spent.

And Joseph said, If money be grown scant, Bring me your cattle and ye shall not want.

And they brought horses, a.s.ses, and their flocks And herds of cattle, ev'n all their stocks, And gave to Joseph in exchange for bread, For which the people he for that year fed: And when that year was past, the second year They came again, and said, We can't forbear To let thee know our want, my lord doth know Thou hast our money and our cattle too, And there is nothing left (so hard's our fate) But only each man's person and estate: If thou wilt give us bread, into thy hands Will we resign our persons and our lands: And be the servants of the king for ever.

From death therefore our hungry souls deliver, And take some pity on our wretched state, Lest we die, and the land be desolate.

And the Egyptians sold each man his field, Because the famine over them prevail'd; And all their lands became the king's possession, And Joseph placed them at his own discretion.

But the land of the priests he purchased not, For Pharaoh had a.s.signed to them their lot: And they received their food from Pharaoh's hands, Wherefore they had no need to sell their lands.

And Joseph said unto them, Now behold, You and your lands are unto Pharaoh sold: Lo! here is seed to sow in each man's field, And when the land its ripe increase shall yield, A fifth part shall belong unto the crown, And the other four parts shall be your own, For seed to sow your lands, and for supplies Of food convenient for your families.

And they said; Thou hast sav'd our lives, my lord, Thy gracious favour unto us afford, And we will do according to thy word.

And Joseph made it a decree, to stand Ev'n to this day throughout th' Egyptian land; That Pharaoh should have a fifth part, except The priests' lands, which unto themselves they kept.

And in the land of Egypt ev'n in Goshen, Did Isr'el dwell, and therein had possession; And grew and multiply'd exceeding fast.

And Jacob liv'd till seventeen years were past: So that the sum of Jacob's age appears To be an hundred forty-seven years.

And when the time approach'd that he must die, He called Joseph, unto whom he said, If I Have now found favour in thy sight, I pray, Swear thou unto me that thou wilt not lay My bones in Egypt, for I fain would lie Among my ancestors when e'er I die, And not be bury'd here; therefore fulfil This my desire; and he reply'd, I will: And he said, Swear unto me, which he did: Then Jacob bow'd himself upon his bed.