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Page 15
After the dinner, Reuben chanced to go to another part of the field; so
that he was not at hand when a company of men passed by with their
camels, going from Gilead, on the east of the river Jordan, to Egypt, to
sell spices and fragrant gum from trees to the Egyptians.
Then Judah, another of Joseph's brothers, said, "What good will it do us
to kill our brother? Would it not be better for us to sell him to these
men, and let them carry him away? After all, he is our brother, and we
would better not kill him."
His brothers agreed with him; so they stopped the men who were passing,
and drew up Joseph from the pit, and for twenty pieces of silver they
sold Joseph to these men; and they took him away with them down to
Egypt.
After a while, Reuben came to the pit, where they had left Joseph, and
looked into it; but Joseph was not there. Then Reuben was in great
trouble; and he came back to his brothers, saying: "The boy is not
there! What shall I do!"
Then his brothers told Reuben what they had done; and they all agreed
together to deceive their father. They killed one of the goats, and
dipped Joseph's coat in its blood; and they brought it to their father,
and they said to him: "We found this coat out in the wilderness. Look at
it, father, and tell us if you think it was the coat of your son."
[Illustration: _For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph_]
And Jacob knew it at once. He said: "It is my son's coat. Some wild
beast has eaten him. There is no doubt that Joseph has been torn in
pieces!"
And Jacob's heart was broken over the loss of Joseph, all the more
because he had sent Joseph alone on the journey through the wilderness.
They tried to comfort him, but he would not be comforted. He said: "I
will go down to the grave mourning for my poor lost son."
So the old man sorrowed for his son Joseph; and all the time his wicked
brothers knew that Joseph was not dead; but they would not tell their
father the dreadful deed they had done to their brother, in selling him
as a slave.
THE DREAMS OF A KING
The men who bought Joseph from his brothers were called Ishmaelites,
because they belonged to the family of Ishmael, who, you remember, was
the son of Hagar, the servant of Sarah. These men carried Joseph
southward over the plain which lies beside the great sea on the west of
Canaan; and after many days they brought Joseph to Egypt. How strange it
must have seemed to the boy who had lived in tents to see the great
river Nile, and the cities thronged with people, and the temples, and
the mighty pyramids!
The Ishmaelites sold Joseph as a slave to a man named Potiphar, who was
an officer in the army of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph was a
beautiful boy, and cheerful and willing in his spirit, and able in all
that he undertook; so that his master Potiphar became very friendly to
him, and after a time, he placed Joseph in charge of his house, and
everything in it. For some years Joseph continued in the house of
Potiphar, a slave in name, but in reality the master of all his affairs,
and ruler over his fellow-servants.
But Potiphar's wife, who at first was very friendly to Joseph,
afterward became his enemy, because Joseph would not do wrong to please
her. She told her husband falsely, that Joseph had done a wicked deed.
Her husband believed her, and was very angry at Joseph, and put him in
the prison with those who had been sent to that place for breaking the
laws of the land. How hard it was for Joseph to be charged with a crime,
when he had done no wrong, and to be thrust into a dark prison among
wicked people!
But Joseph had faith in God, that at some time all would come out right;
and in the prison he was cheerful, and kind, and helpful, as he had
always been. The keeper of the prison saw that Joseph was not like the
other men around him, and he was kind to Joseph. In a very little while,
Joseph was placed in charge of all his fellow-prisoners, and took care
of them, just as he had taken care of everything in Potiphar's house.
The keeper of the prison scarcely looked into the prison at all; for he
had confidence in Joseph, that he would be faithful and wise in doing
the work given to him. Joseph did right, and served God, and God blessed
Joseph in everything.
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