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have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.” Then Joseph said, that he was not able of himself to interpret dreams; but that God would make him able to interpret them.

Then Pharaoh told his dreams to Joseph, and Joseph said, "God hath showed Pharaoh what He is about to do."

Then Joseph told Pharaoh that both his dreams had the same meaning. He said, that the seven fat kine, and the seven full ears, meant seven years of plenty, in which there should be good harvests, and much corn in the land of Egypt. And the seven lean kine, and the seven thin ears, meant seven-years of famine, in which there would be no harvests, and no corn. First there were to be seven years of plenty, and then seven years of famine. And Joseph said, "Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look out a wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt; and let him gather all the food of the good years that come, and lay it up in the cities."

And he said, that the corn they saved in the seven years of plenty, would be a store for the land in the seven years of famine, and so they would have food to eat during the years of famine.

And the thing seemed good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said, "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?"

Then Pharaoh told Joseph, that he should be ruler over all his people, and that no one in the whole land should be greater than him, except the king himself. And Pharaoh put his own ring upon Joseph's hand, and a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt, and said, that men should bow before him.

Thus Joseph received the reward of his faith.

Joseph had shown his faith in God, when he was a servant in the house of Potiphar. When he was tempted to do wrong, he at once refused, and turned away. He said he could not sin against God. Joseph feared God, because he had faith in Him. They have faith in God,

who remember that God is near them, though they cannot see Him. He who has true faith, would rather die than sin against God.

For a little while Joseph had seemed to suffer, because he had refused to do wrong. God tried him with suffering to prove his faith, and then He greatly rewarded him.

Those who love God and fear to sin against Him, often seem to suffer for a while. God often tries with suffering those whom He loves. But they do not lose their reward, for God does not forget His servants. In His own good time God will reward them: if not in this world, in the world to come; which is far better.

To interpret, means to tell the meaning.
A famine is a scarcity of food.

Chapter xxxv.

THE FULFILMENT OF JOSEPH'S DREAMS.

AND the seven years of plenty came, as Joseph had said, and the earth brought forth corn and

very plentifully; and Joseph gathered up the corn during those seven years, and laid it up in the cities. And a very great quantity of corn was laid up in all the cities in the land of Egypt.

And when the seven years of plenty were ended, then the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said. And the famine was in all lands; but in the land of Egypt there was bread. For then Joseph opened all the storehouses of corn, and sold it to the Egyptians. And people from all countries came into Egypt to buy corn, because the famine was in their land, and there was no corn there.

Now Jacob, Joseph's father, was still living in the land of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac had lived before him. And the famine was very sore in that land, and Jacob had no corn for himself and for his house.

And when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he called his sons, and said to them, "Why do ye stand looking one upon another? Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt." Then he told them to go down to the land of

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Egypt, and buy some corn for him and his household, that they might live and not die.

So Jacob's ten eldest sons set forth to go down to Egypt, but Benjamin, his youngest son, did

not go.

Jacob would not let Benjamin, his youngest son, go, for he was afraid that harm might happen to him on the way. Joseph and Benjamin were the children of Rachel, whom Jacob had loved so much. Jacob had lost Joseph, and, therefore, he feared to let Benjamin leave him.

So Joseph's ten brethren came into Egypt, where Joseph was a great lord, and the chief governor over all the land. And they went to Joseph to ask leave to buy corn. And when they came into his presence, they bowed themselves before him, with their faces to the ground. They did not know that the ruler of Egypt, before whom they bowed, was Joseph their brother.

Then Joseph remembered the dream which he had dreamed twenty-two years before, when he was a lad, keeping his father's sheep with his

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