Here Joseph took care of them, and supplied them with food all the time of the famine.

How glad they must have felt, to rest at last from all their wanderings and troubles.

God had been very mindful of them, and brought them into a country where there was plenty for themselves, their flocks, and their cattle to eat, and a kind brother both able and willing to give them all they needed.

JOSEPH'S RULE DURING THE FAMINE.

AT last the famine was so sore that there was no bread in all the land of Egypt; neither was there any in the land of Canaan. And the people became very sad and unhappy, They thought they should all die. Already they had taken all their money to Joseph, to buy from him the corn which he had so carefully stored up during the years of plenty. This money had been laid by in Pharaoh's house. Then they came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die before thee? We have no money left." But Joseph might not give it to them because it belonged to the king, so he said to the people, "If the money fail, give me of of your cattle, and I will give you corn for the cattle." And they did so; they brought all their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses, and sheep, and goats, and cattle, and asses. So he fed them with bread till another sad year passed away. At the end of that year, there was no cattle left;

G

all had been given to the king for corn.

The poor

people again began to despair. And they came to Joseph and said, "We cannot hide it from my lord. All our money is gone. My lord hath our flocks and herds. There is nothing left but ourselves and our lands. Why should we die in thy sight? Buy us and our land for bread. We will sell our land and be servants unto Pharaoh, if you will only give us food. And we pray thee also give us seed that we may grow some more corn, so we may live and not die, and the land may not be desolate."

And Joseph did as they said: he bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians sold every man his field to get food. And all the land became Pharaoh's.

The heathen priests were the only people who did not sell their lands. Pharaoh had ordered that they should always be supplied with a regular portion of food, so they did not need to sell them.

Joseph then removed the people into the different cities all over Egypt and said to them," Behold, now I have bought you to be Pharaoh's servants; now here is seed, go, sow the land. When the corn grows you shall divide it into five parts; one part you shall give to

Pharaoh, and the other four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field and for food for yourselves, your little ones, and your households." Then the Egyptians answered and said, " Thou hast saved our lives; only let what we do please thee, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."

So Joseph made it a law that the king should always have the fifth part of all the corn that was grown in the land of Egypt. Only from the lands of the priests he did not have any, because they did not belong to the king.

CHAPTER XX.

JACOB'S DEATH.

AND the Israelites dwelt in the land of Goshen, which had been given to them, and they increased in number, and became exceeding many people. Jacob their father lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, and his whole age was a hundred, forty and seven years. And at the end of this time he felt that he should soon die: so he called Joseph, his son, to him, and begged him, if he really loved him, not to let his body be buried in the land of Egypt. He wished it to be buried with his fathers in the land of Canaan. And he asked Joseph to swear that it should be so; and Joseph did swear unto him.

Soon after this happened, somebody came and told Joseph that his father was very ill. So Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see his father. Now when Jacob was told that Joseph was there, he sat up in his bed; and he said to Joseph,