h,
just as the Lord had promised Jacob, when in a dream he saw the angels
of God at Bethel, and heard above them the voice of the Lord blessing
him, and saying:

"Thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the
North, and to the South, and in thee shall all the families of the
earth be blessed."

Joseph carried all Egypt through the years of famine, and saved seed
for the people to sow their fields in the seventh year so that they
said:

"Thou hast saved our lives."

He afterwards visited his father, and Jacob made him promise that he
would bury him when he died in the tomb of Abraham and Isaac, his
father, in his own land.

When Jacob was near his end, Joseph brought his two little sons,
Ephraim and Manasseh, to his bedside, and the old man gave them his
blessing, laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, the youngest,
and his left hand on that of Manasseh the first born, even as Isaac had
given the birthright blessing to him instead of to Esau, and he said:

"The angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads."

Then he called all his sons together and told them what should befall
them in the last days. To each one he spoke as a prophet speaks who
has a vision of things to come, and he blessed them there. When he
spoke to Judah, he told him that kings and lawgivers should arise from
among his children until the Saviour of the world should come.

Jacob was an hundred and forty-seven years old when he died, and there
was great mourning for him.

Joseph had the body of his father embalmed, as the Egyptians had the
custom of doing, and after a long mourning in Egypt, Joseph and his
brothers and many Egyptians who were Joseph's friends, carried the body
of Jacob to Canaan, in a great procession, and buried him in the cave
of Machpelah, where his fathers were buried.

After they had returned to Egypt, the brothers of Joseph said:

"Perhaps now he will hate us, and bring upon us all the evil we did to
him."

So they sent to him to ask his forgiveness for all that was past. Then
Joseph wept, for he had nothing but love in his heart toward his
brothers, and he wished them to trust him. He comforted them and spoke
kindly to them, saying:

"Fear not: ye meant evil unto me, but God meant it unto good. I will
nourish you and your little ones."

And so through all Joseph's life, and he lived one hundred and ten
years, he was a tender father to all his family, and a wise ruler of