more
freely.

Afterward Joseph sent his brothers home with good news, and rich gifts,
and abundant food. He sent also wagons in which Jacob and his sons'
wives and the little ones of their families might ride from Canaan down
to Egypt. And Joseph's brothers went home happier than they had been for
many years.

THE STORY OF MOSES, THE CHILD WHO WAS FOUND IN THE RIVER

The children of Israel stayed in the land of Egypt much longer than they
had expected to stay. They were in that land about four hundred years.
And the going down to Egypt proved a great blessing to them. It saved
their lives during the years of famine and need. After the years of need
were over, they found the soil in the land of Goshen, that part of Egypt
where they were living, very rich, so that they could gather three or
four crops every year.

Then, too, the sons of Israel, before they came to Egypt, had begun to
marry the women in the land of Canaan who worshipped idols, and not the
Lord. If they had stayed there, their children would have grown up like
the people around them and soon would have lost all knowledge of God.

But in Goshen they lived alone and apart from the people of Egypt. They
worshipped the Lord God, and were kept away from the idols of Egypt. And
in that land, as the years went on, from being seventy people, they grew
in number until they became a great multitude. Each of the twelve sons
of Jacob was the father of a tribe, and Joseph was the father of two
tribes, named after his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

As long as Joseph lived, and for some time after, the people of Israel
were treated kindly by the Egyptians, out of their love for Joseph, who
had saved Egypt from suffering by famine. But after a long time another
king began to rule over Egypt, who cared nothing for Joseph or Joseph's
people. He saw that the Israelites (as the children of Israel were
called) were very many, and he feared that they would soon become
greater in number and in power than the Egyptians.

He said to his people: "Let us rule these Israelites more strictly. They
are growing too strong."

Then they set harsh rules over the Israelites, and laid heavy burdens on
them. They made the Israelites work hard for the Egyptians, and build
cities for them, and give to the Egyptians a large part of the crops
from their fields. They set them at work in making brick and in building
storehouses. They were so afraid that the Israelites would grow