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Joseph's brothers visit Egypt

Joseph's brothers travel to Egypt to buy grain.
Contributed by FreeBibleimages
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, German, French
1
Just as Joseph had predicted, there were seven years of bumper harvests in Egypt. During these years Joseph requisitioned for the government a portion of all the crops grown. – Slide 1
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The excess crops were stored in granaries in the cities. – Slide 2
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Each year more crops were stored away. – Slide 3
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After seven years the granaries were full to overflowing. – Slide 4
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Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had warned. There were crop failures in all the surrounding countries, too, but in Egypt there was plenty of grain in the storehouses. – Slide 5
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Joseph opened up the granaries and sold grain to the Egyptians. – Slide 6
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Grain was also sold to those from other lands who came to Egypt in search of food. – Slide 7
8
When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Go and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.’ – Slide 8
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But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, fearing some harm might come to him. – Slide 9
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So the ten brothers set off on the long trip to Egypt. – Slide 10
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When they arrived, they were told to report to the ruler in charge of grain supplies. They did not know this was their bother Joseph. – Slide 11
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Joseph was shocked to see his brothers arriving. He recognised them but they did not recognise him. – Slide 12
13
The ten brothers bowed before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph pretended not to know them. ‘Where are you from?’ he demanded. ‘From the land of Canaan,’ they replied.Joseph accused them of being spies.‘No, my lord!’ they protested. ‘Your servants have simply come to buy food. We are all brothers of the same family. Our youngest brother is back in Canaan.’ ‘You are spies!’ Joseph insisted. – Slide 13
14
‘I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true.’ – Slide 14
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 So Joseph put them all in prison for three days.  – Slide 15
16
On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘I am a God-fearing man. Do as I say and you will live. One of you must remain in prison. The rest may go home with grain. But you must bring your youngest brother back to me to prove that you are telling the truth’. The brothers agreed. – Slide 16
17
The brothers spoke among themselves. ‘We are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.’‘Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?’ Reuben asked. ‘But you wouldn’t listen. Now we have to answer for his blood!’ – Slide 17
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They did not know that Joseph could understand all they were saying as they had been speaking through an interpreter. Joseph turned away from them and began to weep. – Slide 18
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When Joseph regained his composure, he chose Simeon and had him tied up right before their eyes. – Slide 19
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Simeon was taken off to prison. – Slide 20
21
Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain. He also gave them supplies for the journey home. – Slide 21
22
Joseph then gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. The brothers set off back to Canaan. – Slide 22
23
When they stopped for the night, they discovered the money in the top of the sacks. Their hearts sank. Trembling, they said to each other, ‘What has God done to us?’ – Slide 23
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When they got home they told Jacob all that had happened. Jacob was also terrified when he saw the returned money. ‘You are robbing me of my children!’ he cried. – Slide 24
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‘Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too – Slide 25
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‘Everything is going against me! Benjamin will not go to Egypt with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything happened to Benjamin I would die.’ – Slide 26
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Slide 27