Jasher, Chapter 53

1 And the sons of Yacob rose up and took Benjamin and the whole of the presents, and they went and came to Egypt and they stood before Yoseph.
2 And Yoseph beheld his brother Benjamin with them and he saluted them, and these men came to Yoseph's house.
3 And Yoseph commanded the superintendent of his house to give to his brethren to eat, and he did so unto them.
4 And at noon time Yoseph sent for the men to come before him with Benjamin, and the men told the superintendent of Yoseph's house concerning the silver that was returned in their sacks, and he said unto them, It will be well with you, fear not, and he brought their brother Simeon unto them.
5 And Simeon said unto his brethren, The lord of the Egyptians has acted very kindly unto me, he did not keep me bound, as you saw with your eyes, for when you went out from the city he let me free and dealt kindly with me in his house.
6 And Yahudah took Benjamin by the hand, and they came before Yoseph, and they bowed down to him to the ground.
7 And the men gave the present unto Yoseph and they all sat before him, and Yoseph said unto them, Is it well with you, is it well with your children, is it well with your aged father? and they said, It is well, and Yahudah took the record which Yacob had sent and gave it into the hand of Yoseph.
8 And Yoseph read the letter and knew his father's writing, and he wished to weep and he went into an inner room and he wept a great weeping; and he went out.
9 And he lifted up his eyes and beheld his brother Benjamin, and he said, Is this your brother of whom you spoke unto me? And Benjamin approached Yoseph, and Yoseph placed his hand upon his head and he said unto him, May YAHWEH be gracious unto you my son.
10 And when Yoseph saw his brother, the son of his mother, he again wished to weep, and he entered the chamber, and he wept there, and he washed his face, and went out and refrained from weeping, and he said, Prepare food.
11 And Yoseph had a cup from which he drank, and it was of silver beautifully inlaid with onyx stones and bdellium, and Yoseph struck the cup in the sight of his brethren while they were sitting to eat with him.
12 And Yoseph said unto the men, I know by this cup that Reuben the first born, Simeon and Levi and Yahudah, Issachar and Zebulun are children from one mother, seat yourselves to eat according to your births.
13 And he also placed the others according to their births, and he said, I know that this your youngest brother has no brother, and I, like him, have no brother, he shall therefore sit down to eat with me.
14 And Benjamin went up before Yoseph and sat upon the throne, and the men beheld the acts of Yoseph, and they were astonished at them; and the men ate and drank at that time with Yoseph, and he then gave presents unto them, and Yoseph gave one gift unto Benjamin, and Manasseh and Ephraim saw the acts of their father, and they also gave presents unto him, and Osnath gave him one present, and they were five presents in the hand of Benjamin.
15 And Yoseph brought them out wine to drink, and they would not drink, and they said, From the day on which Yoseph was lost we have not drunk wine, nor eaten any delicacies.
16 And Yoseph swore unto them, and he pressed them hard, and they drank plentifully with him on that day, and Yoseph afterward turned to his brother Benjamin to speak with him, and Benjamin was still sitting upon the throne before Yoseph.
17 And Yoseph said unto him, Hast you begotten any children? and he said, Your servant has ten sons, and these are their names, Bela, Becher, Ashbal, Gera, Naaman, Achi, Rosh, Mupim, Chupim, and Ord, and I called their names after my brother whom I have not seen.
18 And he ordered them to bring before him his map of the stars, whereby Yoseph knew all the times, and Yoseph said unto Benjamin, I have heard that the Hebrews are acquainted with all wisdom, dost you know anything of this?
19 And Benjamin said, Your servant is knowing also in all the wisdom which my father taught me, and Yoseph said unto Benjamin, Look now at this instrument and understand where your brother Yoseph is in Egypt, who you said went down to Egypt.
20 And Benjamin beheld that instrument with the map of the stars of heaven, and he was wise and looked therein to know where his brother was, and Benjamin divided the whole land of Egypt into four divisions, and he found that he who was sitting upon the throne before him was his brother Yoseph, and Benjamin wondered greatly, and when Yoseph saw that his brother Benjamin was so much astonished, he said unto Benjamin, What hast you seen, and why are you astonished?
21 And Benjamin said unto Yoseph, I can see by this that Yoseph my brother sits here with me upon the throne, and Yoseph said unto him, I am Yoseph your brother, reveal not this thing unto your brethren; behold I will send you with them when they go away, and I will command them to be brought back again into the city, and I will take you away from them.
22 And if they dare their lives and fight for you, then shall I know that they have repented of what they did unto me, and I will make myself known to them, and if they forsake you when I take you, then shall you remain with me, and I will wrangle with them, and they shall go away, and I will not become known to them.
23 At that time Yoseph commanded his officer to fill their sacks with food, and to put each man's money into his sack, and to put the cup in the sack of Benjamin, and to give them provision for the road, and they did so unto them.
24 And on the next day the men rose up early in the morning, and they loaded their asses with their corn, and they went forth with Benjamin, and they went to the land of Canaan with their brother Benjamin.
25 They had not gone far from Egypt when Yoseph commanded him that was set over his house, saying, Rise, pursue these men before they get too far from Egypt, and say unto them, Why have you stolen my master's cup?
26 And Yoseph's officer rose up and he reached them, and he spoke unto them all the words of Yoseph; and when they heard this thing they became exceedingly wroth, and they said, He with whom your master's cup shall be found shall die, and we will also become slaves.
27 And they hastened and each man brought down his sack from his ass, and they looked in their bags and the cup was found in Benjamin's bag, and they all tore their garments and they returned to the city, and they smote Benjamin in the road, continually smiting him until he came into the city, and they stood before Yoseph.
28 And Yahudah's anger was kindled, and he said, This man has only brought me back to destroy Egypt this day.
29 And the men came to Yoseph's house, and they found Yoseph sitting upon his throne, and all the mighty men standing at his right and left.
30 And Yoseph said unto them, What is this act that you have done, that you took away my silver cup and went away? but I know that you took my cup in order to know thereby in what part of the land your brother was.
31 And Yahudah said, What shall we say to our lord, what shall we speak and how shall we justify ourselves, YAHWEH has this day found the iniquity of all your servants, therefore has he done this thing to us this day.
32 And Yoseph rose up and caught hold of Benjamin and took him from his brethren with violence, and he came to the house and locked the door at them, and Yoseph commanded him that was set over his house that he should say unto them, Thus saith the king, Go in peace to your father, behold I have taken the man in whose hand my cup was found.

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Jasher, Chapter 50

1 At that time the children of Tarshish came against the sons of Ishmael, and made war with them, and the children of Tarshish spoiled the Ishmaelites for a long time.
2 And the children of Ishmael were small in number in those days, and they could not prevail over the children of Tarshish, and they were sorely oppressed.
3 And the old men of the Ishmaelites sent a record to the king of Egypt, saying, Send I pray you unto your servants officers and hosts to help us to fight against the children of Tarshish, for we have been consuming away for a long time.
4 And Pharaoh sent Yoseph with the mighty men and host which were with him, and also his mighty men from the king's house.
5 And they went to the land of Havilah to the children of Ishmael, to assist them against the children of Tarshish, and the children of Ishmael fought with the children of Tarshish, and Yoseph smote the Tarshishites and he subdued all their land, and the children of Ishmael dwell therein unto this day.
6 And when the land of Tarshish was subdued, all the Tarshishites ran away, and came on the border of their brethren the children of Javan, and Yoseph with all his mighty men and host returned to Egypt, not one man of them missing.
Year 2230
7 And at the revolution of the year, in the second year of Yoseph's reigning over Egypt, YAHWEH gave great plenty throughout the land for seven years as Yoseph had spoken, for YAHWEH blessed all the produce of the earth in those days for seven years, and they ate and were greatly satisfied.
8 And Yoseph at that time had officers under him, and they collected all the food of the good years, and heaped corn year by year, and they placed it in the treasuries of Yoseph.
9 And at any time when they gathered the food Yoseph commanded that they should bring the corn in the ears, and also bring with it some of the soil of the field, that it should not spoil.
10 And Yoseph did according to this year by year, and he heaped up corn like the sand of the sea for abundance, for his stores were immense and could not be numbered for abundance.
11 And also all the inhabitants of Egypt gathered all sorts of food in their stores in great abundance during the seven good years, but they did not do unto it as Yoseph did.
12 And all the food which Yoseph and the Egyptians had gathered during the seven years of plenty, was secured for the land in stores for the seven years of famine, for the support of the whole land.
13 And the inhabitants of Egypt filled each man his store and his concealed place with corn, to be for support during the famine.
14 And Yoseph placed all the food that he had gathered in all the cities of Egypt, and he closed all the stores and placed sentinels over them.
Year 2233
15 And Yoseph's wife Osnath the daughter of Potiphera bare him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and Yoseph was thirty-four years old when he begat them.
16 And the lads grew up and they went in his ways and in his instructions, they did not deviate from the way which their father taught them, either to the right or left.
17 And YAHWEH was with the lads, and they grew up and had understanding and skill in all wisdom and in all the affairs of government, and all the king's officers and his great men of the inhabitants of Egypt exalted the lads, and they were brought up amongst the king's children.
18 And the seven years of plenty that were throughout the land were at an end, and the seven years of famine came after them as Yoseph had spoken, and the famine was throughout the land.
Year 2237
19 And all the people of Egypt saw that the famine had commenced in the land of Egypt, and all the people of Egypt opened their stores of corn for the famine prevailed over them.
20 And they found all the food that was in their stores, full of vermin and not fit to eat, and the famine prevailed throughout the land, and all the inhabitants of Egypt came and cried before Pharaoh, for the famine was heavy upon them.
21 And they said unto Pharaoh, Give food unto your servants, and wherefore shall we die through hunger before your eyes, even we and our little ones?
22 And Pharaoh answered them, saying, And wherefore do you cry unto me? did not Yoseph command that the corn should be laid up during the seven years of plenty for the years of famine? and wherefore did you not hearken to his voice?
23 And the people of Egypt answered the king, saying, As your soul liveth, our lord, your servants have done all that Yoseph ordered, for your servants also gathered in all the produce of their fields during the seven years of plenty and laid it in the stores unto this day.
24 And when the famine prevailed over your servants we opened our stores, and behold all our produce was filled with vermin and was not fit for food.
25 And when the king heard all that had befallen the inhabitants of Egypt, the king was greatly afraid on account of the famine, and he was much terrified; and the king answered the people of Egypt, saying, Since all this has happened unto you, go unto Yoseph, do whatever he shall say unto you, transgress not his commands.
26 And all the people of Egypt went forth and came unto Yoseph, and said unto him, Give unto us food, and wherefore shall we die before you through hunger? for we gathered in our produce during the seven years as you didst command, and we put it in store, and thus has it befallen us.
27 And when Yoseph heard all the words of the people of Egypt and what had befallen them, Yoseph opened all his stores of the produce and he sold it unto the people of Egypt.
28 And the famine prevailed throughout the land, and the famine was in all countries, but in the land of Egypt there was produce for sale.
29 And all the inhabitants of Egypt came unto Yoseph to buy corn, for the famine prevailed over them, and all their corn was spoiled, and Yoseph daily sold it to all the people of Egypt.
30 And all the inhabitants of the land of Canaan and the Philistines, and those beyond the Yardan, and the children of the east and all the cities of the lands far and nigh heard that there was corn in Egypt, and they all came to Egypt to buy corn, for the famine prevailed over them.
31 And Yoseph opened the stores of corn and placed officers over them, and they daily stood and sold to all that came.
32 And Yoseph knew that his brethren also would come to Egypt to buy corn, for the famine prevailed throughout the earth. And Yoseph commanded all his people that they should cause it to be proclaimed throughout the land of Egypt, saying,
33 It is the pleasure of the king, of his second and of their great men, that any person who wishes to buy corn in Egypt shall not send his servants to Egypt to purchase, but his sons, and also any Egyptian or Canaanite, who shall come from any of the stores from buying corn in Egypt, and shall go and sell it throughout the land, he shall die, for no one shall buy but for the support of his household.
34 And any man leading two or three beasts shall die, for a man shall only lead his own beast.
35 And Yoseph placed sentinels at the gates of Egypt, and commanded them, saying, Any person who may come to buy corn, suffer him not to enter until his name, and the name of his father, and the name of his father's father be written down, and whatever is written by day, send their names unto me in the evening that I may know their names.
36 And Yoseph placed officers throughout the land of Egypt, and he commanded them to do all these things.
37 And Yoseph did all these things, and made these statutes, in order that he might know when his brethren should come to Egypt to buy corn; and Yoseph's people caused it daily to be proclaimed in Egypt according to these words and statutes which Yoseph had commanded.
38 And all the inhabitants of the east and west country, and of all the earth, heard of the statutes and regulations which Yoseph had enacted in Egypt, and the inhabitants of the extreme parts of the earth came and they bought corn in Egypt day after day, and then went away.
39 And all the officers of Egypt did as Yoseph had commanded, and all that came to Egypt to buy corn, the gate keepers would write their names, and their fathers' names, and daily bring them in the evening before Yoseph.

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Jasher, Chapter 49

1 After these things the king sent and assembled all his officers and servants, and all the princes and nobles belonging to the king, and they all came before the king.
2 And the king said unto them, Behold you have seen and heard all the words of this Hebrew man, and all the signs which he declared would come to pass, and not any of his words have fallen to the ground.
3 You know that he has given a proper interpretation of the dream, and it will surely come to pass, now therefore take counsel, and know what you will do and how the land will be delivered from the famine.
4 Seek now and see whether the like can be found, in whose heart there is wisdom and knowledge, and I will appoint him over the land.
5 For you have heard what the Hebrew man has advised concerning this to save the land therewith from the famine, and I know that the land will not be delivered from the famine but with the advice of the Hebrew man, him that advised me.
6 And they all answered the king and said, The counsel which the Hebrew has given concerning this is good; now therefore, our lord and king, behold the whole land is in your hand, do that which seems good in your sight.
7 Him whom you chooses, and whom you in your wisdom knowest to be wise and capable of delivering the land with his wisdom, him shall the king appoint to be under him over the land.
8 And the king said to all the officers: I have thought that since YAHWEH has made known to the Hebrew man all that he has spoken, there is none so discreet and wise in the whole land as he is; if it seem good in your sight I will place him over the land, for he will save the land with his wisdom.
9 And all the officers answered the king and said, But surely it is written in the laws of Egypt, and it should not be violated, that no man shall reign over Egypt, nor be the second to the king, but one who has knowledge in all the languages of the sons of men.
10 Now therefore our lord and king, behold this Hebrew man can only speak the Hebrew language, and how then can he be over us the second under government, a man who not even knows our language?
11 Now we pray you send for him, and let him come before you, and prove him in all things, and do as you see fit.
12 And the king said, It shall be done tomorrow, and the thing that you have spoken is good; and all the officers came on that day before the king.
13 And on that night YAHWEH sent one of his ministering heavenly messengers, and he came into the land of Egypt unto Yoseph, and the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH stood over Yoseph, and behold Yoseph was lying in the bed at night in his master's house in the dungeon, for his master had put him back into the dungeon on account of his wife.
14 And the heavenly messenger roused him from his sleep, and Yoseph rose up and stood upon his legs, and behold the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH was standing opposite to him; and the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH spoke with Yoseph, and he taught him all the languages of man in that night, and he called his name Jehoseph.
15 And the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH went from him, and Yoseph returned and lay upon his bed, and Yoseph was astonished at the vision which he saw.
16 And it came to pass in the morning that the king sent for all his officers and servants, and they all came and sat before the king, and the king ordered Yoseph to be brought, and the king's servants went and brought Yoseph before Pharaoh.
17 And the king came forth and ascended the steps of the throne, and Yoseph spoke unto the king in all languages, and Yoseph went up to him and spoke unto the king until he arrived before the king in the seventieth step, and he sat before the king.
18 And the king greatly rejoiced on account of Yoseph, and all the king's officers rejoiced greatly with the king when they heard all the words of Yoseph.
19 And the thing seemed good in the sight of the king and the officers, to appoint Yoseph to be second to the king over the whole land of Egypt, and the king spoke to Yoseph, saying,
20 Now you didst give me counsel to appoint a wise man over the land of Egypt, in order with his wisdom to save the land from the famine; now therefore, since YAHWEH has made all this known to you, and all the words which you hast spoken, there is not throughout the land a discreet and wise man like unto you.
21 And your name no more shall be called Yoseph, but Zaphnath Paaneah shall be your name; you shall be second to me, and according to your word shall be all the affairs of my government, and at your word shall my people go out and come in.
22 Also from under your hand shall my servants and officers receive their salary which is given to them monthly, and to you shall all the people of the land bow down; only in my throne will I be greater than you.
23 And the king took off his ring from his hand and put it upon the hand of Yoseph, and the king dressed Yoseph in a princely garment, and he put a golden crown upon his head, and he put a golden chain upon his neck.
24 And the king commanded his servants, and they made him ride in the second chariot belonging to the king, that went opposite to the king's chariot, and he caused him to ride upon a great and strong horse from the king's horses, and to be conducted through the streets of the land of Egypt.
25 And the king commanded that all those that played upon timbrels, harps and other musical instruments should go forth with Yoseph; one thousand timbrels, one thousand mecholoth, and one thousand nebalim went after him.
26 And five thousand men, with drawn swords glittering in their hands, and they went marching and playing before Yoseph, and twenty thousand of the great men of the king girt with girdles of skin covered with gold, marched at the right hand of Yoseph, and twenty thousand at his left, and all the women and damsels went upon the roofs or stood in the streets playing and rejoicing at Yoseph, and gazed at the appearance of Yoseph and at his beauty.
27 And the king's people went before him and behind him, perfuming the road with frankincense and with cassia, and with all sorts of fine perfume, and scattered myrrh and aloes along the road, and twenty men proclaimed these words before him throughout the land in a loud voice:
28 Do you see this man whom the king has chosen to be his second? all the affairs of government shall be regulated by him, and he that transgresses his orders, or that does not bow down before him to the ground, shall die, for he rebels against the king and his second.
29 And when the heralds had ceased proclaiming, all the people of Egypt bowed down to the ground before Yoseph and said, May the king live, also may his second live; and all the inhabitants of Egypt bowed down along the road, and when the heralds approached them, they bowed down, and they rejoiced with all sorts of timbrels, mechol and nebal before Yoseph.
30 And Yoseph upon his horse lifted up his eyes to heaven, and called out and said, He raises the poor man from the dust, He lifts up the needy from the dunghill. O YAHWEH of Hosts, happy is the man who trusts in you.
31 And Yoseph passed throughout the land of Egypt with Pharaoh's servants and officers, and they showed him the whole land of Egypt and all the king's treasures.
32 And Yoseph returned and came on that day before Pharaoh, and the king gave unto Yoseph a possession in the land of Egypt, a possession of fields and vineyards, and the king gave unto Yoseph three thousand talents of silver and one thousand talents of gold, and onyx stones and bdellium and many gifts.
33 And on the next day the king commanded all the people of Egypt to bring unto Yoseph offerings and gifts, and that he that violated the command of the king should die; and they made a high place in the street of the city, and they spread out garments there, and whoever brought anything to Yoseph put it into the high place.
34 And all the people of Egypt cast something into the high place, one man a golden ear-ring, and the other rings and ear-rings, and different vessels of gold and silver work, and onyx stones and bdellium did he cast upon the high place; every one gave something of what he possessed.
35 And Yoseph took all these and placed them in his treasuries, and all the officers and nobles belonging to the king exalted Yoseph, and they gave him many gifts, seeing that the king had chosen him to be his second.
36 And the king sent to Potiphera, the son of Ahiram priest of On, and he took his young daughter Osnath and gave her unto Yoseph for a wife.
37 And the damsel was very comely, a virgin, one whom man had not known, and Yoseph took her for a wife; and the king said unto Yoseph, I am Pharaoh, and beside you none shall dare to lift up his hand or his foot to regulate my people throughout the land of Egypt.
Year 2229
38 And Yoseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, and Yoseph went out from before the king, and he became the king's second in Egypt.
39 And the king gave Yoseph a hundred servants to attend him in his house, and Yoseph also sent and purchased many servants and they remained in the house of Yoseph.
40 Yoseph then built for himself a very magnificent house like unto the houses of kings, before the court of the king's palace, and he made in the house a large temple, very elegant in appearance and convenient for his residence; three years was Yoseph in erecting his house.
41 And Yoseph made unto himself a very elegant throne of abundance of gold and silver, and he covered it with onyx stones and bdellium, and he made upon it the likeness of the whole land of Egypt, and the likeness of the river of Egypt that waters the whole land of Egypt; and Yoseph sat securely upon his throne in his house and YAHWEH increased Yoseph's wisdom.
42 And all the inhabitants of Egypt and Pharaoh's servants and his princes loved Yoseph exceedingly, for this thing was from YAHWEH to Yoseph.
43 And Yoseph had an army that made war, going out in hosts and troops to the number of forty thousand six hundred men, capable of bearing arms to assist the king and Yoseph against the enemy, besides the king's officers and his servants and inhabitants of Egypt without number.
44 And Yoseph gave unto his mighty men, and to all his host, shields and javelins, and caps and coats of mail and stones for slinging.

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