Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/46



HE famine which Joseph had predicted, and against which he had so anxiously provided, was not confined to Egypt; it was "over all the face of the earth." And not only was there provision in Egypt for the Egyptians themselves, but "all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn, because that the famine was sore in all lands." The famine extended, of course, to the land of Canaan, where Joseph's father and his family dwelt. They felt its pressure, but Jacob had ascertained where relief was to be obtained. "When Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, get you down thither, and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and not die."

Ten of Jacob's sons set out for Egypt, the