Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/50

Rh their guiltiness. His beseeching cry of anguish must have often sounded in their ears; and now, to use the expressive language of Scripture, the voice of their brother's blood seemed to pierce their very souls. What a picture does this present to us of the working of a guilty conscience! and what a warning does it read to us to shun all evil, and to preserve the conscience clear and void of offence!

And how beautiful a spectacle does the scene present to us, on the other hand, in the effect of the self-accusings of his brethren upon Joseph! Although their cruel treatment must also, by their recital, have been brought vividly before his mind, it excited in him no feelings of resentment or desire for revenge; on the contrary, tender affection and pity were the feelings of his kind and noble heart, and so deeply was he moved, that "he turned himself about from them and wept." Yet his purpose of benevolence required that he should carry his agreement with them into effect. He therefore returned to them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.