Book of Jasher (Sefer haYashar) 12

~179~ And Yehuda approached him and broke the door, and came with his brother before Yosef. And Judah said to Joseph, Let not my lord's eyes speak, please your servant speak before you, and Joseph said to him something. And Judah spoke before Joseph, and his brothers stood before them there. And Judah said to Joseph, Wasn't it in the beginning when we came to my Lord to break food and you put us as spies of the land, and we will bring our brother Benjamin before you and he is still wronging us today. And now please let the king hear my words and please send our brother and go to him, lest you lose your life and the lives of all the inhabitants of Egypt this day. Didn't you know what my two brothers Shimon and Levi did to the city of Nablus and to the seven cities of the Amorites for our sister Dinah, and what they will do for their brother Benjamin. And I will cry stronger and greater than both of them this day on you and all your land, if you do not wish to send our brother. Haven't you heard what our God did who chose us to be Pharaoh for Sarah our mother, whom we took from our father's people. who struck him and his house with great plagues that all the Egyptians still recount this wonder to one another, to this day. Our God will do the same to you for Benjamin, whom you took from his father today, and for the evils you are wreaking on us in your land today. Because our God will remember his covenant with our father Abraham, and bring evil upon you because you have troubled the soul of our father today. And now please listen to my words that I spoke to you today and send our brother and he will go to him, lest you and your country die by the sword because you will not all be able to defeat me.

~180~ And Joseph answered Yehudah saying, why did you widen your mouth in all these things and brag about us because you have prowess. As Pharaoh lives, if I had ordered all my heroes to fight with you, you and your brothers would not have drowned in their blood. And Yehuda said to Yosef, don't you and your people be afraid of me, as the Lord lives, for if I draw my sword it will not return empty. Until this day I killed all of Egypt and one of you, and ate with Pharaoh, your lord. And Joseph answered and said to him, isn't it yours alone that is the hero, I am also a hero and stronger than you. If you have drawn your sword, I will return it to your neck and to the necks of all these brothers of yours. And Judah said to him, "If I am open, I will open my mouth against you today, because now I have swallowed you up and you will disappear from the earth and your kingdom will perish today." And Joseph answered, if you open your mouth, I have the strength and courage to shut your mouth with a large stone until you cannot speak anything. And Yehuda said, What is the matter with you, and there is a king, for the king will take out of his house all the land, silver and gold, a great deal, whether by giving or by losing. And you are still talking about your cup which you gave to our brother, and you say that he stole it from you. God forbid, for Benjamin our brother and the seed of Abraham, the deeds of this thing to steal from you or your relatives, whether from a king or a minister or from all people. And now beware of this thing, lest all the earth hear your words, as it was said, for a little money the king of Egypt fought with people and turned against them and took their brothers as slaves. And Joseph answered and said, Take this cup for you and go away from me and leave your brother to be a slave because the thief's sentence is to be a slave. And Yehuda said, Why are you not ashamed of your words to leave our brothers and take your cup? And if you do not give us as your cup a thousand times, we will not leave our brother, for money that is in the hand of every man, even if we die for him.

~181~ And Joseph answered and said, Why did you leave your brother and sell him for twenty pieces of silver until this day, and why do you not do the same to this brother of yours? And Yehuda said, O Lord, between me and you, because we did not desire your war, now leave our brothers and we will leave you without war. And Joseph answered and said, Gather, gather all the kings of the land, they will not be able to take your brother from my hand. And Yehuda said, What was said to our father when he saw that our brother did not come with us and took care of him. And Joseph answered and said, This is the thing that you will speak to your father, saying, the rope followed the bucket. And Judah said, Aren't you a king, and why do you speak such words as a false judgment? Woe to the king who will be like you. And Joseph answered and said, There is no false judgment in what you have spoken for your brother Joseph. Because you all sold him to the statesmen for twenty pieces of silver and you all deny your father and say to him an evil animal ate him, Joseph's prey. And Yehuda said, Behold, the fire of Nablus has burned in my heart, and now I will burn you and all your land with fire. And Joseph answered and said, Isn't the fire of Tamar, your daughter-in-law, which killed your sons, extinguishes the fire of Nablus. And Judah said, As the Lord liveth, I have cut off one hair from my flesh until I have filled all Egypt with her blood. And Joseph answered and said, This is your right to do when you did to your brother whom you sold. And dip his shirt in the blood and bring it to your father, and he will say, "An evil animal has eaten him, and here is his blood in his shirt."

~182~ And Judah heard this, and his nose was very angry and his anger burned in him. And there was a stone in front of him in that place, weighing about four hundred shekels, and Yehudah was also excited and took the stone with one hand, and the sky threw it and it was received with the other left hand. And after that he put it under his feet and tightened it with the fury of his power, and the stone was reduced to dust by the power of Judah. And Joseph saw what Yehuda had done and was very afraid, but he commanded his son Manasseh and he also did with another stone as Yehuda had done. And Yehuda said to his brothers, Let none of you say that this man is an Egyptian, because he is of our father's family by doing this. And Yosef said, isn't the heroism given to you alone, because we are also heroes, and why should you all boast about us? And Judah said to Joseph, Please send our brother and do not destroy your land this day. And Joseph answered and said to them, Go tell your father an evil animal ate him when you said about Joseph your brother. And Judah turned to his brother Naphtali and said to him, Go quickly, please, and count the markets of all Egypt, and come and tell me. And Shimon said to him, Please do not let this matter trouble you, now I will go and carry one large stone from the mountain and it will kill all of Egypt and I will kill everything that is in it. And Joseph heard all the things that his brothers spoke before him, and they did not know that Joseph was listening because they said that he did not know how to speak Hebrew. And Joseph was very afraid of the words of his brothers lest they destroy Egypt, and commanded his son Manasseh to say. Please go quickly and call to me all the inhabitants of Egypt and all the heroes together and they will come to me now on horses and on foot and with every musical instrument, and Manasseh went and did so. And Naphtali went when Yehuda commanded him, for Naphtali was very light on his feet like one of the light deer and he walked on the ears of seed and they would not break under him. And he went and counted all the markets of Egypt and found twelve in them, and he came quickly and told Judah. And Judah said to his brothers, make haste for you, and put a man's sword on his thigh, and prophesy against Egypt, and strike them all down, and you shall not leave a remnant of them. And Yehuda said, I will destroy three markets with my power, and all of you will destroy each one of you one market. And it came to pass in the case of Judah this thing, and behold, the inhabitants of Egypt, all the heroes, all came against them with all musical instruments and with many shouts. And their whole number was five hundred horsemen and ten thousand footmen, and four hundred heroes who could fight without sword or spear except with their hands and their valor.

~183~ And all these regiments came with a great noise and shouting and they all surrounded the sons of Jacob and Behlum, and the earth split open at the sound of their shouting. And it came to pass when the sons of Jacob saw these regiments, and they were greatly afraid of their souls, and Joseph did so in order to frighten the sons of Jacob to turn them away from him. And Judah saw some of his brothers frightened and said to them, Why are you looking at each other and the grace of our God is with us. And Judah saw all the people of Egypt surrounding them as Joseph's team to frighten them, but Joseph commanded them to say do not touch one of them. And Judah hastened and drew his sword and shouted a great and very bitter cry and he drew his sword and skipped over the land, and he added to shout for all the people. And when he did this thing, God cast fear on Judah and his brothers on all the heroes and all the people around them. And they all fled from the sound of the shout and the fear and fell one upon the other and many of them died in their fall, and they all fled from Judah and his brothers and from Joseph. And it came to pass that Judah and his brothers pursued them as far as Pharaoh's house, and they all fled from them. And Yehuda sat still before Yosef, and roared at him like a lion and shouted at him a great and very bitter cry. And that cry was heard far away, and all the dwellers of Sukkot heard it, and all Egypt trembled at the sound of the cry. And all the walls of Egypt and the land of Goshen all fell down from the noise of the earth, and Pharaoh also fell from his throne on his face to the ground. And all the women of Egypt and Goshen who were pregnant, their children fell from their wombs when they heard all the noise, because they would see very, very much. And Pharaoh sent to say, What is this thing that is happening today in the land of Egypt, and they came and told him all the things from beginning to end. And Pharaoh was frightened, and he became an orphan, and he was very afraid, and fear upon fear was added to him when he heard all these things. And he sent to Joseph to say, Destroy all Egypt, you have brought the Hebrews to me, what do you do with that thieving servant, let him go and go with his brothers and we will not perish because of their evil, we and you and all Egypt. And if you don't want to do this thing, leave all my cuteness and go with them to their country if you want them. Because today they destroyed all my land and killed all my people and all the women of Egypt threw their children with their shouting, see what they did with their shouting and their words, even if they fought with the sword and destroyed the rest of the land. Now choose for you what you want, if I am the mother of the Hebrews and if Egypt and if the land of the Hebrews.

~184~ And they came and told Joseph all the words of Pharaoh that he had sent to him, and Joseph was very afraid of Pharaoh's words. And Yehuda and his brothers still stood before Yosef in Hama and Haron as well, and all the sons of Jacob roared at Yosef like the roaring of the sea and its waves. And Joseph was very afraid of his brothers and of Pharaoh, and Joseph asked for a plot to inform his brothers lest they destroy all of Egypt. And Joseph commanded his son Manasseh, and Manasseh went and came before Yehuda and put his hand on his shoulder, and Yehuda's anger subsided. And Judah said to his brothers: Let none of you say that this is the work of an Egyptian boy, but that this is the work of my father's house. And Joseph saw and knew that Judah's anger had subsided, and he went to speak to Judah with a soft tongue. And Joseph said to Judah, "Speak the truth, and let it be true in your mouth about all your valor today, and your God, whom Joseph has desired of you, will be good to you." But don't you please tell me why you fight with me over the boy of all your brothers, about whom not one of them has spoken to me. And Judah answered Yosef, saying, "Don't you know that I myself bequeathed the boy from my father's people to say, 'If we did not bring him to him, I have sinned against him all the days.'" That is why I came before you today with all my brothers, because I saw that I did not want to give him and send from you. Now I will please you and send him to go with his brother, and I myself will sit under him to serve you in whatever you desire. For wherever you send me I will go to serve you with my great prowess. Please send me to the king of Kesha who rebelled against you, and you knew what I would do to him and his country. Even if he has a chariot and feet and a very great people and I have killed them all, and I will bring the head of your king before you. Didn't you know if you hadn't heard, that Abraham our father with his servant Eliezer both defeated all the kings of Elam with their armies in one night and left no remnant of them. And from that day forward, the valor of our father was given to us, to inherit it for us and our seed forever.

~185~ And Joseph answered and said, Speak the truth and there is no lie in your mouth because we were also told that the Hebrews have valor and God their God desires them very much and who can stand before them. But herewith I will send your brother to you, if you bring before me his brother, his mother's son, whom you said came down from Egypt with you. And it was when you brought his brother to me and I took him under him, he answered because none of you pledged him to your father, and it happened when he came to me and I sent you his brother whom you pledged. And Judah was angry with Yosef by saying this thing, and his eyes shed blood from his anger, and he said to his brother that he wants to kill his soul and all the Egyptians today. And Shimon answered Yosef saying, didn't we say that we told you in the beginning that we did not know where he went and if he died and if he lived and why would my Lord speak these things. And Joseph saw Yehuda's face and knew that his nose began to sneer at him by saying to him, Bring your brother under his brother. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Did you not say that your brother is dead and will be lost, and behold, if I call him today and he comes before you, you will leave him to me under his brother." And Yosef began to speak and read, Yosef Yosef come before me today and show your brothers and please sit before them. And it came to pass as Joseph spoke this thing before them, and they looked one by one and one by one to see whence their brother Joseph would come. And Joseph saw all their actions and said to them, Why do you look so and so, I am Joseph your brother whom you sold me from Egypt. And now do not be sorry in your eyes because you have sold me, because God has sent me before you to live for hunger. And his brothers were afraid of him when they heard Joseph's words, and Judah was very much afraid of him. And Benjamin heard the words of Joseph and he was before them in the house inside, and Benjamin ran to his brother Joseph and embraced him and fell on his neck and wept. And Joseph's brothers saw Benjamin falling on his brother and wept with him, and they also fell on Joseph and embraced him and wept bitterly with Joseph. And the voice was heard in Pharaoh's house because they are Joseph's brothers, and it is very good in Pharaoh's eyes because we will be afraid of them lest they destroy Egypt. And Pharaoh sent his servants to Joseph to rejoice in his brothers, who had come to him. And all the captains of the soldiers and the heroes who are in Egypt will come to rejoice with Joseph, and all Egypt will rejoice over Joseph's brother very much. And Pharaoh sent to Joseph to say, tell your brothers to bring all that they have and they will come to me and I will settle them in the best of the land of Egypt, and they will do so.

~186~ And Yosef ordered those in charge of his house to bring out rations and gifts and clothes to his brothers. And he took out many clothes for them, royal clothes and many gifts, and Joseph distributed them to all his brothers. And he gave each of his brothers suits of clothes like royal clothes, and a hundred pieces of silver with them. And he gave Benjamin his brother five suits of clothes, gold and silver clothes, and three hundred pieces of silver. And Joseph sent to them and they all put on these clothes, and brought them before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh saw all of Joseph's brothers because they were all heroes and of good character, and he was very happy. And after that they went out from before Pharaoh to go to the land of Canaan to their father, and Benjamin their brother with them. And Joseph stood up and gave them Isti ten chariots, from Pharaoh. And Joseph gave them his chariot, which he rode on the day he reigned over Egypt, to bring his father on it to Egypt. And Joseph sent all his brothers' children clothes according to their number, and a hundred pieces of silver to each of them. And also to his brother's wives he sent clothes as many as the clothes of the king's wives, and incense and incense he sent to them. And he gave to each of his brothers ten men to go with him to the land of Canaan to serve him, and to carry their children and all that they had to come from Egypt. And Joseph sent by Benjamin his brother ten clothes for his ten sons, one shekel for the children of the sons of Jacob. And he sent each one fifty pieces of silver and ten chariots, from Pharaoh. And he sent to his father ten donkeys carrying all the good things of Egypt and ten donkeys carrying cattle and bread and food, to his father and all who were with him on the way. And he sent his sister Dinah clothes of gold and silver, frankincense and myrrh, and lamps, and many women's perfumes, and also to the women of Benjamin he sent such, from Pharaoh's wives. And he gave all of them to his brothers and to their wives of all the stones of Shoham and the crystal of Barakat and Patada and of all the great virtues of Egypt. And he sent his brothers and they went, and Benjamin his brother he sent with them to go to the land of Canaan. And Joseph went out with them to fight on the way to the border of Egypt, and he commanded his father and his house to come from Egypt. And he said to them, "Do not be angry on the way, because this word was from the Lord, for the sake of a people living out of famine, because there will be famine in the land for five more years." And commanded them to say, when you come to the land of Canaan, do not suddenly come before my father in this matter, for you have done according to your wisdom.

~187~ And Joseph was able to command them and went to Japan and dwelt in Egypt, and the sons of Jacob went to the land of Canaan with joy and kindness to their father Jacob. And they came to the border of the land and said one to another, What shall we do in this matter before our father. Because if we come to him suddenly and the matter is against him, he will be very frightened by our words, and will not want to listen to us. And they went as far as they came to their houses and they found Sarah Bat Asher coming out to meet them, and the girl was very good and smart and knew how to play the violin. And they called her and she came to them and played for them, and they took her and gave her one violin to say. Please come before our father and sit before him, and play the violin and speak and say these things before him. And they ordered her to go to their house, and she took the violin and hurried and went before them and sat with Jacob. And let the violin play and she will say in her pleasant words, Yosef Dodi is alive and that he is the ruler of all the land of Egypt and is not dead. And she added and played and spoke like these words, and Jacob heard her words and spoke to him. And he heard her words twice and three times, and joy came to Jacob's heart because of her words, and the Spirit of God came upon him and he knew that all her words were true. And Jacob blessed Sarah by saying these words before him and said to her, My daughter, let not death rule over you forever, for you have revived my spirit. But please speak before me when you spoke, for I am pleased with all your words. And he added and played like these words, and Jacob heard and answered him and rejoiced, and the Spirit of God was upon him. We were still talking with her, and behold, her sons came to him in horses and chariots and royal robes, and slaves running before them. And Jacob stood up to meet them and saw his sons dressed in royal robes, and saw all the good things that Joseph had sent them. And they said to him, Be informed that Joseph our brother is alive and he is the governor of all the land of Egypt, and he is the one who spoke to us as much as we spoke to you. And Jacob heard all the words of his sons and his heart sank at their words, because he did not believe them until he saw all that Joseph gave them and that he sent him and all the signs that Joseph spoke to them. And they opened their sacks before him and showed him all that Joseph had sent, and Jacob knew that they spoke the truth and was very happy for his son. And Jacob said, I wish as long as my son Joseph is alive, now I will go and see us before I die. And his sons will tell him all the stories about them.

~188~ And Jacob said, I came down from Egypt to see my son and his children. And Jacob stood up and put on the clothes that Joseph had sent him and put the turban on his head that Joseph had sent him, after he had washed and shaved all his hair. And all the men of Jacob's house and their wives put on everything that Joseph had sent them, and they rejoiced greatly in Joseph because he was still alive and because he was the governor of Egypt. And all the inhabitants of Canaan heard this thing, and they came and made Jacob very happy with Joseph because he was still alive. And Jacob made them a feast for three days, and all the kings of Canaan and all the great men of the land ate and drank and rejoiced in Jacob's house. And it came to pass after that, that Jacob said, I will go and see my sons in Egypt, and the land of Canaan will be restored, which God spoke to Abraham, because I cannot leave the land of my birth. And here is God's word to him, get up and go down from Egypt with all your household and settle there, do not be afraid of rebellion from Egypt because I will charge you there with a great nation. And Jacob said to his heart, I will go and see the sons of Ood. The fear of his God is in his heart among all the inhabitants of Egypt. And the Lord said to Jacob, do not be afraid of Joseph, for we are still holding his death for my servant when it pleases you, and Jacob will be very, very happy for his son. At that time, Jacob commanded his sons and his household to go from Egypt in God's word to him. And Jacob and his sons and all his household arose and went out of the land of Canaan from Be'er Sheva with joy and good-heartedness, and went to the land of Egypt. And it happened among them to come from Egypt, and Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to order before him a residence in Egypt. And Judah did as his father said, and hurried and ran to Joseph, and they set a place for them in the land of Goshen to Jacob and to all his household, and Judah sat down and went to his father on the way. And Joseph forbade the chariot, and called all his heroes and servants and all the ministers of Egypt to go to meet his father Jacob. And Joseph passed a voice in Egypt saying, all who do not go out to meet Jacob shall die. And it came to pass the next day, that Joseph went forth with all the Egyptians, a great and vast army, all dressed in mud and crimson garments, and vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and the instruments of their war with them. And they all went out to meet Jacob with all musical instruments and drums and dances and myrrh and tents scattered all along the way, and they all went according to this sentence and the earth shook at their sound.

~189~ And all the women of Egypt also went up on the roofs of Egypt and on the walls towards Jacob, and they are also playing with drums and dances. And Joseph and all the people who were with him went towards Jacob and on Joseph's head the crown of the kingdom that belongs to Pharaoh, because Pharaoh sent him to wear it when he went to meet his father. And it came to pass when Joseph came near his father about fifty cubits, and he got down from the chariot and walked on his feet towards his father. And all the ministers of Egypt and their elders saw that Joseph went down with his feet to his father, and they also went down and walked with their feet towards Jacob. And it came to pass when Jacob and his sons sacrificed to Joseph's camp, and Jacob looked toward the camp that was walking towards him with his son Joseph, and she looked straight in his eyes and Jacob was amazed at her. And Jacob said to Judah, Who is the man that I see in the camp of the Egyptians, dressed in royal clothes? And he wore a very red garment and a royal crown on his head, and he descended to the ground from his chariot and walked towards us. And Yehuda answered his father saying, He is your son Joseph the king, and Jacob was happy to see the glory of his son. And Joseph drew near before his father and bowed to his father, and all the people of the camp bowed with him to Jacob's land. And behold, Jacob ran and hurried to his son Joseph, and he fell on his neck and watered him and mourned with him. And Joseph also embraced his father and watered him and wept, and all the people of Egypt wept with them. And Jacob said to Joseph, Behold, her death this time is good after I have seen your face, for you are still alive and in honor. And all the sons of Jacob and their wives and their sons and their servants and all the house of Jacob wept very much with Joseph, and they watered him and hugged him and wept very much with him. And after that Joseph and all his people returned to them from Egypt, to their place. And Jacob and his sons and all his household came with Joseph from Egypt, and Joseph settled them in the best of Egypt in the land of Goshen. And Joseph said to his father and to his brothers, I will go up and tell Pharaoh, saying, My brothers and my father's house and all who belong to them have come to me, and they are in the land of Goshen. And Joseph did so, and took from his brothers Reuben and Issachar and Zebulun and his brother Benjamin, and placed them before Pharaoh. And Joseph spoke to Pharaoh saying, My brothers and my father's house and all that they have, including their flocks and herds, have come to me from the land of Canaan to live in Egypt because the famine is strong on them. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, in the best of all the land, seat your father and your brothers; do not withhold from them any good thing, and feed them with the milk of the land.

~190~ And Yosef answered that, here they are settled in the land of Goshen because they are shepherds, therefore they settled in Goshen to graze their flocks from the Egyptians. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, whatever your brothers say to you, do with them, and the sons of Jacob bowed down to Pharaoh and left him in peace. After that, Joseph brought his father before Pharaoh, and Jacob came and bowed to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left. At that time, Jacob and all his sons and all his household lived in the land of Goshen. In the second year, it is the thirtieth year of Jacob's life. And Joseph provided for his father and his brothers and all his father's house, bread according to the abundance, all the days of the famine there was nothing lacking. And Joseph gave them the best of all the land, and the sons of Jacob ate the good of Egypt all the days of Joseph. Also a garment and a dress will Joseph give them to all his father's house year by year, and the sons of Jacob will live in Egypt for sure all the days of Joseph their brother. And Jacob would always eat with Joseph at his table, Jacob and his sons did not leave Joseph's table night and day, except for what the sons of Jacob would eat in their homes. And all the Egyptians eat and drink bread all the days of the famine from the house of Joseph, because all the Egyptians sold everything they had because of the famine. And Joseph cleansed Egypt and their land and their fields with bread, to Pharaoh. And Joseph fed all Egypt with bread, all the days of the famine. And Joseph collected all the silver and gold in the scrap that they break all over the country, and he found gold and silver in great abundance. Except for stones of Shoham and crystal and expensive clothes, which they brought to Yosef all over the country with all their money without number. And he took of all the silver and gold that came in his hand in pieces about seventy-two gold and silver pillows, and also a great deal of opal stones and crystal. And Joseph went and placed them in four parts, and placed one in the desert near the Red Sea and one on the river Euphrates. And the third and fourth buried them in the desert, against the desert of Persia and Media. And he took gold and silver from the rest and gave it to all his brothers and to all his father's house and to all the women of his father's house, and the excess brought to Pharaoh's house about twenty baskets of gold and silver. And Joseph gave the remaining gold and silver to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh put it in his treasures.

~191~ And all the days of famine in all the land after that, and they sowed and reaped all the land, and they found as a judgment year by year that they lacked nothing. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt safely, and the whole land was under his counsel, and his father and all his brothers dwelt for them in the land of Goshen, and they held it. And Jacob became very old in days, and Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, always sit in the house of Jacob with the children of the sons of Jacob, their brothers, to learn the ways of God and His teachings. And Jacob and his sons dwelt in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and they held it, and they prospered and multiplied greatly.