ALL the eleven sons of Jacob turned back in grief, and fear, and dismay, when Benjamin, the youngest brother, whom Judah had promised to bring safely back to their father, was found to have the silver cup of the lord of the land in his sack. How it came there they could not guess, but they knew that their father's heart would break if they came home and left Benjamin to be a slave. [Illustration: JOSEPH MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN.--Gen. 45:2.] So they all came to the lord of the land; and Judah stood up before the strange, stern, princely man, and told him how much their old father loved this youngest son, and he would be sure to die if the lad did not come home safe. And then Judah begged to stay and be a slave in Egypt, instead of his brother Benjamin, for he said if mischief befell the lad his father would die, and that he could not bear to see. But when Judah so spake, the lord of the land sent all the lookers-on away, and wept aloud, and said that he was their own brother Joseph, whom they had sold so long ago. He would not let them be afraid; he embraced them all and wept for joy, and asked for his father. Then he told them not to grieve for what had gone before; for God had turned it all to good, and made him be the means of saving all their lives, by storing up the corn in Egypt. [Illustration: JOSEPH MEETING HIS FATHER.--Gen. 46:29, 30.] And now they were to go home, and tell Jacob, their father, that Joseph was still alive, and was a great and powerful man; and they were to fetch old Jacob, their father, and their wives and their children, and all they had, and come to live with Joseph in Egypt, where he would take care of them. That was the way Joseph forgot all the ill his brothers had done to him, and forgave them, and loved them with all his heart. When the brothers came home, their father Jacob could scarcely believe such good news; but at last he said, "Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go to see him before I die." And he came down to Egypt, and Joseph met him and fell on his neck and kissed him; and then there was joy indeed, joy as if Joseph had come back from the dead. So Jacob lived all the rest of his life in Egypt, and was happy with his son Joseph. God had given him another name, Israel, and his sons, and their sons after them, were always called the children of Israel. QUESTIONS. 1. Who was Benjamin? 2. What was found in Benjamin's sack? 3. Who put it there? 4. What was going to be done to Benjamin? 5. Who spoke for him? 6. What did Judah ask? 7. Who did the lord of the land turn out to be? 8. How came Joseph to be in Egypt? 9. Why had his brothers not known him sooner? 10. How did he treat them? 11. Whom did he send for? 12. What did Jacob say? 13. Where did Jacob go to live? 14. Why was it very kind in Joseph to help his brothers? 15. Did he give back to them the harm they had done to him? 16. How could we do like Joseph? [Illustration: LEATHER BOTTLES.] Eighth Sunday.