On Joseph

On Joseph When His Brothers Sold Him A Memra of the Fourth Century On Joseph when his brothers sold him and he endured suffering, and it is said in the Book of the Blessed, a narrative that he endured. The mercy of the chaste ones calls me to go in the path of the chaste and to walk in the air on the beautiful way of their conduct. Their love impels me as a child toward instruction, that I might stand in the place of the idle; go in the company of the diligent. The fair flower of their conduct is set before me as a sign, that I might live up to it by means of my words, if I am able. By their spiritual victories, their thoughts are troubled, how they were strong and were not healed before the afflictions. In the mortality that they had put on, I was inquiring how the base body conquers and its sufferings cease. There is no earthly victory for the spirit to conquer by its own power, and how the bodily ones were strong in the contest of the spirit. The flesh was not able to triumph by the strength of the limbs, and how does it give victory to the weak power? The sign of its creation from the living one and he called it his image, he placed in it the power of the virtues and it ceases its sufferings. The Lord of its making, who is Lord of the natures, he gives power in his fullness and makes it victorious by his power. By the power of divine help, the athletes were strengthened and gave good to the power of his help for their desires.

He cast his love upon the sons of his household, who loved his love, and he pressed with love the greatness of his power upon their labors. He cast the measure of his passion, hidden in the passions of them, and he sought to trade with the coin of his words. He cut a vintage for Abraham, Isaac, and his son Jacob, who were working spiritually in the vineyard of his love. The Creator chose three workers for the cultivation of his vineyard, and through their labor the quality of the name of his essence was revealed. He taught them to work with him according to his will, and he placed his coin upon the table of the passions of the soul. They ripened spiritual fruits by means of their words, and they gave to the sons of their household their labors, and they died while not dying. Abraham completed his course for Isaac, that he might trade with it, and Isaac showed the path of his labor to Jacob the chosen. Jacob brought forth from his members twelve fruits, and he offered them like firstfruits to the Most High. Twelve he begot from the root, the equal of his body, and when he was equal, he was the heart of the fruits that came from him. From them they were like roses on the path of his labor, in the hope of the reward of the name of the vintage of tranquil life. Joseph flew spiritually in the pattern of his father, and he stamped his soul with the stamp of the spirit to contend. On the ladder of the spirit, the son of Rachel desired to serve, and like his fathers he was like in his love toward the Creator.

He walked in the course of his path toward chastity, and in his ways he met with the petition of faith. Love established for him a foundation for spiritual labors, and he lived in hope toward the goal of future things. In faith he was strengthened like a victor, and in his pastorate he bore the sword of his Lord's word. Even his parent saw him contending in his own likeness, and he poured out love and anointed him with the mercies of him who would again be magnified. With mercies he anointed him as with oil to take up the generation, and he conquered the passions of the body's desire through the mercy of his Lord. Why then did the jealous one divide her love toward her children, and anoint one with the oil of love more than his companions? Why then did she separate the union of love that was placed in the womb, and cast a barrier among the twelve fruits of her belly? Why did one member become heavy, and she called it her own? And behold, her own is the entire body that bore her children. Why did she accept the bondage of mercies and gifts, and for one she increased the inheritance of love that surpasses his brothers? One is the nature, or righteous one, and one is the child, and one is the sign that your mother formed with the seed of your sperm. That one nature, a father knows a father, and my womb testifies, but the will of the self is not equal to the power. The self is great, which changes the equal love, and it makes one to be hated and one to be loved.

The great power of separation rode upon nature and guides it like a tool to wherever it wills. The power of his will constrained love by the force of his will, and he himself proceeds like a guide to the fullness of time. This power signalled to me in a hidden, separated manner: "Look steadfastly and see the nature that is equal and divided." He was equal in his nature, that one nature and the sign of his creation, and he justified and divided his own will by his freedom. He rules over his will as one who is rational, and by his freedom he chooses and rejects whatever he wills. The love of the elder for his sons was revealed and showed me that separation is sovereign over movements and passions. It was not the love of Jacob the elder that was divided and justified; the power of his will bound love to his own benefit. The inequality of the will of his sons justified his love, and he loved and supported them in the separation of his own will. Error cast into the minds of his sons toward elderhood that if they are justified, they will also be pitied in the likeness of Joseph. The love of Joseph made his beloved one to the will of his father, and he loved truth more than his elder good father loved his brothers. The love of Joseph made his younger brother higher than his brothers, and he raised him to the degree of the priestly office as a reward.

The love that he had for his begetter and for his creator, that one wove for himself the crown of the victory of his virtues, compassion. Nature signalled to him that he should love his father and his creator, and by his conduct he repaid God and his begetter. By the equality of her love she divided the love that is placed in nature, and the affection of her own self constrained the inclination to love greatly. The love that Joseph had for his begetter resembles that which the Messiah has for John, the beloved of the Lord. He begot twelve, even the Saviour spiritually, and one of them was honoured in her good love more than his companions. In the order of Jacob, who begot the tribes in the fullness of months, in him also the Lord of the Chosen One chose disciples for the completion of the sign. As the fullness of the sons of Jacob orders the sign, that they might be like the mysteries of the people for the salvation of the nations. By the mystery of the Saviour, Jacob begot the twelve tribes, and he formed the wonders of the thirteenth of the Chosen One, the Messiah. The love that Joseph had is like our beginning, which overcame her love for the will of the one who loves love. By the love of his son he signified the demonstration of the love of the sinner, that he also loved one of his sons by the mystery of John. The love for Joseph, the chaste one, beloved by his father, that one raised up also the apostle above his companions. The love of Joseph magnified his father after her love, and it is revealed and confirmed that it is love that repays love to love.

He knew that Joseph would ask for mercy, that he might love his Lord, and that his love would repay him more than his own. And the begetter, because of this, increased his love, for he saw that the love of his soul was bound to his creator. His love was greater than that of his brothers, and he inclined his eyes, which were running to the hidden door of the one he loved. And when there is one father and one creator of body and soul, the will of one member is confused, and many go astray. Joseph was diligent and always stood at the hidden door, that it might open for him as a reward for his labors: love and mercy. In love and mercy his love was kindled in the heart of his Lord, and by his begetter he adorned the hidden word. By the honor of his father he was aroused, and he repaid him his love, a love that always repays its debt. First, the will of his soul preceded the law, for after the time it was destined that his words would be a warning. It is evident that it was not the law that taught the chaste, but the law was for the service of truth. The herald of the word of truth also interpreted well, for the law was established for the wicked, not for the chaste. The chaste were before the law in their thoughts, and they showed the way of the law by their conduct. First, the creator of discernment, before all laws, was the great one who writes and teaches eloquence.

The author wrote the book for Joseph concerning his intention, and he read it in secret and interpreted the book of hidden worship. He learned from the law of the dispensation that a man is obligated to repay love to his Lord and his father. He also hastened in his love like a dispenser of the worship of love to the Lord of his congregation and to his begetter. And when his father saw that he was eager to repay like a debtor, he also repaid him the reward of love according to his will. His love in secret, he saw, concealed in his love, and his honor in public, he subdued his emotions to his will. He prepared his body for his will through afflictions, and through his thoughts he adorned his soul, full of love. The Creator also increased his love more than his brothers, for he saw that the love of his soul was bound to his hiddenness. He gave him power from his hiddenness to see hidden things, and he strengthened his movements to search out the future. The hidden one interpreted the sign of his power through the movements of the soul, and he revealed in public the power of his hiddenness, which revealed everything to him. In his dream he revealed to him his exaltation and the humiliation of his brothers, and he showed him in secret that his tribe was raised above his detractors. Joseph saw the dream in secret and showed it to his brothers, and he taught them to stand over his authority, to rule and to judge. I saw that there is a sign and a portent in the cultivation of the land, when the hands are bound in the field to bring forth the fruit.

I saw that the palm of my hand was stretched out and my face was set right, and I saw the palms of your hands as they worshipped me. With the palms he shows the palm of the one who drives and strikes all, and with their prostrations the prostration of his brothers who prostrated before him. Eleven palms bowed their heads and prostrated to one, and a hand was stretched out and a rose was planted and a victory was won. O wonder that was shown by the palms, that hunger and thirst would be divided among twelve. Or the measure of the months, eleven that hid and were concealed, and he raised up a hidden sign concerning one year. Or the measure of the one who, when he went, asked for a measure, with twelve palms that were bent as a palm. Or the equalizer that makes all equal and divides all, and from it hunger also and measure, lacking and complete. One equalizer makes all equal with whatever it meets, and divides all by the will of its separateness. From one spring the members flowed like sources, and eleven flowed and one was poured out in the course of her love. In the likeness of Gihon they show his course in the land of Egypt, and a joyful channel of his eloquence better than silence. Gihon dried up all its evil for its great course, and Joseph watered a gentle abundance by means of a measure. In the dream that he saw he examined his brothers concerning both of them, that blood would be mingled with the examination by means of the palms.

He was excessive in examining the mysteries of the nature of the creator, and they marvelled at the hidden things of the dream in the palms. The brothers of Joseph were not helped by his examinations, but they added grief to their soul against his dreams. They increased his envy because of his beauty, like envious ones, for what wonder is there with his beauty, also his thoughts? And the more they increased his envy over his exaltation, his Lord made his desire to subdue the power of the hidden things. He turned and marvelled in him in the vision of a second mystery, which cries out in his power like a herald over his authority. I saw a dream, a third, humble one, for his father and his brothers: and behold, the bright sun and moon worshipping before me. With the sphere of the great sun and the full moon, I saw eleven stars prostrating in the place of my worship. The begetter of his dream saw that it was a sign of his authority, and he marvelled greatly that it was greater than him, how it could be examined. He revealed to his son the power that was hidden within the wonder: that your father and mother and your brothers come and worship before you. The righteous one stood in great wonder at those who were prostrating, and he feared greatly lest envy turn love. By the will of his brothers he was known as a knower, lest grief and evil begin to dwell in dreams.

And how Jacob was being buried in the hand of the envious one, the form of his sons was being fashioned in secret in the hidden place. The envious ones envied and greatly desired to extinguish the soul, because they saw that he was increasing through spiritual revelations. He was being raised with his brothers, and his brothers with him, and when he was equal, the heart of his brothers was weary and troubled. He was bound by the love of his father and of his relatives, and they were uprooted by the request of love from the sons of the envious one. He was bound with his father in the unity of their afflictions, and they were hiding his love and that of his begetter. Envy, a blind one, blinded the brothers of Joseph, and they did not see the light of righteousness that was concealed in his dreams. Envy was before them like a veil before their eyes, and they did not understand that the cause of the dream was a help for them. Envy, a dead one that died while not dead, and lived while not alive, died to truth and lived to sin, and it is not and it is. Woe to the evil one that is evil and destroys from his evil, and the deceiver who is hidden from the vigilant one like his folly. Jacob called and said to his son Joseph, the chaste one: Come, go and see the peace of your brothers and of the household. The perfect one set out as he was commanded by his begetter, and with his limbs also his mind in simplicity.

they saw him coming, and they showed a fierce hatred, and they hid the sword of their thoughts against his image. "Behold, the dreamer of dreams is coming, the arrogant one! Let us cast him down from life and break his dreams." They silenced his life so that he would no longer shine in the festivals, lest he rule and enslave them as he saw. The innocent one approached and asked for peace from those filled with rage, but they did not extend to him a hand worthy of brotherly love. They received from him the poison of life, the poison, and they dipped his body in the dye of death of their image. He asked after their well-being with love and compassion, and he kissed them, but they did not return to him the greeting that he gave them as was fitting. They ate the bread that was sent to them from their father, and they began to mount fierce horses according to their nature. When all his brothers saw him, they said thus: "Behold, the dreamer of dreams has arrived, and he reveals secrets." This is the heir whose fragrance is sweet before his parent, he keeps his mourning within the surrounding women and before his father. This is the one destined to become lord and to enslave them, and in the likeness of a lord he will bow before him and be enslaved. The brothers of Joseph were deliberating when they said, "With what horses shall we drive them from their father's house?

And when Joseph saw his brothers, that they were angry, he approached them and asked, "What is this sorrow that has befallen you? Perhaps a lion has fallen into a trap and destroyed the flock, or wolves have broken into the folds and scattered the sheep, or an army has cut down from the trees and carried off and gone away. Because of this that has happened today, behold, sorrow has befallen you. Do not be angry with me for this cause that has occurred." This was the great wealth of their father's house, which was beyond reckoning. The base ones basely stripped him of this inheritance, and with oppression they gave him an evil answer. "Son of a maidservant, why do you speak these contemptible words? Because of you, behold, ten men are being tormented. Summon those dreams of yours, which you have dreamed all your days, and they will deliver you from the distresses that are now coming upon you." Judah ran and drew his sword as was his custom, and Reuben prepared a deep pit, empty, to hide him in. His brothers cast him in while he was weeping and raising his voice: "What have I done, and what is his folly, that he has thus repaid me?" Joseph prayed in the depth of the pit and called to his Lord, "Judge in truth between Cain and Abel, who acted wickedly toward me and my brothers." Joseph looked to the height and the depth, and there was no helper. And behold, merchants were sent to him from God. That same Cain-like wickedness prepared a pit for his face, that they might come and rest there at noon because of him.

The merchants approached the edge of the pit and called out a warning. The shepherds ran to the edge of the pit, "Bring Joseph up from inside the pit, and take him and go!" And they began to ask, "Do you want a companion on the road to go with you?" The shepherds approached the merchants and asked them, "Do you want to buy a slave? Here is our catch." A young man, handsome in appearance and very gentle, wise and knowing how to serve, both raw and cooked. "Bring him and see; if you like him, set his price. Give us the price, take the slave, and go in peace." The arrogant ones ran against the meek one, whom they had caught, just as the Jews ran against our Savior. The story of Joseph greatly resembles that of our Savior, for when he did not understand, they hung him up by his evil ones on a tree. The arrogant ones acted deceitfully against that innocent one, and without cause they seized him and brought him as prey to the merchants. The merchants saw Joseph's beauty and desired him, for they thought they would demand much money for him. The arrogant ones asked, "How many pieces of silver do you want for him? It is not much; the day's food—take it and go!" When Joseph saw that the young man had been cut off from this, he was separated from his father's house and from his brothers' house.

He knelt and prostrated himself before his brothers, weeping, and the streams of his tears fell upon their shoulders, and he begged to go. "Take me from your hands at this time, and do not let me be sold and become a passer-by in the house of merchants. I adjure you by that God of the house of Abraham, do not send me to regions where I am not known. For Jacob, behold, is grieving for me, that I should leave him, and his old age and my youth cry out against you." Reuben, the firstborn, the beloved, said, "Have pity on your brother, and do not cast him down to his old father in evil to Sheol." Simeon said, "Hear me and have pity on your brother at this time, and do not let him be sold and become a slave for the house of merchants." Judah, the valiant and mighty one, said, "Take pity, and do not afflict his old father with harsh evil." Reuben embraced him, Simeon kissed him, Judah cried out over him, and Naphtali also was kind and brought ropes to his hands. Zebulun said, "Words that are not to be sought, the price of the boy, pay and hand him over, and depart from him." When Joseph the boy saw that there were no more words, he cast his eyes to the heights of heaven and spoke thus: "What then have you done to me? Like a bird, with a few feathers, you flew and alighted and saw the burden of this old age.

He gave me the voice of the thunder of the merciful one from all, and I cried out from my silence, and my father heard the voice of my groanings. He went and fell at the feet of that old age, for behold, the son of your fingers is being dashed against the walls. He approached the great height of worthlessness and showed that tunic before Jacob. The merchants took Joseph's tunic and covered the kid, and they rolled the tunic in blood and sent it to his father. When that tunic had come before Jacob, they said to him, "Take, recognize for yourself the tunic. Whether it is your son's or your beloved's, you do not know, for in the midst of the ruin we found it when we were wandering." Something like Joseph's tunic you do not know, and even if it were, it would not be disgraced on account of your hope. Jacob saw Joseph's tunic stained with blood, and he groaned, wailed, and wept bitterly. He broke the staff of his old age, leaned on his father, and fell from now on, and there is no one else to take and support me. He extinguished the lamp of his father, whose light was hidden, and in his old age he stumbled like one in darkness. He plucked the desired fruit whose scent was sweet, and he gave me a crown of thorns for all my days.

He gave me the voice of the thunder of the mourner at this time, and instead of dancing, behold, I make to dance and I make to weep. He lifted up his eyes and put on sackcloth and sat in mourning, and he spread before him the tunic of Joseph and wept over it. How I do not know to hope for your release, and through which gates you passed, son of my old age, from your father’s house. If a lion devoured you on a path that is not secure, with your tunic also your death would have been discovered. Perhaps a robber separated my beloved from his father’s house, and it was not heard that an army came to this place. Perhaps a thief separated my beloved from his father’s house; there is trust in the compassion of the seeker who is his own. Jacob sent and brought his sons from the house of the people, and he inquired of them concerning Joseph, what had happened to him. He was shorn and cast his white hairs before their eyes, while he wept and was distressed and begged of them. I swear to you by that God who cannot be deceived, what happened to Joseph who came to the pasture? His eyes were as though they were lying, and with oaths he was made to believe that they did not know. Wicked ones, they weep before their father, and Jacob the old man believed them, for he did not know.

Jacob lifted his eyes and looked at the face of the height, and he prayed before God and besought of him: "You, O God, who hearken to the afflicted according to your goodness, show me my beloved one, and also his guardians, where he is. Spread out your compassion that he may be hidden in it from the envious, and until I stand, I shall go and see his face spread out. Until I go down to the departed, I shall go and see him, and set my lips upon his lips, and then I shall die." The merchants went up to the house of the Egyptians, and Joseph with them, while they were rejoicing and marvelling because of him. A journey took hold of her on that road from that day, because this servant had been received to go with them. The deeds of the Lord are in the mourning of this youth, who is being sold from the envious because of him. For he was not a servant, truly, he was known to be free, and it is not fitting that he be enslaved in the manner of a servant. The merchants went up before Joseph and asked of him that Joseph eat and drink with them and pass over the mourning. "Do not be grieved because of the purchase that has received you, for you are a free man and not a slave, even concerning this." Potiphar went out and saw Joseph among the merchants, and he was inflamed by his beautiful comeliness and began to say: "Perhaps this youth is a servant; give him to me, and I shall give his price, much, with great joy.

The merchants said, "If it is he who wishes to go with you, let him deposit with you twenty of silver, and then he may go with you." The merchants took the pledges of Joseph from Potiphar, and they approached him, pressed him, and demanded of him. "Do not deny yourself, Joseph, the youth, on account of this, and do not be troubled that we have taken your pledges which are necessary for you." Joseph said, "O merchants, go in peace; may the Lord bless your journeys forever." That woman called to Potiphar from within her house, that he should come and buy the servant who would rule over the Egyptians. Potiphar took the servant and went out from the marketplace, and entrusted to his hand his entire household to manage. He gave him his authority and the care of all his treasure, over which he was master, that he might see and administer wisely according to his will. He ran and summoned the members of his household, saying to them, "Come out and see the beautiful servant who has been received for you." His appearance was fair, and his stature was wondrous; his countenance was comely, like a rose and like lilies in the days of summer. The wanton woman saw the beauty of Joseph and was inflamed with desire for him; and like a fire, the passion of her body burned within her. Like a lioness she sprang upon the innocent one, to defile his body and his soul with her vileness. She feared her own limbs with a false modesty that was very bright, and she braided her hair with cunning, and stood before him.

She adorned her body, set her scent, and put on gold, and she stood before him without shame in her wantonness. She dressed in fine linen with three other garments, and she set herself before him, disturbing him as she said to him: "Look at me, Joseph, how beautiful I am, how fair of face I am, how delicate I am; come, be with me, and forget your father." She called him to eat, but he did not wish to eat with her; she mixed wine and flesh and cast aside her wantonness. When she called and he did not heed her, she cast herself on the ground; when she spoke to him and he did not answer her, she sealed her mouth. When she looked at him, her gaze was fixed upon the heights of his face; when she signaled to him with her hand, he bowed his head and turned to his work. He went in and out, loosed and took up his service, and was not concerned to stay with her even a little. She began to say, "This wanton woman without shame, her wantonness from the listeners." "Joseph, do not trust that I am your mistress, and do not think that you are my servant without dispute. If you consent and do my will that I have spoken to you, I will make you master over my treasures and my possessions. If you fear Potiphar, the master of the house, I will make you another opportunity, and you will not fear. I will send poison and kill him wherever he is, and you will be my husband, master, and even heir.

She said to him, "I have another secret of my house, and also for you, that there is a great treasure of blood that cannot be exhausted." Joseph heard this tale, and his soul trembled, and he began to arrange his garments and cried out, "I do not desire it. I have no need of wealth that is stained with blood, and I do not seek an evil gain that cannot be sanctified. He who denies the wealth of evil seeks to bring affliction through it, and the stains of blood that are given cannot be sanctified. I will not bear the burden of evil upon the righteous one, and I will not defile the pure bed of partnership. There is a glorious king who dwells in the heights, and if he sees that this is done, behold, he will destroy me." Joseph lifted his eyes and looked toward the heights, and he prayed before God and besought him: "You brought me up from within the pit into which Reuben cast me, and you delivered me from the sword that was hidden. You brought me into the house of the Egyptians by your great power; now rise up and help me also from the Egyptian woman." Joseph went up to pray within the chamber, and that wanton woman followed after him and seized the door. She seized him and took hold of him, and weeping before him, she besought him, "If you do not love me, see that you do not abandon me, son of the Hebrews.

If you do not submit and do the will of what I have said to you, I will imprison you in the great pit of the house of prisoners. And if you do submit and bow your head to my words, I will make you head and lord over all Egypt. Joseph looked at the height and the depth, and there was no helper, and behold, help was prepared for him from God. He seized her and threw the temptress with the strength of his body, and he cast her down and opened the door and went out from her. The lioness saw that the eunuch had escaped from her, and she began to raise bitter cries within the palace. The servants and the free men heard her loud voice, and they all gathered and asked her, "What has happened to you?" She began to say, "That madwoman of yesterday, without shame, her vileness from her companions. Behold, the servant who bought and brought the master of the house, and like a harlot he counted me and desired to mock me. Like a widow I was sitting within the palace, and he opened the door to come in upon me to violate me. When I saw that he opened the door to come in upon me, I began and cried out and spat in his face like a viper." When the servant saw that he was ensnared, he put on his garment and opened and went out like a victor. They saw what this servant repaid the good master, in place of the honor and the whole house that he had entrusted into his hands.

Potiphar said, "I will make your testimony stand, that you did this, that I might know him with whom she acted wickedly; I do not wish." "Your garment is in your hands, and you have brought this guilty woman here, and I do not wish to believe you, that you are not truthful." The Egyptian heard the words of his wife, and he erred and became angry, and he imprisoned Joseph in the house of prisoners like a criminal. The righteous one fell into a harsh pit of his own digging, and his body was immersed, but his love was not immersed in the harshness of sufferings. Joseph went down to the house of darkness, and his face was cheerful, and he lightened from there the weight of sufferings and the grief of the soul. Joseph alone was not equal to this purpose, and the darkness of his imprisonment was a blind loss without remedy. He was imprisoned in fetters and was herded with the contemptible, like a gentle and pure redeemer among robbers. Two eunuchs, servants of the king, were with the righteous one, like a robber from the right and from the left. The servants were cast into the house of prisoners because they had erred, like robbers whom they had crucified; their deeds went forth. Joseph alone was imprisoned there without a beginning, with a secret that kills all that is not; his cross was a loss that they did not understand. The two Egyptians both dreamed distinct dreams together, one of redemption and the other of death on a tree.

Potiphar said, "I will make your testimony stand, that you did this, that I might know him with whom she acted wickedly; I do not wish." "Your garment is in your hands, and you have brought this guilty woman here, and I Potiphar saw the dreams that were seen by the son apart from the order, and concerning the Hebrew who rejoiced Potiphar in the interpretation of his words. He saw that they were pure from the remembrance of the dreams that were seen, and from their faces he perceived the sorrows of their thoughts. Potiphar asked as if he did not know that it was not so, and he learned from them and taught Potiphar in a spirit of revelation. In the river of the cup and the wine from it he saw his deliverance, and Joseph rejoiced him as with wine in the person of his words. Also the cupbearer in the king's food saw his release, and the cup taught him that by means of food food is made. He hung three baskets for three days, the righteous one was distressed, and he spent three days, three of life and death. Where is the wisdom that places the hidden one in the midst of the house, and in their revelation shows the power of its hidden sign? The words of Joseph were completed in deed as he interpreted, and the river lived and the cupbearer died according to their words. The river erred from the straight one like a deceiver, until the dream awakened the king and remembered him. Pharaoh the king of Egypt saw a dream and was amazed, and he asked his servants and they did not interpret for him the meaning of his words. He saw seven fat cows on the bank of the river, which were good in appearance and fat for the eyes of the beholders. He saw seven fat cows first, and after them seven lean ones, many.

See the powers of the ears, and swallow the hearsays, and go up and be lost, and no remnant remains of their body. See again the seven ears, as they rise upon the head of the stalk, and the hearsays are like the former oxen. At the end of his dream, he sees again ears that are lean, and their appearance resembles the oxen that were weak. He sees, as ears swallow ears, devourer devours devourer, like oxen that devour flesh with flesh, their like. Pharaoh the king marveled and was astonished at the dream he saw, that it was more confused than all dreams seen by a waking person. He summoned the magicians and the knowers of dreams and asked them, and he concealed the sign from them, the meaning of the power of the vision. The king was sad and sat in mourning without consolation, because he saw that the power of his dreams had fled from the magicians. The cupbearer of the king saw the sadness of the king and remembered, and began to recount his own transgression, though he did not wish to. The servant revealed his transgression to his master and the dream he saw, and he related to him about the Hebrew who would interpret his dreams. My lord, Pharaoh became angry with his servants because they had failed, and he imprisoned them in the prison, the house of great darkness. See, dreams full of sorrows came to me and my like, and bring a Hebrew and let him interpret for me.

The interpretation was truly good in the ears, and his word was completed by the doings of life and death. Pharaoh awoke as if from sleep toward the Hebrew, and hastened to go to his servants to summon Joseph. The dream he had seen was troubling him after his strength, and in the likeness of a stalk it was bowing him down toward his understanding. He sent the son of Ham and summoned the son of Shem, the servant of the Lord, that he might reveal the power of the interpretations and bless the accursed one. He went up against the son of Abram against Egypt, and saw him that he was dark, and from him he drove away the shame of the soul by the voice of his words. The son of Ham came to the son of Abraham, the dream he had seen, and examined again that his dream interpreters had deceived him. Joseph began with a spirit of revelation to interpret it, and to make clear the power of the mysteries before his mind. The king heard and learned the power of the power of the Creator, that his are dreams and visions to examine. "It is not mine that the power hidden in your dreams be revealed; he who taught you the power of his mysteries will examine me." He heard the power of your dreams from him by my hands as a mediator, and know and be confident that his sign makes wise the simple ones of his house. Seven fat cows came up, seven good ones, and seven lean cows, bad ones, of the stalk of famine. Again seven ears, full ears, came up, and seven dried up by the wind of the east wind, the famine of seven.

By means of the interpretations of the fat cows, he revealed the meaning of the seven years, and by the lean cows that swallowed, he indicated the famine. In that interpretation, he also formed the fat ears of grain, which, when they were good, were destroyed by the lean ones. By the ears of grain of the field, he signed the seven years and also the famine, and he taught mankind that they cannot live without a sign. If it is bread that gives life, it is in its own nature, because its power is not equal in satiety and famine. It is not bread that gives life by its own power to mortality, but the sign gives its power in the cause of bread. Satiety and famine, which are destined to come, Joseph indicated by that sign which gives life and kills through causes. Behold, now the great seven years are revealed to the righteous one, and famine came after the appointed time of the years that were spoken. Just as the interpretations of the lean ones were and swallowed the seven, so famine swallows satiety and destroys it. And because of this, he interpreted the dream for two times, and the good word hastened what was destined to be. And now Pharaoh saw the man who interpreted Joseph, who knows how to interpret famine in satiety. The Egyptian fell, whose crown was bound, before the Hebrew, and the son of Ham bowed down to the son of Abraham, though he did not wish to. There is no man wiser and more humble than you, and no one knows how to interpret like your wisdom.

Do not be a lord over my house, nor a governor, and the word of your mouth shall rule and judge slaves and free men. Only in the name of the kingdom of Pharaoh did you enter from me, and you shall be empowered to administer according to your will. The king of Egypt completed his promise and made him lord, and adorned him with his garments, the king's clothing like a prince. The son of Jacob mounted the chariot of the king of Egypt, and the son of Abraham began to command the nobles of the land. The dreams he dreamed in his father's house were fulfilled in deed, and his tribe was exalted in the likeness of the palm of a hand that raises the soul. He also received the fulfillment of the interpretations of his words, the famine and the plenty that came to light as he had declared. The famine was the cause of that voice which went forth to Abram: "Know that your descendants will be slaves." By this, the son of Jacob was also troubled, that he might establish a place that would save the seed of Abram. His brothers also cast their evil garments upon him like a garment, but the sign revealed to him all the hair of this. The evil ones filled the desire of the soul of their thoughts, and he knows all, completing the will of his adversary. These things that were done by the hands of Joseph were revealed to him, and he interpreted them by means of his household member like a wise man. Over the whole land, he made famine rule and seized its strength, and he raised up the nobles of Abram over the Egyptians.

Subdue the hard famine, O Jacob, to my sons. And when they did not wish, the brothers went down to administer the penalty of the dreams: that they should not pay wages to the stone for his wonders. Pharaoh, the head and the great one of the two times, exacted the penalty of his two dreams. With stars and stones, O Jacob, show secretly. The Hebrews went to the Egyptians to buy bread, and O Jacob, you rejoiced at that stone which Joseph overturned. O Jacob, you thought of the buyers before her beloved, and the sword of her hard side slipped over their necks. O Jacob, you made known that the buyer was slain by famine, and O Jacob, you did not exact the loss that is fitting for their deeds. The righteous one put on the true schema against his brothers, and O Jacob, you entered like a ram into the furnace of his words. Spies, said Joseph to the buyers, to touch the earth; the brothers went down, a fire not upon the bread. In the life of Pharaoh, the stone became a famine, and O Jacob, you trembled, and they were shaken and confounded, for there was no longer hope of deliverance. The stones were not evil; they did harm, famines. And when they were vexed in the name of being, O Jacob, you rejoiced. Reveal that they were eleven, O Jacob, and one their father, and one that was lost and diminished in his hand for many months.

The ten went down to buy bread, and one small one remained. Jacob saw that it was thus, as they had said. They were casting lots in the snare, they had fallen by means of their words. And the hidden sign was interpreted from all sides. According to their words, he sought with their hands as they had confessed, and he showed that he was angry and not God, for even he fears. Thus it shall be as you said, O righteous old man. Show the proof of your transformations, and you will be saved, O old man. Go, bring me your small brother of whom you said that he exists, and I will release you with your brother to your father. Place the skin according to the affair of your fall into it, and you, bring bread to the hungry of your fathers. Each one of them stopped and bound him with a yoke, filling a vessel, and he added money and bread to their loads. They departed from Egypt and came and arrived at their father, and they related to him what had happened and the events that occurred. The righteous one was amazed and wondered at their words, and he began to his sons, "Why have you revealed this? Why have you shown the measure of the sons of the one who is, who are to be the man who will be sought from you, even that one who perished?" He was silent from words, but hunger was not silent from his harshness, and he compelled the old man to go to Egypt when they did not wish.

They took his brothers as they had confessed, without deceit, and they prepared the basins for Joseph, the vessel of blood that was to be poured out. They took from the good of the land, the dust of the threshing-floor, and charcoal, and they placed a stone upon the first one they gave, and it was hidden. They went forth, driving with the hand that was of the covenant, lest it be delivered into the hands of the merchants and be lost. They were full of grief as they drove, like guilty ones, for the blood did not suffice for the price, and words were at the gate. The closer they drew to the borders of Egypt, the more they suffered, and their thoughts were confounded by the merchants. They arrived at the place, and the pangs of death arrived, and they felt and were bewildered like a woman whose pains have seized her. They prepared the basins and went up to pacify before the gate, and they brought in with them also the testimonies for the confirmation of the words. They fell to the ground, eleven speaking palms, and they completed the dreams that the vessel had dreamed through the merchants. They fulfilled the enmities, though they did not desire the debt of love, and they completed the mystery of the revealed mystery by the sign of the palms. He spoke with them wisely, like a wise man who saw that deeds were pressing upon words in truth for the vision. He asked them about their father, who stood as a vessel, and he saw his brother and said, "This is the one of whom you spoke.

His friends took hold of him, and the staff of his hand, the vessel of blood, was broken. And with the basin, he learned the evil of their thoughts. He was heavy with tears, as was their desire, and he showed that he knew the order of elder and youth. He commanded the steward of his house that he should dwell in a posture of love, and he placed a cup at the mouth of his deceivers and made him bitter. The cup that was his, he commanded to be placed in the deception of his brother, so that through all the vessel of blood, the love of the guilty brothers might be tested. They withdrew from his side, rejoicing as victors, while the command hastened, running and hurrying him. And mourning was like a bride over the thought. Why have you repaid the afflictions of youth in exchange for honor, and you do not abide in the hand of the one who is fitting for free men? He was small, as if he did not know in whose hand he was, and he found the cup where he had placed it near Benjamin. They turned, weeping, and mourning was spread over their heads, for mourning had turned the joy of the heart toward the threshing-floor of shame. They fell and were dragged about, as they were perplexed at what had happened, and they confessed and said, "There is no victory for our guilt." The righteous one saw the suffering of his brothers and suffered in their presence, and he no longer restrained himself from the shame of the humiliation of his soul. For the bond of love of the separation that was placed in the vessel was broken, and the tears became like a remission toward the shame.

He wept before them, for they were feeling pain without understanding, and he showed his love without recompense, for their deeds were not repaid. Mercy drew him in the likeness of a bridegroom toward the threshold, and he made known that he was the one who would sacrifice himself, a perfect offering. "Father, father, Joseph, the servant, a perfect offering of weeping, and behold, you have raised up the hidden desire which has revealed everything to him. Father, father, the sealed one who drove me out, wholly outside the flock, and behold, the God of all has made me shepherd over a divided people. Father, you are the limb that severed me from your body; come, be joined even now to equality. Father, father, I saw the eleven and one palms that buried me, and behold, the power of my words has been scattered because you bowed down to me. Go to the grieving Jacob, for Joseph stands; come quickly and also repay the debt of dreams. Go, tell him that the staff which supported you stands; come, take in your hand the rod that buried me, and be tested by it. Go, examine my honor and my authority in the house of the Egyptians, and rest his soul in the hundred measures of the life that buried me. Go, tell him that my God, the Lord of Egypt, has made me, and he rules my authority and governs slaves and free men. Reveal, show him also the hidden power of my movements, and establish in my mind the wisdom of the truth of the mysteries. Go, tell him that the five loaves stand; come, be enriched, lest you also perish with your own.

Also Joseph, with this word, was hastening to his brothers whom God had sent, that he might be a provider for them from famine. With this sign he was drawing his father Jacob to himself, that by his descent he might seal the words with Abram. By the covenant of the fast he persuaded his brothers not to be hindered from coming to his love. He cast upon them the edge of famine and terrified them, lest again the staff of the five tribes of the famine-stricken be established. With these words he disturbed them to descend to his sides, and he wrote in their minds as on tablets. The Egyptian Pharaoh heard these words of his, and rejoiced greatly at the good news of the race of the Hebrew. Pharaoh called Joseph and said, "Do this, and bring your people, and let them dwell in the blessings of my kingdom. Provide for your brothers and send them to their father's house, that he may come and see and rejoice in your life and your authority." Joseph's brothers received and fulfilled this which was done, and they went to the place of their dwelling, rejoicing. The tribes of the land arrived and came to their father, and they were astonished at the wealth of the grain and the sign of the abundance. The messengers who sent Joseph and Pharaoh the king rejoiced, and they gave him the good news of the life of his son and his authority. He wondered and was amazed at what had happened without meaning, and he ate and said, "It is very great if it is true.

He saw the calves that Pharaoh sent, and his mind was troubled, and he placed his hope toward the end of those whom he had heard. Great is the word that Joseph spoke: "I am sad. Let my brothers see me and rejoice in my life until I die. Let me go and wash away the sorrows of my eyes with the tears of his body, and cast off my grief by the hand of the abundance of the words of his mouth. Let me go and repay the debt of the dreams of the one who is guilty before him, and fulfill for him the multitude of love that he saw in the sun. Let me go and see him when he is honored among the Egyptians, and again the kingdom of Abraham and Isaac is established in me." Israel set out on the path that the hidden one had set for his father, and he went up with his seed to the land of Egypt, and the kingdom began. The father and his son saw each other, the sad with the sad, and they repaid love and completed the mysteries that were by means of dreams. The righteous one bowed before the righteous one, he with his children, and he placed his head under the servitude of his lord and his son. In the bowing of Joseph, the creator wove crowns and spells in the mystery of the Savior, who receives from all the bowing of love. In this, the honor of the sad one increased by the bowing of his body, so that man would not be troubled by the bowing of all before the beginning. Through Joseph, he taught the bowing of all toward man, that worshippers might together worship the watchers and man, and man not bow to an image. Man was destined to take the hidden one and traverse all in him, and on his face to receive from all the bowing of all.

In this distress, even the calves that Pharaoh sent were troubled in their gait, so that they were not disturbed when the truth of his revelation was made manifest. He revealed concerning his sacrifice, by the sacrifice of the ram that was offered for Isaac, that thus he also would redeem his race by the sacrifice of his body. Show in Joseph that to him is offered the worship of all. His greatness was constrained, and he delineated his mysteries in sorrows and in kings, and he showed the end and made clear in himself all the last and the first. Why was he not disturbed in the gait of sorrows and in the afflictions of those who prepared a way by their labors toward being? Why was he not delivered to the mysteries and types of their standings, and did he not confess by the power of the mighty one who was in the future things? Why did he not confess according to the contemplation of their thoughts, that they believed and loved and hoped and submitted to the point that they attained? Why did he not knock at the door of love by which they ascended and deliberated, and did he not also deliberate in the likeness of the hardship that they showed in the land? In Joseph, see where you wish to be distressed, and behold his standing, that it was not concealed by the emotions of the body. In him, it will be sought where the spiritual one runs, and he casts commands upon the senses of his body so that it is not disturbed. In his likeness, he will take up a generation with the groanings, so that the fire in his members may be known to you by the affliction of his self. With him, descend to the stadium filled with pains, that he might ascend with him to the victory of the recompense of reward.

Glory to the Lord, who by His grace completed and finished the mystery of the wonders that they saw in His deeds in the name of the reality.