Welcome to Joseph: A Beautiful Patience, the companion podcast to Harry Peter De La Savane's literary retelling of an ancient family story of betrayal, patience, and forgiveness. In this twelfth episode, seven years unfold exactly as the dream had predicted.

The Nile floods generously. The granaries rise across Egypt. Joseph moves through abundance with the precision of a man executing a plan rather than improvising survival. Then the eighth year arrives. The flood fails. The famine descends on every land within reach of rumor. Wells crack open to reveal mud baked hard as stone. In Canaan, children stop playing. But Egypt has prepared.

Caravans that once carried Egyptian goods outward now reverse their flow, bringing strangers from a dozen nations to the only kingdom where food remains. And then, one morning, eleven men from Canaan walk into the distribution hall. Joseph's world stops. They show no recognition. He recognizes everything. The careful Egyptian he speaks, the questions he asks about their family, the condition he places on their next return, every word of it carrying double meaning.

Harry walks the chapter from the seven good years through the famine's arrival, through the brothers' first journey, through Jacob's old wound torn open by the request to release Benjamin, to the oath sworn by God that finally lets the youngest go. The chapter ends with the brothers riding south again, Benjamin among them, Joseph in his residence, his pulse quickening at every northern caravan that appears on the horizon.

In this episode:

• The seven years of plenty, and the reward of the Hereafter for those who remain mindful
• The famine arriving and Egypt becoming the world's last storehouse
• The brothers entering Joseph's presence, recognized by him, unaware of who he is
• The condition: bring me your brother from your father, and the silver hidden back in the saddlebags
• The discovery of the returned silver in Canaan
• Jacob's old wound torn open: should I trust you with him as I once trusted you with his brother?
• The oath sworn by God before Benjamin can leave, and Jacob's wisdom about the different gates

About the book: Joseph: A Beautiful Patience is a literary retelling of the story of Joseph and his family: the dream, the betrayal by his brothers, the years in slavery and prison, and the unlikely path to forgiveness. Harry Peter De La Savane writes from Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada, between English, French, and Arabic. The book is the first in a planned trilogy; novels devoted to Mary and to Jesus are also in preparation.

Get the book: Order Joseph: A Beautiful Patience at hpdelasavane.com, the perfect companion to this audio series.

Next episode: the brothers return, Benjamin among them, but a royal cup will go missing, and a herald's voice will pursue them across the desert with a single accusation that changes everything.

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