Chapter 39

Joseph’s Temptation. ¹ When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, an Egyptian, Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. ^2 (A)The Lord was with Joseph and he enjoyed great success and was assigned to the household of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him and brought him success in whatever he did, ⁴ he favored Joseph and made him his personal attendant; he put him in charge of his household and entrusted to him all his possessions.^{(B) 5} From the moment that he put him in charge of his household and all his possessions, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the Lord’s blessing was on everything he owned, both inside the house and out. ⁶ Having left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge, he gave no thought, with Joseph there, to anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷ After a time, his master’s wife looked at him with longing and said, “Lie with me.” ⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, as long as I am here, my master does not give a thought to anything in the house, but has entrusted to me all he owns. ⁹ He has no more authority in this house than I do. He has withheld from me nothing but you, since you are his wife. How, then, could I do this great wrong and sin against God?” ¹⁰ Although she spoke to him day after day, he would not agree to lie with her, or even be near her.^(C)

¹¹ One such day, when Joseph came into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were then in the house, ¹² she laid hold of him by his cloak, saying, “Lie with me!” But leaving the cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand as he escaped outside, ¹⁴ she cried out to her household servants and told them, “Look! My husband has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us! He came in here to lie with me, but I cried out loudly. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream, he left his cloak beside me and escaped and ran outside.”

¹⁶ She kept the cloak with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave whom you brought us came to me to amuse himself at my expense. ¹⁸ But when I screamed, he left his cloak beside me and escaped outside.” ¹⁹ When the master heard his wife’s story in which she reported, “Thus and so your servant did to me,” he became enraged. ²⁰ Joseph’s master seized him and put him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were confined.^(D) And there he sat, in jail.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him kindness by making the chief jailer well-disposed toward him.^{(E) 22} The chief jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners in the jail. Everything that had to be done there, he was the one to do it. ²³ The chief jailer did not have to look after anything that was in Joseph’s charge, since the Lord was with him and was bringing success to whatever he was doing.

Chapter 41

Pharaoh’s Dream. ^1 [a]After a lapse of two years, Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing by the Nile, ² when up out of the Nile came seven cows, fine-looking and fat; they grazed in the reed grass. ³ Behind them seven other cows, poor-looking and gaunt, came up out of the Nile; and standing on the bank of the Nile beside the others, ⁴ the poor-looking, gaunt cows devoured the seven fine-looking, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ He fell asleep again and had another dream. He saw seven ears of grain, fat and healthy, growing on a single stalk. ⁶ Behind them sprouted seven ears of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind; ⁷ and the thin ears swallowed up the seven fat, healthy ears. Then Pharaoh woke up—it was a dream!

⁸ Next morning his mind was agitated. So Pharaoh had all the magicians^[b] and sages of Egypt summoned and recounted his dream to them; but there was no one to interpret it for him. ⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh: “Now I remember my negligence! ¹⁰ Once, when Pharaoh was angry with his servants, he put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the chief steward. ¹¹ Later, we both had dreams on the same night, and each of our dreams had its own meaning. ¹² There was a Hebrew youth with us, a slave of the chief steward; and when we told him our dreams, he interpreted them for us and explained for each of us the meaning of his dream.^{(A) 13} Things turned out just as he had told us: I was restored to my post, but the other man was impaled.”

¹⁴ Pharaoh therefore had Joseph summoned, and they hurriedly brought him from the dungeon. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.^{(B) 15} Pharaoh then said to Joseph: “I had a dream but there was no one to interpret it. But I hear it said of you, ‘If he hears a dream he can interpret it.’” ¹⁶ “It is not I,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God who will respond for the well-being of Pharaoh.”^(C)

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸ when up from the Nile came seven cows, fat and well-formed; they grazed in the reed grass. ¹⁹ Behind them came seven other cows, scrawny, most ill-formed and gaunt. Never have I seen such bad specimens as these in all the land of Egypt! ²⁰ The gaunt, bad cows devoured the first seven fat cows. ²¹ But when they had consumed them, no one could tell that they had done so, because they looked as bad as before. Then I woke up. ²² In another dream I saw seven ears of grain, full and healthy, growing on a single stalk. ²³ Behind them sprouted seven ears of grain, shriveled and thin and scorched by the east wind; ²⁴ and the seven thin ears swallowed up the seven healthy ears. I have spoken to the magicians, but there is no one to explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh: “Pharaoh’s dreams have the same meaning. God has made known to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven healthy cows are seven years, and the seven healthy ears are seven years—the same in each dream. ²⁷ The seven thin, bad cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind; they are seven years of famine. ²⁸ Things are just as I told Pharaoh: God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Seven years of great abundance are now coming throughout the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but seven years of famine will rise up after them, when all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. When the famine has exhausted the land, ³¹ no trace of the abundance will be found in the land because of the famine that follows it, for it will be very severe. ³² That Pharaoh had the same dream twice means that the matter has been confirmed by God and that God will soon bring it about.

³³ “Therefore, let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh act and appoint overseers for the land to organize it during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ They should collect all the food of these coming good years, gathering the grain under Pharaoh’s authority, for food in the cities, and they should guard it. ³⁶ This food will serve as a reserve for the country against the seven years of famine that will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish in the famine.”

³⁷ This advice pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.^{(D) 38} “Could we find another like him,” Pharaoh asked his servants, “a man so endowed with the spirit of God?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my household, and all my people will obey your command. Only in respect to the throne will I outrank you.”^{(E) 41} Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Look, I put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” ⁴² With that, Pharaoh took off his signet ring^[c] and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He then had him ride in his second chariot, and they shouted “Abrek!”^[d] before him.

Thus was Joseph installed over the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ “I am Pharaoh,” he told Joseph, “but without your approval no one shall lift hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh also bestowed the name of Zaphenath-paneah^[e] on Joseph, and he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

After Joseph left Pharaoh, he went throughout the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty, when the land produced abundant crops, ⁴⁸ he collected all the food of these years of plenty that the land of Egypt was enjoying and stored it in the cities, placing in each city the crops of the fields around it. ⁴⁹ Joseph collected grain like the sands of the sea, so much that at last he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰ Before the famine years set in, Joseph became the father of two sons, borne to him by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis.^{(F) 51} Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh,^[f] meaning, “God has made me forget entirely my troubles and my father’s house”; ⁵² and the second he named Ephraim,^[g] meaning, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ When the seven years of abundance enjoyed by the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ the seven years of famine set in, just as Joseph had said. Although there was famine in all the other countries, food was available throughout the land of Egypt.^{(G) 55} When all the land of Egypt became hungry and the people cried to Pharaoh for food, Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians: “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Indeed, the whole world came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.

Chapter 43

The Second Journey to Egypt.^{[a] 1} Now the famine in the land grew severe. ² So when they had used up all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.” ³ But Judah replied: “The man strictly warned us, ‘You shall not see me unless your brother is with you.’^{(A) 4} If you are willing to let our brother go with us, we will go down to buy food for you. ⁵ But if you are not willing, we will not go down, because the man told us, ‘You shall not see me unless your brother is with you.’”^{(B) 6} Israel demanded, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man that you had another brother?” ⁷ They answered: “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

⁸ Then Judah urged his father Israel: “Let the boy go with me, that we may be off and on our way if you and we and our children are to keep from starving to death.^{(C) 9} I myself will serve as a guarantee for him. You can hold me responsible for him. If I fail to bring him back and set him before you, I will bear the blame before you forever.^{(D) 10} Had we not delayed, we could have been there and back twice by now!”

¹¹ Israel their father then told them: “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the land’s best products in your baggage and take them down to the man as gifts: some balm and honey, gum and resin, and pistachios and almonds.^{(E) 12} Also take double the money along, for you must return the amount that was put back in the mouths of your bags; it may have been a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother, too, and be off on your way back to the man. ¹⁴ May God Almighty grant you mercy in the presence of the man, so that he may let your other brother go, as well as Benjamin. As for me, if I am to suffer bereavement, I shall suffer it.”

¹⁵ So the men took those gifts and double the money and Benjamin. They made their way down to Egypt and presented themselves before Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw them and Benjamin, he told his steward, “Take the men into the house, and have an animal slaughtered and prepared, for they are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ Doing as Joseph had ordered, the steward conducted the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ But they became apprehensive when they were led to his house. “It must be,” they thought, “on account of the money put back in our bags the first time, that we are taken inside—in order to attack us and take our donkeys and seize us as slaves.” ¹⁹ So they went up to Joseph’s steward and talked to him at the entrance of the house. ²⁰ “If you please, sir,” they said, “we came down here once before to buy food.^{(F) 21} But when we arrived at a night’s encampment and opened our bags, there was each man’s money in the mouth of his bag—our money in the full amount! We have now brought it back.^{(G) 22} We have brought other money to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our bags.” ²³ He replied, “Calm down! Do not fear! Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags for you. As for your money, I received it.” With that, he led Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The steward then brought the men inside Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet, and gave fodder to their donkeys. ²⁵ Then they set out their gifts to await Joseph’s arrival at noon, for they had heard that they were to dine there. ²⁶ When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, while they bowed down before him to the ground. ²⁷ After inquiring how they were, he asked them, “And how is your aged father, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”^{(H) 28} “Your servant our father is still alive and doing well,” they said, as they knelt and bowed down. ²⁹ Then Joseph looked up and saw Benjamin, his brother, the son of his mother. He asked, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you told me?” Then he said to him, “May God be gracious to you, my son!”^{(I) 30} With that, Joseph hurried out, for he was so overcome with affection for his brother that he was on the verge of tears. So he went into a private room and wept there.

³¹ After washing his face, he reappeared and, now having collected himself, gave the order, “Serve the meal.” ³² It was served separately to him,^[b] to the brothers, and to the Egyptians who partook of his board. Egyptians may not eat with Hebrews; that is abhorrent to them. ³³ When they were seated before him according to their age, from the oldest to the youngest, they looked at one another in amazement; ³⁴ and as portions were brought to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as large as^[c] anyone else’s. So they drank freely and made merry with him.

Chapter 45

The Truth Revealed.^{[a] 1} Joseph could no longer restrain himself in the presence of all his attendants, so he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!” So no one attended him when he made himself known to his brothers. ² But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him, and so the news reached Pharaoh’s house. ^3 (A)“I am Joseph,” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could give him no answer, so dumbfounded were they at him.

⁴ “Come closer to me,” Joseph told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ But now do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.^{(B) 6} The famine has been in the land for two years now, and for five more years cultivation will yield no harvest. ⁷ God, therefore, sent me on ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance. ⁸ So it was not really you but God who had me come here; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh,^[b] lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.

^9 [c]“Hurry back, then, to my father and tell him: ‘Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me without delay.^{(C) 10} You can settle in the region of Goshen,^[d] where you will be near me—you and your children and children’s children, your flocks and herds, and everything that you own. ¹¹ I will provide for you there in the five years of famine that lie ahead, so that you and your household and all that are yours will not suffer want.’ ¹² Surely, you can see for yourselves, and Benjamin can see for himself, that it is I who am speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father all about my high position in Egypt and all that you have seen. But hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept on his shoulder. ¹⁵ Joseph then kissed all his brothers and wept over them; and only then were his brothers able to talk with him.

¹⁶ The news reached Pharaoh’s house: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” Pharaoh and his officials were pleased. ¹⁷ So Pharaoh told Joseph: “Say to your brothers: ‘This is what you shall do: Load up your animals and go without delay to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ There get your father and your households, and then come to me; I will assign you the best land in Egypt, where you will live off the fat of the land.’^{(D) 19} Instruct them further: ‘Do this. Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your children and your wives and bring your father back here. ²⁰ Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best in the whole land of Egypt shall be yours.’”

²¹ The sons of Israel acted accordingly. Joseph gave them the wagons, as Pharaoh had ordered, and he supplied them with provisions for the journey. ²² He also gave to each of them a set of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. ²³ Moreover, what he sent to his father was ten donkeys loaded with the finest products of Egypt and another ten loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father’s journey. ²⁴ As he sent his brothers on their way, he told them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ So they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. ²⁶ When they told him, “Joseph is still alive—in fact, it is he who is governing all the land of Egypt,” he was unmoved, for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they recounted to him all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob came to life. ²⁸ “Enough,” said Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.”