39 Now Joseph was brought down into Egypt. And Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh’s (chief steward, an Egyptian), bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

² And the LORD was with Joseph; and he was a man who prospered and was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

³ And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did prosper in his hand.

⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. And he made him ruler of his house and put all that he had in his hand.

⁵ And from the time that he had made him ruler over his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house, for Joseph’s sake. And the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

⁶ Therefore, he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and took account of nothing with him, except the bread which he ate. And Joseph was a fair person, and well-favored.

⁷ Now therefore, after these things, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, “Lie with me!”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master does not know what is in the house with me; but has committed all that he has to my hand.

⁹ “There is no man greater in this house than me. Nor has he kept anything from me, except you, because you are his wife. How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

¹⁰ And she still spoke to Joseph every day; but he did not listen to her (to lie with her or to be in her company).

¹¹ Then, on a certain day, Joseph entered into the house to do his business. And there was no man of the household in the house.

¹² Therefore, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out.

¹³ Now, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled,

¹⁴ she called to the men of her house, and told them, saying, “Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us, to mock us; who came in to me, to sleep with me! But I cried with a loud voice.

¹⁵ “And when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garments with me, and fled away, and got out!”

¹⁶ So she laid his garment next to her until her lord came home.

¹⁷ Then she told him these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, which you have brought to us, came in to me, to mock me!

¹⁸ “But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled!”

¹⁹ Then, when his master heard the words of his wife which she told him, saying, “Your servant did this to me,” his anger was kindled.

²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, in the place where the king’s prisoners lay bound. And there he was in prison.

²¹ But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and got him favor in the sight of the master of the prison.

²² And the keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners that were in the prison to Joseph’s hand. And whatever they did there, that he did.

²³ And the keeper of the prison inspected nothing that was under his hand, seeing that the LORD was with him. For whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

41 And two years later, Pharaoh also dreamed. And behold, he stood by a river.

² And lo, seven cows came up out of the river, good-looking and fat-fleshed. And they fed in a meadow.

³ And lo, seven other cows came up out of the river after them, sickly and lean-fleshed, and stood by the cows upon the edge of the river.

⁴ And the sickly and lean-fleshed cows ate up the seven good-looking and fat cows. So, Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ Again he slept and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, plump and good.

⁶ And lo, seven thin ears, blasted with the east wind, sprang up after them.

⁷ And the thin ears devoured the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke; and lo, it was a dream.

⁸ Now, when the morning came, his spirit was troubled. Therefore, he sent and called all the soothsayers of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh told them his dreams. But no one could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then, the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I call to mind my faults this day.

¹⁰ “Pharaoh, being angry with his servants, put me in ward in the chief steward’s house (me and the chief baker).

¹¹ “Then, one night, we both dreamed a dream. We each dreamed a dream with its own interpretation.

¹² “And there was a young man with us, a Hebrew, servant to the chief steward; whom, when we told them, he interpreted our dreams for us. He interpreted both of our dreams.

¹³ “And as he interpreted, so it happened; for he restored me to my office and hanged him.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. And they quickly brought him out of prison; and he shaved him and changed his clothing and came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream; and no man can interpret it. And I have heard tell of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “God shall answer for the wealth of Pharaoh without me.”

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood by the bank of the river.

¹⁸ “And lo, there came up out of the river seven fat-fleshed, and good-looking cows. And they fed in the meadow.

¹⁹ “Also, lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very sickly cows, and lean-fleshed. I never saw such sickliness in all the land of Egypt.

²⁰ “And the lean and the sickly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

²¹ “And after they had eaten them up, one could not tell that they had eaten them, because they were still as sickly as they were at the beginning. So, I awoke.

²² “Moreover, I saw in my dream; and behold, seven ears sprang out of one stalk, full and fair.

²³ “And lo, seven withered ears, thin, blasted with the east wind, sprang up after them.

²⁴ “And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now, I have told the soothsayers and none of them can interpret it for me.”

²⁵ Then, Joseph answered Pharaoh, “Both Pharaoh’s dreams are one. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.

²⁶ “The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years. This is one dream.

²⁷ “Likewise, the seven thin and sickly cows that came out after them, are seven years. And the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind are seven years of famine.

²⁸ “This is the thing which I have said to Pharaoh: that God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹ “Behold, there comes seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt.

³⁰ “Then, there shall arise after them seven years of famine, so that all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land.

³¹ “Nor shall the plenty be remembered in the land, because of this famine that shall come after; for it shall be exceedingly great.

³² “And therefore, the dream was doubled to Pharaoh a second time, because the thing is established by God; and God hurries to perform it.

³³ “Now, therefore, let Pharaoh provide for a man of understanding and wisdom, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴ “Let Pharaoh make and appoint officers over the land, and collect a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

³⁵ “Also, let them gather all the food of these good years that come and store corn for food in the cities, under the hand of Pharaoh; and let them keep it.

³⁶ “So, the food shall be for the provision of the land, against the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, so that the land does not perish by famine.”

³⁷ And the saying pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.

³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all this, there is no man of understanding or wisdom like you.

⁴⁰ “You shall be over my house. And at your word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the king’s throne will I be above you.”

⁴¹ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴² And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a golden chain around his neck.

⁴³ So, he sat him upon the best chariot that he had, except one. And they cried before him, “Abrech,” and placed him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ Again, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. And no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in the land of Egypt without you.”

⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name “Zaphnath-Paaneah”. And he gave him Asenath as wife, the daughter of Poti-Pherah, Prince of On. Then Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, King of Egypt. And Joseph, leaving the presence of Pharaoh, went throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ And in the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth abundantly.

⁴⁸ And he gathered up all the food of the seven plenteous years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. The food of the field, which was outside the cities, he laid up in the same.

⁴⁹ So Joseph gathered wheat like the sand of the sea in multitude, out of measure, until he stopped counting (for it was without number).

⁵⁰ Now, two sons were born to Joseph before the year of famine came. Which Asenath (the daughter of Poti-Pherah, prince of On) bore to him.

⁵¹ And Joseph called the name of the firstborn “Manasseh”. “For God,” said he, “has made me forget all my labor and all my father’s household.”

⁵² Also, he called the name of the second, “Ephraim”. “For God,” said he, “has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ So, the seven years of the plenty that was in the land of Egypt were ended.

⁵⁴ Then, the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. And the famine was in all lands. But bread was in all the land of Egypt.

⁵⁵ And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph! And do whatever he says!”

⁵⁶ When the famine was upon all the land, Joseph opened all the storage places and sold to the Egyptians; for the famine grew severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ And all the countries came to Egypt to buy corn from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all lands.

43 Now, great famine was in the land.

² And when they had eaten up the food which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”

³ And Judah answered him, saying, “The man charged us by an oath, saying, ‘Never see my face unless your brother is with you.’

⁴ “If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

⁵ “But if you will not send him, we will not go down. For the man said to us, ‘Do not look me in the face unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶ And Israel said, “Why have you dealt so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you still had a brother or not?”

⁷ And they answered, “The man directly asked about us and about our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have any other brothers?’ And we told him as we have said. Could we have known for certain that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ Then Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, so that we may rise and go and so that we may live and not die, both we and you and our children.

⁹ “I will be surety for him. From my hand shall you require him. If I do not bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

¹⁰ “For if we had not lingered here, doubtless by now we would have returned a second time.”

¹¹ Then their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so now, do this: take from the best fruits of the land in your vessels; and bring the man a present (a little rosin and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds).

¹² “And take double money in your hand. And carry back in your hand the money that was brought back in your sacks’ mouths. Perhaps it was some oversight.

¹³ “Also, take your brother and arise. Go back to the man.

¹⁴ “And God Almighty give you mercy in the sight of the man, so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵ Thus, the men took this present and took twice as much money in their hand, with Benjamin, and rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Bring these men home and kill meat, and make ready. For the men shall eat with me at noon.”

¹⁷ And the men did as Joseph instructed and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ Now, when the men were brought into Joseph’s house, they were afraid, and said, “It is because of the money that came in our sack’s mouths the first time that we are brought, so that he may pick a quarrel against us and charge us with something and put us and our donkeys in bondage.”

¹⁹ Therefore, they came to Joseph’s steward and communed with him at the door of his house,

²⁰ and said, “O sir, indeed we came down here to buy food the first time.

²¹ “And as we came to an inn and opened our sacks, behold, every man’s money was in his sack’s mouth, even our money in full weight. But we have brought it in our hands.

²² “Also, we have brought other money in our hands to buy food. But we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.”

²³ And he said, “Peace to you. Do not fear. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you that treasure in your sacks. I had your money.” And he brought forth Simeon to them.

²⁴ So the man led them into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet and gave their donkeys feed.

²⁵ And they made their present ready for Joseph’s arrival at noon (for they had heard say that they should eat bread there).

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought the present (which was in their hands) into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him.

²⁷ And he asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your father, the old man of whom you told me, in good health? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ Who answered, “Your servant, our father, is in good health. He is still alive.” And they bowed down and prostrated themselves.

²⁹ And he, lifting up his eyes, beheld his brother, Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you told me?” And he said, “God be merciful to you, my son.”

³⁰ And Joseph hurried and sought where to weep (for his affection was inflamed toward his brother). And he entered into his chamber and wept there.

³¹ Afterward, he washed his face and came out and refrained himself, and said, “Lay out the bread!”

³² And they prepared for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him, by themselves (because the Egyptians did not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that was an abomination to the Egyptians).

³³ So they sat before him, the eldest according to his age and the youngest according to his youth. And the men marveled among themselves.

³⁴ And they took portions to them from before him. But Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

45 Then Joseph could not control himself before all who stood by him; but he cried, “Send everyone away!” And not one remained with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

² And he wept, and cried, so that the Egyptians heard. The house of Pharaoh also heard.

³ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him (for they were astonished at his presence).

⁴ Again, Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” And they came near. And he said, “I am Joseph, your brother; whom you sold into Egypt.

⁵ “Now, therefore, do not be sad or angry with yourselves, that you sold me here. For God sent me before you for your preservation.

⁶ “For now, two years of famine have been through the land; and five years are still to come wherein there shall be neither earing nor harvest.

⁷ “Therefore, God sent me before you to preserve your posterity in this land, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.

⁸ “Now, then, you did not send me here, but God, Who has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹ “Hurry and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘Thus says your son, Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me, do not delay.

¹⁰ ‘And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen and shall be near me (you and your children and your children’s children and your sheep and your beasts and all that you have).

¹¹ ‘Also, I will nourish you there (for there still remains five years of famine), lest you perish through poverty, (you and your household and all that you have).’

¹² “And behold, your eyes see (as do the eyes of my brother, Benjamin) that my mouth speaks to you.

¹³ “Therefore, tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and hurry and bring my father here.”

¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.

¹⁵ Moreover, he kissed all his brothers, and wept upon them. And afterward, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ And the tidings came to Pharaoh’s house, so that they said, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” And it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and leave. Go to the land of Canaan.’

¹⁸ “And take your father and your household and come to me; and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt. And you shall eat of the fat of the land.

¹⁹ “And I command you, do this: Take chariots out of the land of Egypt, for your children and for your wives, and bring your father and come.

²⁰ “Also, do not be concerned about your stuff. For the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.”

²¹ And the children of Israel did so. And Joseph gave them chariots, according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He also gave them food for the journey.

²² He gave them all, without exception, a change of clothing. But to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

²³ And to his father, also, he sent ten male donkeys, loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys, loaded with wheat and bread and meat for his father along the way.

²⁴ So, he sent his brothers away; and they departed. And he said to them, “Do not argue on the way.”

²⁵ Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan (to Jacob, their father)

²⁶ and told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive! And he is also governor over all the land of Egypt!” And Jacob’s heart failed, for he did not believe them.

²⁷ And they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said to them. But when he saw the chariots which Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.

²⁸ And Israel said, “I have enough. Joseph, my son, is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”