Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Pot′i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ish′maelites who had brought him down there. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian, ³ and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. ⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in house and field. ⁶ So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and having him he had no concern for anything but the food which he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. ⁷ And after a time 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, “Lo, having me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; ⁹ he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” ¹⁰ And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her. ¹¹ But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, ¹² she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of the house. ¹³ And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; ¹⁵ and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house.” ¹⁶ Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; ¹⁸ but as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled out of the house.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. ²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it; ²³ the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream

41 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, ² and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass. ³ And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. ⁶ And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. ⁷ And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸ So in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it^[a] to Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, ¹¹ we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. ¹² A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. ¹³ And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile; ¹⁸ and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass; ¹⁹ and seven other cows came up after them, poor and very gaunt and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the thin and gaunt cows ate up the first seven fat cows, ²¹ but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as gaunt as at the beginning. Then I awoke. ²² I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good; ²³ and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. ²⁷ The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. ²⁸ It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, ³⁰ but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous. ³² And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. ³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. ³⁵ And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷ This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; ⁴⁰ you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; ⁴³ and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, “Bow the knee!”^[b] Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaph′enath-pane′ah; and he gave him in marriage As′enath, the daughter of Poti′phera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly, ⁴⁸ and he gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty^[c] in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹ And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

⁵⁰ Before the year of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom As′enath, the daughter of Poti′phera priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas′seh,^[d] “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” ⁵² The name of the second he called E′phraim,^[e] “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ 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; what he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses,^[f] and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

The Brothers Come Again, Bringing Benjamin

43 Now the famine was severe in the land. ² And when they had eaten the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” ³ But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not 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, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so ill as to tell the man that you had another brother?” ⁷ They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions; could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I will be surety for him; of my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame for ever; ¹⁰ for if we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹² Take double the money with you; carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man; ¹⁴ may God Almighty^[a] grant you mercy before the man, that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” ¹⁵ So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ The man did as Joseph bade him, and brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, to make slaves of us and seize our asses.” ¹⁹ So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house, and spoke with him at the door of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food; ²¹ and when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was every man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it again with us, ²² and we have brought other money down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³ He replied, “Rest assured, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your sacks for you; I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ And when the man had brought the men into Joseph’s house, and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their asses provender, ²⁵ they made ready the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which they had with them, and bowed down to him to the ground. ²⁷ And he inquired about their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ They said, “Your servant our father is well, he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and made obeisance. ²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” ³⁰ Then Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and controlling himself he said, “Let food be served.” ³² They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in amazement. ³⁴ Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

45 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, “Make every one go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, I pray you.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry; ¹⁰ you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have; ¹¹ and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.’ ¹² And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Make haste and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. ¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan; ¹⁸ and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Command them^[a] also, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Give no thought to your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ The sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To each and all of them he gave festal garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five festal garments. ²³ To his father he sent as follows: ten asses loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” ²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived; ²⁸ and Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive; I will go and see him before I die.”