Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

39 The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the king's^[a] official in charge of the palace guard. ^2-3 (A) So Joseph lived in the home of Potiphar, his Egyptian owner.

Soon Potiphar realized that the Lord was helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he did. ⁴ Potiphar liked Joseph and made him his personal assistant, putting him in charge of his house and all of his property. ⁵ Because of Joseph, the Lord began to bless Potiphar's family and fields. ⁶ Potiphar left everything up to Joseph, and with Joseph there, the only decision he had to make was what he wanted to eat.

Joseph was well-built and handsome, ^7 (B) and Potiphar's wife soon noticed him. She asked him to make love to her, ⁸ but he refused and said, “My master isn't worried about anything in his house, because he has placed me in charge of everything he owns. ⁹ No one in my master's house is more important than I am. The only thing he hasn't given me is you, and that's because you are his wife. I won't sin against God by doing such a terrible thing as this.” ¹⁰ She kept begging Joseph day after day, but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her.

¹¹ One day, Joseph went to Potiphar's house to do his work, and none of the other servants were there. ¹² Potiphar's wife grabbed hold of his coat and said, “Make love to me!” Joseph ran out of the house, leaving his coat there in her hands.

¹³ When this happened, ¹⁴ she called in her servants and said, “Look! This Hebrew has come just to make fools of us. He tried to rape me, but I screamed for help. ¹⁵ And when he heard me scream, he ran out of the house, leaving his coat with me.”

¹⁶ Potiphar's wife kept Joseph's coat until her husband came home. ¹⁷ Then she said, “That Hebrew slave of yours tried to rape me! ¹⁸ But when I screamed for help, he left his coat and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹ Potiphar became very angry ²⁰ and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept.

While Joseph was in prison, ^21 (C) the Lord helped him and was good to him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that ²² he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail. ²³ The jailer did not worry about anything, because the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.

Joseph Interprets the King's Dreams

41 Two years later the king^[a] of Egypt dreamed he was standing beside the Nile River. ² Suddenly, seven fat, healthy cows came up from the river and started eating grass along the bank. ³ Then seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river and ⁴ ate the fat, healthy cows. When this happened, the king woke up.

⁵ The king went back to sleep and had another dream. This time seven full heads of grain were growing on a single stalk. ⁶ Later, seven other heads of grain appeared, but they were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full heads. Again the king woke up, and it had only been a dream.

^8 (A) The next morning the king was upset. So he called in his magicians and wise men and told them what he had dreamed. None of them could tell him what the dreams meant.

⁹ The king's personal servant said:

Now I remember what I was supposed to do. ¹⁰ When you were angry with me and your chief cook, you threw us both in jail in the house of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ One night we both had dreams, and each dream had a different meaning. ¹² A young Hebrew, who was a servant of the captain of the guard, was there with us at the time. When we told him our dreams, he explained what each of them meant, ¹³ and everything happened just as he said it would. I got my job back, and the cook was put to death.

¹⁴ The king sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.

¹⁵ The king said to him, “I had a dream, yet no one can explain what it means. I am told that you can interpret dreams.”

¹⁶ “Your Majesty,” Joseph answered, “I can't do it myself, but God can give a good meaning to your dreams.”

¹⁷ The king told Joseph:

I dreamed I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ¹⁸ I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river, and they began feeding on the grass. ¹⁹ Next, seven skinny, bony cows came up out of the river. I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt. ²⁰ The skinny cows ate the fat ones. ²¹ But you couldn't tell it, because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before. At once, I woke up.

²² I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk. The heads were full and ripe. ²³ Then seven other heads of grain came up. They were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. ²⁴ These heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told my dreams to the magicians, but none of them could tell me the meaning of the dreams.

²⁵ Joseph replied:

Your Majesty, both of your dreams mean the same thing, and in them God has shown what he is going to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows stand for seven years, and so do the seven good heads of grain. ²⁷ The seven skinny, ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years, as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the desert wind. The dreams mean there will be seven years when there won't be enough grain.

²⁸ It is just as I said—God has shown what he intends to do. ²⁹ For seven years Egypt will have more than enough grain, ³⁰ but that will be followed by seven years when there won't be enough. The good years of plenty will be forgotten, and everywhere in Egypt people will be starving. ³¹ The famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty. ³² God has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that he will do it soon.

³³ Your Majesty, you should find someone who is wise and will know what to do, so that you can put him in charge of all Egypt. ³⁴ Then appoint some other officials to collect one fifth of every crop harvested in Egypt during the seven years when there is plenty. ³⁵ Give them the power to collect the grain during those good years and to store it in your cities. ³⁶ It can be stored until it is needed during the seven years when there won't be enough grain in Egypt. This will keep the country from being destroyed because of the lack of food.

Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt

³⁷ The king^[b] and his officials liked this plan. ³⁸ So the king said to them, “Who could possibly handle this better than Joseph? After all, the Spirit of God is with him.”

³⁹ The king told Joseph, “God is the one who has shown you these things. No one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do. ^40 (B) I'm putting you in charge of my palace, and everybody will have to obey you. No one will be over you except me. ⁴¹ You are now governor of all Egypt!”

^42 (C) Then the king took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph's finger. He gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He also let him ride in the chariot next to his own, and people shouted, “Make way for Joseph!” So Joseph was governor of Egypt.

⁴⁴ The king told Joseph, “Although I'm king, no one in Egypt is to do anything without your permission.” ⁴⁵ He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah. And he let him marry Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.^[c] Joseph traveled all over^[d] Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was 30 when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king. ⁴⁷ For seven years there were big harvests of grain. ⁴⁸ Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested. ⁴⁹ In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.

⁵⁰ Joseph and his wife had two sons before the famine began. ⁵¹ Their first son was named Manasseh, which means, “God has let me forget all my troubles and my family back home.” ⁵² His second son was named Ephraim, which means “God has made me a success^[e] in the land where I suffered.”^[f]

⁵³ Egypt's seven years of plenty came to an end, ^54 (D) and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was not enough food in other countries, but all over Egypt there was plenty. ^55 (E) When the famine finally struck Egypt, the people asked the king for food, but he said, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you to do.”

⁵⁶ The famine became bad everywhere in Egypt, so Joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain to the Egyptians. ⁵⁷ People from all over the world came to Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was so severe in their countries.

Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin

43 The famine in Canaan got worse, ² until finally, Jacob's family had eaten all the grain they had bought in Egypt. So Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy some more grain.”

^3-5 Judah replied, “The governor strictly warned us that we would not be allowed to see him unless we brought our youngest brother with us. If you let us take Benjamin along, we will go and buy grain. But we won't go without him!”

⁶ Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the governor you had another brother?”

⁷ They answered, “He asked a lot of questions about us and our family. He wanted to know if you were still alive and if we had any more brothers. All we could do was answer his questions. How could we know he would tell us to bring along our brother?”

⁸ Then Judah said to his father, “Let Benjamin go with me, and we will leave at once, so that none of us will starve to death. ⁹ I promise to bring him back safely, and if I don't, you can blame me as long as I live. ¹⁰ If we had not wasted all this time, we could already have been there and back twice.”

¹¹ Their father said:

If Benjamin must go with you, take the governor a gift of some of the best things from our own country, such as perfume, honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds.^{[a] 12} Also take along twice the amount of money for the grain, because there must have been some mistake when the money was put back in your sacks. ¹³ Take Benjamin with you and leave at once.

¹⁴ When you go in to see the governor, I pray that God All-Powerful will be good to you and that the governor will let your other brother and Benjamin come back home with you. But if I must lose my children, I suppose I must.

¹⁵ The brothers took the gifts, twice the amount of money, and Benjamin. Then they hurried off to Egypt. When they stood in front of Joseph, ¹⁶ he saw Benjamin and told the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and cook it, so they can eat with me at noon.”

¹⁷ The servant did as he was told and took the brothers to Joseph's house. ¹⁸ But on the way they got worried and started thinking, “We are being taken there because of the money that was put back in our sacks last time. He will arrest us, make us his slaves, and take our donkeys.”

¹⁹ So when they arrived at Joseph's house, they said to the servant in charge, ²⁰ “Sir, we came to Egypt once before to buy grain. ²¹ But when we stopped for the night, we each found in our grain sacks the exact amount we had paid. We have brought that money back, ²² together with enough money to buy more grain. We don't know who put the money in our sacks.”

²³ “It's all right,” the servant replied. “Don't worry. The God you and your father worship must have put the money there, because I received your payment in full.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The servant took them into Joseph's house and gave them water to wash their feet. He also tended their donkeys. ²⁵ The brothers got their gifts ready to give to Joseph at noon, since they had heard they were going to eat there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts they had brought, and they bowed down to him. ²⁷ After Joseph had asked how they were, he said, “What about your elderly father? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ They answered, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And again they bowed down to Joseph.

²⁹ When Joseph looked around and saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “This must be your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.”

³⁰ Then, because of his love for Benjamin, he rushed off to his room and cried. ³¹ After washing his face and returning, he was able to control himself and said, “Serve the meal!”

³² Joseph was served at a table by himself, and his brothers were served at another. The Egyptians sat at yet another table, because Egyptians felt it was disgusting to eat with Hebrews. ³³ To the surprise of Joseph's brothers, they were seated in front of him according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest. ³⁴ They were served food from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others. So Joseph's brothers ate and drank with him and had a good time.

Joseph Tells His Brothers Who He Is

45 ^(A) Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.” ² Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's^[a] palace.

³ Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer. ⁴ Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said:

Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.

⁶ There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. ⁷ But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. ⁸ After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt.

^9 (B) Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can. ¹⁰ You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own. ¹¹ I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death.”

¹² All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph. ¹³ Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.

¹⁴ Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying. ¹⁵ Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.

¹⁶ When it was told in the palace that Joseph's brothers had come, the king and his officials were happy. ¹⁷ So the king said to Joseph:

Tell your brothers to load their donkeys and return to Canaan. ¹⁸ Tell them to bring their father and their families here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they can eat and enjoy everything that grows there. ¹⁹ Also tell your brothers to take some wagons from Egypt for their wives and children to ride in. And be sure they bring their father. ²⁰ They can leave their possessions behind, because they will be given the best of everything in Egypt.

²¹ Jacob's sons agreed to do what the king had said. And Joseph gave them wagons and food for their trip home, just as the king had ordered. ²² Joseph gave some new clothes to each of his brothers, but to Benjamin he gave five new outfits and 300 pieces of silver. ²³ To his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the best things in Egypt, and ten other donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other food for the return trip. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers off and told them, “Don't argue on the way home!”

²⁵ Joseph's brothers left Egypt, and when they arrived in Canaan, ²⁶ they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them. ²⁷ Then they told him everything Joseph had said. When he saw the wagons Joseph had sent, he felt much better ²⁸ and said, “Now I can believe you! My son Joseph must really be alive, and I will get to see him before I die.”