The Book of Genesis, chapters 39 - 45
39 WHEN JOSEPH WAS TAKEN DOWN TO EGYPT, he was bought by Poti-
phar, one of Pharaoh's eunuchs, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian.
Potiphar bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered. He lived in the house of his
Egyptian master, who saw that the LORD was with him and was giving him
success in all he undertook. Thus Joseph found favour with his master,
and he became his personal servant. Indeed, his master put him in charge of
his household and entrusted him with all that he had. From the time that
he put him in charge of his household and all his property, the LORD
blessed the Egyptian's household for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the
LORD was on all that was his in house and field. He left everything he
possessed in Joseph's care, and concerned himself with nothing but the
food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking, and a time came when his
master's wife took notice of him and said, 'Come and lie with me.' But he
refused and said to her, 'Think of my master. He does not know as much as
I do about his own house, and he has entrusted me with all he has. He has
given me authority in this house second only to his own, and has withheld
nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How can I do any-
thing so wicked, and sin against God?' She kept asking Joseph day after
day, but he refused to lie with her and be in her company. One day he came
into the house as usual to do his work, when none of the men of the house-
hold were there indoors. She caught him by his cloak, saying, 'Come and
lie with me', but he left the cloak in her hands and ran out of the house.
When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hands and had run out of the
house, she called out to the men of the household, 'Look at this! My
husband has brought in a Hebrew to make a mockery of us. He came in
here to lie with me, but I gave a loud scream. When he heard me scream and
call out, he left his cloak in my hand and ran off.' She kept his cloak with
her until his master came home, and then she repeated her tale. She said,
'That Hebrew slave whom you brought in to make a mockery of me, has
been here with me. But when I screamed for help and called out, he left
his cloak in my hands and ran off.' When Joseph's master heard his wife's
story of what his slave had done to her, he was furious. He took Joseph and
put him in the Round Tower, where the king's prisoners were kept;
and there he stayed in the Round Tower. But the LORD was with Joseph
and kept faith with him, so that he won the favour of the governor of the
Round Tower. He put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners in the tower and
of all their work. He ceased to concern himself with anything entrusted to
Joseph, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in every-
thing.
40 It happened later that the king's butler and his baker offended their
master the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with these two eunuchs, the
chief butler and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of
the captain of the guard, in the Round Tower where Joseph was imprisoned.
The captain of the guard appointed Joseph as their attendant, and he
waited on them. One night, when they had been in prison for some time,
they both had dreams, each needing its own interpretation — the king of
Egypt's butler and his baker who were imprisoned in the Round Tower.
When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked
dejected. So he asked these eunuchs, who were in custody with him in his
master's house, why they were so downcast that day. They replied, 'We
have each had a dream and there is no one to interpret it for us.' Joseph
said to them, 'Does not interpretation belong to God? Tell me your
dreams.' So the chief butler told Joseph his dream: 'In my dream', he said
'there was a vine in front of me. On the vine there were three branches,
and as soon as it budded, it blossomed and its clusters ripened into grapes.
Now I had Pharaoh's cup in my hand, and I plucked the grapes, crushed
them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in Pharaoh's hand.' Joseph said
to him, 'This is the interpretation. The three branches are three days:
within three days Pharaoh will raise you and restore you to your post, and
then you will put the cup into Pharaoh's hand as you used to do when you
were his butler. But when things go well for you, if you think of me, keep
faith with me and bring my case to Pharaoh's notice and help me to get out
of this house. By force I was carried off from the land of the Hebrews,
and I have done nothing here to deserve being put in this dungeon.'
When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favourable inter-
pretation, he said to him, 'I too had a dream, and in my dream there were
three baskets of white bread on my head. In the top basket there was every
kind of food which the baker prepares for the Pharaoh, and the birds were
eating out of the top basket on my head.' Joseph answered, ' This is the
interpretation. The three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh
will raise you and hang you up on a tree, and the birds of the air will eat
your flesh.'
The third day was Pharaoh's birthday and he gave a feast for all his
servants. He raised the chief butler and the chief baker in the presence of
his court. He restored the chief butler to his post, and the butler put the
cup into Pharaoh's hand; but he hanged the chief baker. All went as
Joseph had said in interpreting the dreams for them. Even so the chief
butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
41 Nearly two years later Pharaoh had a dream: he was standing by the
Nile, and there came up from the river seven cows, sleek and fat, and they
grazed on the reeds. After them seven other cows came up from the river,
gaunt and lean, and stood on the river-bank beside the first cows. The cows
that were gaunt and lean devoured the cows that were sleek and fat. Then
Pharaoh woke up. He fell asleep again and had a second dream: he saw
seven ears of corn, full and ripe, growing on one stalk. Growing up after
them were seven other ears, thin and shrivelled by the east wind. The thin
ears swallowed up the ears that were full and ripe. Then Pharaoh woke up
and knew that it was a dream. When morning came, Pharaoh was troubled
in mind; so he summoned all the magicians and sages of Egypt. He told
them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for him.
Then Pharaoh's chief butler spoke up and said, "It is time for me to recall
my faults. Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he imprisoned
me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. One night
we both had dreams, each needing its own interpretation. We had with us
a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guard, and we told him our
dreams and he interpreted them for us, giving each man's dream its own
interpretation. Each dream came true as it had been interpreted to us: I
was restored to my position, and he was hanged.'
Pharaoh thereupon sent for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out
of the dungeon. He shaved and changed his clothes, and came in to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh said to him, 'I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it to
me. I have heard it said that you can understand and interpret dreams.'
Joseph answered, 'Not I, but God, will answer for Pharaoh's welfare.'
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream I was standing on the bank of
the Nile, and there came up from the river seven cows, fat and sleek, and
they grazed on the reeds. After them seven other cows came up that were
poor, very gaunt and lean; I have never seen such gaunt creatures in all
Egypt. These lean, gaunt cows devoured the first cows, the fat ones. They
were swallowed up, but no one could have guessed that they were in the
bellies of the others, which looked as gaunt as before. Then I woke up.
After I had fallen asleep again, I saw in a dream seven ears of corn, full and
ripe, growing on one stalk. Growing up after them were seven other ears,
shrivelled, thin, and blighted by the east wind. The thin ears swallowed up
the seven ripe ears. When I told all this to the magician, no one could
explain it to me.'
Joseph said to Pharaoh, 'Pharaoh's dreams are one dream. God has
told Pharaoh what he is going to do. The seven good cows are seven years,
and the seven good ears of corn are seven years. It is all one dream. The
seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years, and
the empty ears of corn blighted by the east wind will be seven years of
famine. It is as I have said to Pharaoh: God has let Pharaoh see what he is
going to do. There are to be seven years of great plenty throughout the
land. After them will come seven years of famine; all the years of plenty in
Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ruin the country. The good
years will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that fol-
lows; for it will be very severe. The doubling of Pharaoh's dream means
that God is already resolved to do this, and he will very soon put it into
effect. Pharaoh should now look for a shrewd and intelligent man, and
put him in charge of the country. This is what Pharaoh should do:
appoint controllers over the land, and take one fifth of the produce of
Egypt during the seven years of plenty. They should collect all this food
produced in the good years that are coming and put the corn under
Pharaoh's control in stores in the cities, and keep it under guard. This food
will be a reserve for the country against the seven years of famine which
will come upon Egypt. Thus the country will not be devastated by the
famine.'
The plan pleased Pharaoh and all his courtiers, and he said to them,' Can
we find a man like this man, one who has the spirit of God in him?' He
said to Joseph, 'Since God has made all this known to you, there is no
one so shrewd and intelligent as you. You shall be in charge of my house-
hold, and all my people will depend on your every word. Only my royal
throne shall make me greater than you.' Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I hereby
give you authority over the whole land of Egypt.' He tok off his signet-ring
and put it on Joseph's finger, he had him dressed in fine linen, and hung a
gold chain round his neck. He mounted him in his viceroy's chariot and
men cried 'Make way!' before him. Thus Pharaoh made him ruler over all
Egypt and said to him, 'I am Pharaoh. Without your consent no man
shall lift hand or foot throughout Egypt.' Pharaoh named him Zaphenath-
paneah, and he gave him as wife Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest
of On. And Joseph's authority extended over the whole of Egypt.
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king
of Egypt. When he took his leave of the king, he made a tour of inspection
through the country. During the seven years of plenty there were abundant
harvests and Joseph gathered all the food produced in Egypt during those
years and stored it in the cities, putting in each the food from the surround-
ing country. He stored the grain in huge quantities; it was like the sand of
the sea, so much that he stopped measuring: it was beyond all measure.
Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by
Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. He named the elder
Manasseh, 'for', he said, 'God has caused me to forget all my troubles and
my father's family.' He named the second Ephraim, 'for', he said, 'God
has made me fruitful in the land of my hardships.' When the seven years
of plenty in Egypt came to an end, seven years of famine began, as Joseph
had foretold. There was famine in every country, but throughout Egypt
there was bread. So when the famine spread through all Egypt, the people
appealed to Pharaoh for bread, and he ordered them to go to Joseph and do
as he told them. In every region there was famine, and Joseph opened all
the granaries and sold corn to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe.
The whole world came to Egypt to buy corn from Joseph, so severe was
the famine everywhere.
42 WHEN JACOB SAW that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons, 'Why
do you stand staring at each other? I have heard that there is corn in Egypt.
Go down and buy some so that we may keep ourselves alive and not starve.'
So Joseph's brothers, ten of them, went down to buy grain from Egypt,
but Jacob did not let Joseph's brother Benjamin go with them, for fear that
he might come to harm.
So the sons of Israel came down with everyone else to buy corn because
of the famine in Canaan. Now Joseph was governor of all Egypt, and it was
he who sold the corn to all the people of the land. Joseph's brothers came
and bowed to the ground before him, and when he saw his brothers, he
recognized them but pretended not to know them and spoke harshly to
them. 'Where do you come from?' he asked. 'From Canaan,' they answered,
'to buy food.' Although Joseph had recognized his brothers, they did not
recognize him. He remembered also the dream he had had about them;
so he said to them, 'You are spies; you have come to spy out the weak
points in our defences.' They answered, 'No, sir: your servants are honest
men, we are not spies.' 'No,' he insisted, it is to spy out our weaknesses that
you have come.' They answered him, 'Sir, there are twelve of us, all
brothers, sons of one man in Canaan. The youngest is still with our father,
and one has disappeared.' But Joseph said again to them, 'No, as I said
before, you are spies. This is how you shall be put to proof: unless your
youngest brother comes here, by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave
this place. Send one of your number to bring your brother; the rest will
be kep in prison. Thus your story will be tested, and we shall see whether
you are telling the truth. if not, then, by the life of Pharaoh, you must be
spies.' So he kept them in prison for three days.
On the third day Joseph said to the brothers, 'Do what I say and your
lives will be spared; for I am a god-fearing man: if you are honest men,
your brother there shall be kept in prison, and the rest of you shall take
corn for your hungry households and bring your youngest brother to me;
thus your words will be proved true, and you will not die.'
They said to one another, 'No doubt we deserve to be punished because
of our brother, whose suffering we saw; for when he pleaded with us we
refused to listen. That is why these sufferings have come upon us.' But
Reuben said, 'Did I not tell you not to do the boy wrong? But you would
not listen, and his blood is on our heads, and we must pay.' They did not
know that Joseph understood because he had used an interpreter. Joseph
turned away from them and wept. Then, turning back, he played a trick
on them. First he took Simeon and bound him before their eyes, then he
gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man's silver, putting
it in his sack, and give them supplies for the journey. All this was done;
and they loaded the corn on their asses and went away. When they
stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to give fodder to his ass,
and there he saw his silver at the top of the pack. He said to his brothers, 'My
silver has been returned to me, and here it is in my pack.' Bewildered and
trembling they said to each other, 'What is this that God has done to us?'
When they came to their father Jacob in Canaan, they told him all that
had happened to them. They said, 'The man who is lord of the country
spoke harshly to us and made out that we were spies. We said to him, "We
are honest men, we are not spies. There are twelve of us, all brothers, sons
of one father. One has disappeared, and the youngest is with out father in
Canaan." This man, the lord of the country, said to us, "This is how I shall
find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, take
food for your hungry household and go. Bring your youngest brother to
me, and I shall know that you are not spies, but honest men. Then I will
restore your brother to you, and you can move about the country freely." '
But on emptying their sacks, each of them found his silver inside, and when
they and their father saw the bundles of silver, they were afraid. Their
father Jacob said to them, 'You have robbed me of my children. Joseph has
disappeared; Simeon has disappeared; and now you are taking Benjamin.
Everything is against me.' Reuben said to his father, 'You may kill both
my sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my charge, and I
shall bring him back.' But Jacob said, 'My son shall not go with you, for
his brother is dead and he alone is left. If he comes to any harm on the
journey, you will bring down my grey hairs in sorrow to the grave.'
43 The famine was still severe in the country. When they had used up the
corn they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, 'Go back
and buy a little more corn for us to eat.' But Judah replied, 'The man
plainly warned us that we must not go into his presence unless our brother
was with us. If you let our brother go with us, we will go down and buy
food for you. But if you will not let him, we will not go; for the man said
to us, 'You shall not come into my presence, unless your brother is with
you." ' Israel said, 'Why have you treated me so badly? Why did you tell
the man that you had another brother?' They answered, 'He questioned
us closely about ourselves and our family: "Is your father still alive?" he
asked, "Have you a brother?", and we answered his questions. How could
we possibly know that he would tell us to bring our brother to Egypt?'
Judah said to his father Israel, 'Send the boy with me; then we can start at
once. By doing this we shall save our lives, ours, yours, and our dependants',
and none of us will starve. I will go surety for him and you may hold me
responsible. If I do not bring him back and restore him to you, you shall
hold me guilty all my life. If we had nit wasted all this time, by now we
could have gone back twice over.'
Their father Israel said to them, 'If it must be so, then do this: take in
your baggage, as a gift for the man, some of the produce for which our
country is famous: a little balsam, a little honey, gum tragacanth, myrrh,
pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the mount of silver and restore
what was returned to you in your packs; perhaps it was a mistake. Take
your brother with you and go straight back to the man. May God Almighty
make him kindly disposed to you, and may he send back the one whom you
left behind, and Benjamin too. As for me, if I am bereaved, then I am
bereaved.' So they took the gift and double the amount of silver, and with
Benjamin they started at once for Egypt, where they presented themselves
to Joseph.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, 'Bring
these men indoors, kill a beast and make dinner ready, for they will eat
with me at noon.' He did as Joseph told him and brought the men into the
house. When they came in they were afraid, for they thought, 'We have
been brought in here because of that affair of the silver which was replaced
in our packs the first time. He means to trump up some charge against us
and victimize us, seize our asses and make us his slaves.' So they approached
Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the door of the house. They said,
'Please listen, my lord. After our first visit to buy food, when we reached
the place where we were to spend the night, we opened our packs and each
of us found his silver in full weight at the top of his pack. We have brought
it back with us, and have added other silver to buy food. We do not know
who put the silver in our packs.' He answered, 'Set your minds at rest; do
not be afraid. It was your God, the God of your father, who hid treasure
for you in your packs. I did receive the silver.' Then he brought Simeon out
to them.
The steward brought them into Joseph's house and gave them water to
was their feet, and provided fodder for their asses. They had their gifts
ready when Joseph arrived at noon, for they had heard that they were to
eat there. When Joseph came into the house, they presented him with the
gifts which they had brought, bowing to the ground before him. He asked
them how they were and said, 'Is your father well, the old man of whom you
spoke? Is he still alive?' They answered, 'Yes, my lord, our father is still
alive and well.' And they bowed low and prostrated themselves. Joseph
looked and saw his own mother's son, his brother Benjamin, and asked, 'Is
this your youngest brother, of whom you told me?', and to Benjamin he
said, 'May God be gracious to you, my son!' Joseph was overcome; his
feelings for his brother mastered him, and he was near tears. So he went
into the inner room and wept. Then he washed his face and came out; and,
holding back his feelings, he ordered the meal to be served. They served
him by himself, and the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who
were at dinner were also served separately; for Egyptians hold it an abomina-
tion to eat with Hebrews. The brothers were seated in his presence, the
eldest first according to his age and so on down to the youngest: they looked
at one another in astonishment. Joseph sent them each a portion from what
was before him, but Benjamin's was five times larger than any of the other
portions. They thus drank with him and all grew merry.
44 Joseph gave his steward this order: 'Fill the men's packs with as much
food as they can carry and put each man's silver at the top of his pack. And
put my goblet, my silver goblet, at the top of his youngest brother's pack
with the silver for the corn.' He did as Joseph said. At daybreak the brothers
were allowed to take their asses and go on their journey; but before they
had gone very far from the city, Joseph said to his steward, 'Go after those
men at once, and when you catch up with them, say, "Why have you repaid
good with evil? Why have you stolen the silver goblet? It is the one from
which my lord drinks, and which he uses for divination. You have done a
wicked thing." ' When he caught up with them, he repeated all this to
them, but they replied, 'My lord, how can you say such things? No, sir,
God forbid that we should do any such thing! You remember the silver we
found at the top of our packs? We brought it back to you from Canaan.
Why should we steal silver or gold from your master's house? If any one
of us is found with the goblet, he shall die; and, what is more, my lord, we
will all become your slaves.' He said, 'Very well, then; I accept what you
say. The man in whose possession it is found shall be my slave, but the
rest of you shall go free.' Each man quickly lowered his pack to the ground
and opened it. The steward searched them, beginning with the eldest and
finishing with the youngest, an the goblet was found in Benjamin's pack.
At this they rent their clothes; then each man loaded his ass and they
returned to the city. Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his
brothers came in. They threw themselves on the ground before him, and
Joseph said, 'What have you done? You might have known that a man like
myself would practice divination.' Judah said, 'What shall we say , my lord?
What can we say to prove our innocence? God has found out our sin. Here
we are, my lord, ready to be made your slaves, we ourselves as well as
the one who was found with this goblet.' Joseph answered, 'God forbid
that I should do such a thing. The one who was found with the goblet
shall become my slave, but the rest of you can go home to your father in
peace.'
Then Judah went up to him and said, 'Please listen, My lord. Let me
say a word to your lordship, I beg. Do not be angry with me, for you
are as great as Pharaoh. You, my lord, asked us whether we had a father or
a brother. We answered, "We have an aged father, and he has a young son
born in his old age; this boy's full brother is dead and he alone is left of
his mother's children, he alone, and his father loves him." Your lordship
answered, "Bring him down to me so that I may set eyes on him." We told
you, my lord, that the boy could not leave his father, and that his father
would die if he left him. But you answered, "Unless your youngest brother
comes here with you, you shall not enter my presence again." We went back
to your servant our father, and told him what your lordship had said. When
our father told us to go and buy food, we answered, "We cannot go down;
for without our youngest brother we cannot enter the man's presence; but
if our brother is with us, we will go." Our father, my lord, then said to us,
"You know that my wife bore me two sons. One left me, and I said, 'He
must have been torn to pieces.' I have not seen him to this day. If you take
this one from me as well, and he comes to any harm, then you will bring
down my grey hairs in trouble to the grave." Now, my lord, when I return
to my father without the boy — and remember, his life is bound up with
the boy's — what will happen is this: he will see that the boy is not with us
and will die, and your servants will have brought down our father's grey
hairs in sorrow to the grave. Indeed, my lord, it was I who went surety for
the boy to my father. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then you
shall hold me guilty all my life." Now, my lord, let me remain in place of
the boy as your lordship's slave, and let him go with his brothers. How can
I return to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery
which my father would suffer.'
45 Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his attendants, and
he called out, 'Let everyone leave my presence.' So there was nobody
present when Joseph made himself known to his brothers, but so loudly
did he weep that the Egyptians and Pharaoh's household heard him.
Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph; can my father be still alive?' His
brothers were so dumbfounded at finding themselves face to face with
Joseph that they could not answer. Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come
closer', so they came close. He said, 'I am your brother Joseph whom
you sold into Egypt. Now do not be distressed or take it amiss that you
sold me into slavery here; it was God who sent me ahead of you to save
men's lives. For there have now been two years of famine in the country,
and there will be another five yeas with neither ploughing nor harvest.
God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants on
earth, and to preserve you all, a great band of survivors. So it was not you
sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and
lord over all his household and ruler of all Egypt. Make haste and go back
to my father and give him this message from his son Joseph: "God has
made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay. You shall live
in the land of Goshen and be near me, you, your sons and your grandsons,
your flocks and your herds and all that you have, and see that you are not
reduced to poverty; there are still five years of famine to come." You can
see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is Joseph him-
self who is speaking to you. Tell my father of all the honour which I enjoy
in Egypt, tell him all you have seen, and make haste to bring him down here.'
Then he threw his arms round his brother Benjamin and wept, and Ben-
jamin too embraced him weeping. He kissed all his brothers and wept over
them, and after wards his brothers talked with him.
When the report that Joseph's brothers had come reached Pharaoh's
house, he and all his courtiers were pleased. Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Say
to your brothers: "This is what you are to do. Load your beasts and go to
Canaan. Fetch your father and your households and bring them to me. I
will give you the best that there is in Egypt, and you shall enjoy the fat of
the land. You shall also tell them: "Take wagons from Egypt for your
dependants and your wives and fetch your father and come. Have no
regrets at leaving your possessions, for all the best that there is in Egypt is
yours." ' The sons of Israel did as they were told, and Joseph gave them
wagons, according to Pharaoh's orders, and food for the journey. He pro-
vided each of them with a change of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three
hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. Moreover he sent
his father ten asses carrying the best that there was in Egypt, the ten she-
asses loaded with grain, bread, and provisions for his journey. So he dis-
missed his brothers, telling them not to quarrel among themselves on the
road, and they set out. Thus they went up from Egypt and came to their
father Jacob in Canaan. There they gave him the news that Joseph was still
alive and that he was ruler of all Egypt. He was stunned and could not
believe it, but they told him all that Joseph had said; and when he saw the
wagons which Joseph had sent to take him away, his spirit revived. Israel
said, 'It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive; I will go and see him before
I die.'
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Jul 26, 2018, 9:24 PM UTC · edited
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