Genesis 39:1-41:37

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39 Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites^(A) who had brought him there. ² The Lord was with Joseph,^(B) and he became a successful man, serving^[a] in the household of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful,^{(C) 4} Joseph found favor in his master’s sight^(D) and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.^{[b] 5} From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph.^(E) The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. ⁶ He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority;^[c] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.^{(F) 7} After some time^[d] his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

⁸ But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority.^{[e] 9} No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”^(G)

¹⁰ Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^[f] to go to bed with her.^{[g] 11} Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there.^{[h] 12} She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called the household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵ When he heard me screaming for help,^[i] he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁶ She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, ¹⁸ but when I screamed for help,^[j] he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious ²⁰ and had him thrown into prison,^(H) where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

Joseph in Prison

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.^(I) He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.^{(J) 22} The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority,^[k] and he was responsible for everything that was done there. ²³ The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority,^[l] because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.^(K)

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

40 After this, the Egyptian king’s cupbearer^(L) and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard^(M) in the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to them, and he became their personal attendant. And they were in custody for some time.^[m]

⁵ The Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”^(N)

⁸ “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”^(O)

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. ¹⁰ On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² “This is its interpretation,”^(P) Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. ¹³ In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head^(Q) and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews,^(R) and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”^(S)

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ “This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from off you—and hang you on a tree.^[n] Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.”^[o]

²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.^{(T) 21} Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But Pharaoh hanged^[p] the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.^(U)

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 Two years later Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,^{(V) 2} when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. ³ After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ The sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. ⁵ He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk. ⁶ After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh woke up, and it was only a dream.

⁸ When morning came, he was troubled,^(W) so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men.^(X) Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. ¹⁰ Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. ¹² Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. ¹³ It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”^(Y)

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon.^(Z) He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.^(AA)

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”^(AB)

¹⁶ “I am not able to,”^(AC) Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^[q](AD)

¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸ when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. ¹⁹ After them, seven other cows—ugly, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen such ugly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ Then the thin, ugly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. ²¹ When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. ²² In my dream I had also seen seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, coming up on one stalk. ²³ After them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprouted up. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.”^(AE)

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.^{(AF) 26} The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless, scorched heads of grain are seven years of famine.^(AG)

²⁸ “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Seven^[r] years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. ³⁰ After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land.^{(AH) 31} The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe. ³² Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and He will carry it out soon.

³³ “So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as food. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the famine.”

Joseph Exalted

³⁷ The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.