Genesis 39-41

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 39

Joseph, Blessed of God.^{[a] 1} When Joseph was brought down into Egypt, Potiphar, a counselor of Pharaoh and the commander of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

² The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered. He remained in the house of the Egyptian, his master. ³ His master realized that the Lord was with him and that whatever he undertook prospered. ⁴ Thus Joseph found favor with him and became his personal attendant. Potiphar even placed him in charge of his household and he entrusted him with all his possessions. ⁵ From the moment that he was made overseer and entrusted with his possessions, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that Potiphar had, whether in the house or out in the fields. ⁶ He entrusted Joseph with all that he had, and he did not concern himself with anything other than the food he ate.

The Righteous One Calumniated.^[b] Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. ⁷ After some time, the wife of his master set her eyes upon Joseph and said to him, “Sleep with me!”

⁸ But he refused and said to the wife of his master, “Look, my lord does not worry about anything in his house and he has entrusted me with all his possessions. ⁹ He has no more authority in this house than I do. He has not kept anything from me but you, for you are his wife. How could I ever do this evil thing and sin against God?” ¹⁰ Although she spoke every day to Joseph, he would not agree to sleep with her or even to be near her.

¹¹ One day he entered the house to do his work, but none of the servants was around. ¹² She took hold of his tunic saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his tunic in her hands and ran out of the house.

¹³ Seeing that he had left his tunic in her hands and that he had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called out to the servants and told them, “Look, this Hebrew has been brought into the house to mock us! He came in to lie with me, but I screamed out loud. ¹⁵ As soon as he heard me raise my voice and call out, he left his tunic with me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁶ She left the tunic lying next to her until her master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him these same things: “That Hebrew servant, whom you brought to our house, seized me to insult me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I cried out and shouted, he left his tunic next to me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹ When the master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your servant has done to me,” he became very angry. ²⁰ He seized Joseph and put him into the prison where they held royal prisoners.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph. He showed him kindness and caused him to find favor with the chief jailer. ²² The chief jailer entrusted all the prisoners to Joseph. Whatever had to be done there, he did it. ²³ The chief jailer did not have to worry about any of those things that were entrusted to Joseph, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did prosper.

Chapter 40

A Prophet in Suffering.^{[c] 1} Some time later, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two eunuchs, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and he put them in prison in the care of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was being held. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to their service. They thus remained in prison for a while.

⁵ Now, the same night, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were in prison, both had a dream, each one having his own dream that had its own meaning.

⁶ The next morning Joseph came to them and saw that they were troubled. ⁷ He asked the eunuchs of Pharaoh who were with him in prison, in the house of his master, “Why are you so sad today?”

⁸ They said, “We had a dream, but no one can interpret it.”

Joseph said to them, “Does not God have the power of interpreting? Tell your dreams to me.”

⁹ The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said, “In my dream I was standing in front of a vine ¹⁰ on which there were three branches. As soon as it sprouted, the flowers bloomed, and it brought forth clusters of grapes. ¹¹ I was holding Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. I took the grapes and squeezed their juice into Pharaoh’s cup. I then gave Pharaoh the cup.”

¹² Joseph told him, “Here is the interpretation. The three branches are three days. ¹³ In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you will give Pharaoh his cup just as you once did when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ When you are happy again, please remember that I was with you. Do me this favor: speak of me to Pharaoh and get me out of here. ¹⁵ I was unjustly carried away from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which I should have been placed in this dungeon.”

¹⁶ The chief baker, seeing that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, said to him, “As for me, in my dream I was standing with three baskets of white bread on my head. ¹⁷ In the baskets on my head were all different kinds of food for Pharaoh that would be prepared by a baker. But birds ate the food from the baskets that I had on my head.”

¹⁸ Joseph answered and said, “Here is the interpretation: the three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ In three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head and have you impaled; and the birds will eat away your flesh.”

²⁰ Three days later, it was the birthday of Pharaoh, and there was a banquet for all his ministers. He lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and lifted off the head of the chief baker before all his ministers. ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his office as cupbearer, so that he would hand the cup to Pharaoh. ²² He had the chief baker impaled, just as Joseph had said in his interpretation.

²³ But the cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Chapter 41

Messenger of Salvation.^{[d] 1} Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream in which he was alongside the Nile. ² Seven cows came out of the Nile, beautiful and fat, and they began to graze in the reed grass. ³ Then seven other cows came up out of the Nile after them. They were ugly and thin, and they stopped alongside the first cows on the shore of the Nile. ⁴ The ugly and thin cows devoured the seven beautiful and fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ He fell back asleep and had a second dream. There were seven heads of grain on one stalk, fat and healthy. ⁶ But seven empty heads, shriveled by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ⁷ The seven empty heads swallowed the seven fat and healthy heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.

⁸ In the morning, he was very troubled and he summoned all the magicians and wise men in Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dream, but no one knew how to interpret it for him.

⁹ The cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, “Today I remember that I have done something wrong. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants and had sent me and the chief baker into prison in the care of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ We both had dreams the same night, but each of us had his own dream with its own meaning. ¹² There was a young Hebrew there with us, a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them, giving each of us an explanation for his dream. ¹³ Just what he predicted came true: I was restored to my office, and the other man was impaled.”

¹⁴ Pharaoh therefore summoned Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the dungeon. He shaved and changed his clothes and was brought to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream and no one can interpret it. Now I have heard it said that you can hear a dream and immediately interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “Not I, but God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was on the Nile riverbank. ¹⁸ Seven fat and beautiful cows came out of the Nile and they began to graze on the reed grass. ¹⁹ Then seven other cows came out after them. They were poor and sickly and thin, I had never seen any as ugly in all of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin and ugly cows devoured the seven fat cows.^{[e] 21} Even after they had eaten them, you still could not see that they had eaten anything. They were still as ugly as they had been before. Then I woke up.

²² “I then had a dream in which seven heads of grain sprouted on a single stalk. They were fat and good. ²³ But seven dry heads, empty and shriveled by the east wind, sprouted after them. ²⁴ The empty heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are actually one dream. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven beautiful cows are seven years, and the seven beautiful heads of grain are seven years. It is a single dream. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years and the seven empty heads, withered by the east wind, are seven years. There will be seven years of famine.

²⁸ “It is just as I have told Pharaoh. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ There will soon be seven years of great abundance in the land of Egypt. ³⁰ Then the seven years after these will be seven years of famine. The years of abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and famine will ravage the land. ³¹ It will be forgotten that there was abundance in the land, for the famine that will follow will be very severe. ³² As for the fact that the dream was repeated twice, this means that God has decided the matter and God is hastening to fulfill it.

³³ “Pharaoh should seek and find an intelligent and wise man and place him in charge of the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Pharaoh should also appoint overseers in the land to collect a fifth of the produce of the land during the years of abundance. ³⁵ They should collect all the food in these good years that are about to take place. They will gather the grain under the authority of Pharaoh and place it in granaries in the cities. ³⁶ This food will serve as a reserve in the land for the seven years of famine that will come upon the land of Egypt. Thus, the land will not be devastated during the famine.”

³⁷ Joseph Is Made Viceroy of Egypt.^[f] Pharaoh and all his ministers were pleased with this. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his ministers, “Could we find another man like this, in whom one finds the Spirit of God?”

³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed all this to you, there is surely no one as intelligent or as wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my house. You shall have authority over all my people. Only the throne shall outrank you.”

⁴¹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have made you ruler of the entire land of Egypt.” ^42 [g]Pharaoh took the ring off his finger and placed it on the finger of Joseph. He dressed him in clothes made of the finest linen and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had him ride in the chariot of his vizier, and before him they cried, “Make way!” He made him ruler of the entire land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no one can raise a hand or a foot in the entire land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ And Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-peneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest of On,^[h] as his wife. Joseph went throughout the entire land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he was brought before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph left the presence of Pharaoh and traveled throughout the entire land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance the land was very fertile. ⁴⁸ He collected all the food of these seven years when there was abundance in the land of Egypt. He placed the food in the cities, that is, in every city he deposited the food of the surrounding countryside. ⁴⁹ Joseph gathered as much grain as the sand of the sea, enormous quantities. There was so much that it could no longer be measured, for it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰ The Great Famine.^[i] Joseph had two sons in the years that preceded the famine. They were born to Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph called the firstborn Manasseh for, he said, “God has made me forget all my difficulties and my father’s entire family.” ⁵² He named the second son Ephraim for, he said, “God has made me prosper in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt ended, ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine over the whole earth, but there was food in Egypt.

⁵⁵ Then the whole land of Egypt began to feel the hunger, and the people cried out to Pharaoh to have food. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.”

⁵⁶ The famine spread throughout the entire land. So Joseph opened up the storehouses in which he had placed the grain, and he sold it to the Egyptians. The famine kept getting worse in Egypt. ⁵⁷ People came to Egypt from every country to buy grain from Joseph, for the famine was severe over the whole earth.