Genesis 36-42

New American Standard Bible

Esau Moves

36 Now these are the records of the generations of ^(A)Esau (that is, Edom).

² Esau ^(B)took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and ^(C)Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the ^[a](D)granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; ³ also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah bore ^(E)Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath gave birth to Reuel, ⁵ and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

^6 (F)Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all ^[b]his household, and his livestock and all his cattle, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. ^7 (G)For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the ^(H)land where they ^(I)resided could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau lived in the hill country of ^(J)Seir; Esau is ^(K)Edom.

Descendants of Esau

⁹ These then are the records of the generations of Esau the father of ^[c]the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. ¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel the son of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, ^[d]Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore ^(L)Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah. ¹³ And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁴ And these were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the ^[e]granddaughter of Zibeon: ^[f]she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ chief Korah, chief Gatam, and chief Amalek. These are the chiefs ^[g]descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, and chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs ^[h]descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁸ And these are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, and chief Korah. These are the chiefs ^[i]descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰ These are the sons of Seir ^(M)the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs ^[j]descended from the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²² And the sons of Lotan were Hori and ^[k]Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³ And these are the sons of Shobal: ^[l]Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, ^[m]Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah—he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon. ²⁵ And these are the children of Anah: Dishon, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ²⁶ And these are the sons of ^[n](N)Dishon: ^[o]Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and ^[p]Akan. ²⁸ These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the chiefs ^[q]descended from the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, ³⁰ chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan. These are the chiefs ^[r]descended from the Horites, according to their various chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹ Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any ^(O)king reigned over the sons of Israel. ^32 [s](P)Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ Then Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place. ³⁴ Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place. ³⁵ Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who ^[t]defeated Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. ³⁶ Then Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place. ³⁷ Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king in his place. ³⁸ Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place. ³⁹ Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and ^[u]Hadar became king in his place; and the name of his city was ^[v]Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ Now these are the names of the chiefs ^[w]descended from Esau, according to their families and their localities, by their names: chief Timna, chief ^[x]Alvah, chief Jetheth, ⁴¹ chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ⁴² chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ⁴³ chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of ^[y]the Edomites), according to their settlements in the land of their possession.

Joseph’s Dreams

37 Now Jacob lived in ^(Q)the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² These are the records of the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, when he was ^(R)seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers, while he was still a youth, along with ^(S)the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a ^(T)bad report about them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was ^(U)the son of his old age; and he made him a ^[z](V)multicolored tunic. ⁴ And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they ^(W)hated him and could not speak to him ^[aa]on friendly terms.

⁵ Then Joseph ^[ab](X)had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have ^[ac]had; ⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf stood up and also remained standing; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and ^(Y)bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “^(Z)Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he ^[ad]had yet another dream, and informed his brothers of it, and said, “Behold, I have ^[ae]had yet another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ He also told it to his father as well as to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have ^[af]had? Am I and your mother and ^(AA)your brothers actually going to come to bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And ^(AB)his brothers were jealous of him, but his father ^(AC)kept the matter in mind.

¹² Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not pasturing the flock in ^(AD)Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “^[ag]I will go.” ¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(AE)Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵ A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “^[ah]What are you looking for?” ¹⁶ He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to ^(AF)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

The Plot against Joseph

^18 [ai]When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they ^(AG)plotted against him to put him to death. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “^[aj]Here comes this dreamer! ²⁰ Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and ^(AH)we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” ²¹ But ^(AI)Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands ^[ak]by saying, “Let’s not ^[al]take his life.” ²² Then Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father. ²³ So it came about, when Joseph ^[am]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ^[an]multicolored tunic that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat ^[ao]a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of ^(AJ)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying ^(AK)labdanum resin, ^(AL)balsam, and ^[ap]myrrh, ^[aq]on their way to bring them down to Egypt. ²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and ^(AM)cover up his blood? ^27 (AN)Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then some ^(AO)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and ^(AP)sold ^[ar]him to the Ishmaelites for ^[as]twenty shekels of silver. So ^(AQ)they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he ^(AR)tore his garments. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers and said, “^(AS)The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” ³¹ So ^(AT)they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; ³² and they sent the ^[at]multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please ^[au]examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” ³³ Then he ^[av]examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. ^(AU)A vicious animal has devoured him; ^(AV)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob ^(AW)tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will ^(AX)go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile, the ^[aw]Midianites ^(AY)sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

Judah and Tamar

38 And it came about at that time, that Judah ^[ax]departed from his brothers and ^[ay]visited a certain ^(AZ)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(BA)Shua; and he took her as a wife and had relations with her. ³ And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him ^(BB)Er. ⁴ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she named him ^(BC)Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to yet another son and named him ^(BD)Shelah; and it was at Chezib ^[az]that she gave birth to him.

⁶ Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But ^(BE)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “^(BF)Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a ^[ba]child for your brother.” ⁹ Now Onan knew that the ^[bb](BG)child would not be his; so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he ^[bc]wasted his seed on the ground so that he would not give ^[bd]a child to his brother. ¹⁰ But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He ^(BH)took his life also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^(BI)Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ^[be]thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² Now ^[bf]after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when ^[bg]the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at ^(BJ)Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And Tamar was told, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to ^(BK)Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she ^[bh]removed her widow’s garments and ^(BL)covered herself with a ^[bi]veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of ^[bj]Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and ^(BM)she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he assumed she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “^[bk]Here now, let me have relations with you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may have relations with me?” ¹⁷ He said, therefore, “I will send you a ^[bl]young goat from the flock.” She then said, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^(BN)Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had relations with her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and departed, and ^[bm]removed her ^[bn]veil and put on her widow’s garments.

²⁰ When Judah sent the ^[bo]young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the people of her place, saying, “Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no temple prostitute here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the people of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’” ²³ Then Judah said, “Let her ^[bp]keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. ^[bq]After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴ Now it was about three months later that Judah was ^[br]informed, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and behold, she is also pregnant by prostitution.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and ^(BO)have her burned!” ²⁵ It was while she was being brought out that she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” She also said, “^(BP)Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?” ²⁶ And Judah recognized them, and said, “^(BQ)She is more righteous than I, since ^(BR)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not ^[bs]have relations with her again.

²⁷ It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^(BS)twins in her womb. ²⁸ Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, that one baby put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But it came about as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named ^[bt](BT)Perez. ³⁰ Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named ^[bu](BU)Zerah.

Joseph’s Success in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ^[bv]from the ^(BV)Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. ² And ^(BW)the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a ^[bw]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³ Now his master ^(BX)saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(BY)made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(BZ)found favor in his sight and ^[bx]became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^[by]put him in charge of ^(CA)all that he owned. ⁵ It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord ^(CB)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; so ^(CC)the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. ⁶ So he left ^[bz]Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not ^[ca]concern himself with anything except the ^[cb]food which he ^[cc]ate.

Now Joseph was ^(CD)handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And it came about after these events ^(CE)that his master’s wife ^[cd]had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “^(CF)Sleep with me.” ⁸ But ^(CG)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master ^[ce]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has ^[cf]put me in charge of all that he owns. ^9 [cg](CH)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and ^(CI)sin against God?” ¹⁰ Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. ¹¹ Now it happened ^[ch]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside. ¹² So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. ^13 [ci]When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a ^[cj]Hebrew to us to make fun of us; he came in to me to sleep with me, and I ^[ck]screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard that I raised my voice and ^[cl]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” ¹⁶ So she ^[cm]left his garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(CJ)spoke to him ^[cn]with these ^[co]words: “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me; ¹⁸ but when I raised my voice and ^[cp]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Imprisoned

¹⁹ Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, “^[cq]This is what your slave did to me,” ^(CK)his anger burned. ²⁰ So Joseph’s master took him and ^(CL)put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. ²¹ But ^(CM)the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and ^(CN)gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. ²² And the warden of the prison ^[cr](CO)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was ^[cs]responsible for it. ^23 (CP)The warden of the prison did not supervise anything ^[ct]under Joseph’s authority, because ^(CQ)the Lord was with him; and, ^(CR)the Lord made whatever he did prosper.

Joseph Interprets Dreams

40 Then it came about after these things, that ^(CS)the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(CT)furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ³ So he put them in confinement in the house of the ^(CU)captain of the bodyguard, in the prison, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. ⁴ And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he ^[cu]took care of them; and they were in confinement for ^[cv]some time. ⁵ Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. ^6 [cw]When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, ^[cx]behold, they were dejected. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “^[cy](CV)Why are your faces so sad today?” ⁸ And they said to him, “^(CW)We have ^[cz]had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “^(CX)Do interpretations not belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, ^[da]saying to him, “In my dream, ^[db]behold, there was a vine in front of me; ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. ¹¹ Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[dc]hand.” ¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is the ^(CY)interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; ¹³ within three more days Pharaoh will ^[dd]lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as in your former practice when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ Only ^[de]keep me in mind when it goes well for you, and please ^(CZ)do me a kindness ^[df]by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this ^[dg]prison. ¹⁵ For ^(DA)I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the ^[dh]dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; ¹⁷ and in the top basket there were some of all ^[di]kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹ within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

²⁰ So it came about on the third day, which was ^(DB)Pharaoh’s birthday, that he held a feast for all his servants; ^(DC)and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his ^[dj]office, and ^(DD)he put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[dk]hand; ²² but ^(DE)he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but ^(DF)forgot him.

Pharaoh’s Dream

41 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. ² And behold, from the Nile seven cows came up, fine-looking and ^[dl]fat; and they grazed in the ^(DG)marsh grass. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and ^[dm]thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ Then the ugly and ^[dn]thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ But he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ⁷ And the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸ Now in the morning ^(DH)his spirit was troubled, so he sent messengers and called for all the ^(DI)soothsayer priests of Egypt, and all its ^(DJ)wise men. And Pharaoh told them his ^[do]dreams, but ^(DK)there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of ^(DL)my own ^[dp]offenses. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was ^(DM)furious with his servants, and ^(DN)he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. ¹¹ Then ^(DO)we had a dream one night, ^[dq]he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹² Now a Hebrew youth was there with us, a ^(DP)servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we told him the dreams, and ^(DQ)he interpreted our dreams for us. For each man he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³ And just ^(DR)as he interpreted for us, so it happened; Pharaoh restored me in my office, but he hanged ^[dr]the chief baker.”

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent word and ^(DS)called for Joseph, and they ^(DT)hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^(DU)but no one can interpret it; and ^(DV)I have heard ^[ds]it said about you, that ^[dt]when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “^[du](DW)It has nothing to do with me; ^(DX)God will ^[dv]give Pharaoh an answer for his own good.” ¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, ^[dw]fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ^[dx]ugly and ^[dy]thin, such as I had never seen for ^[dz]ugliness in all the land of Egypt; ²⁰ and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. ²¹ Yet when they had ^[ea]devoured them, it could not be ^[eb]detected that they had ^[ec]devoured them, ^[ed]for they were just as ugly as ^[ee]before. Then I awoke. ²² I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk; ²³ and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them; ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^(DY)I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ^[ef]dreams are one and the same; ^(DZ)God has told 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 ^[eg]dreams are one and the same. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ^(EA)will be seven years of famine. ^28 [eh]It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^(EB)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, ^(EC)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ and after them ^(ED)seven years of famine will ^[ei]come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^[ej]ravage the land. ³¹ So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. ³² Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^(EE)the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. ³³ So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^(EF)discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ^[ek]in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Then have them ^(EG)collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and have them guard it. ³⁶ Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

³⁷ Now the ^[el]proposal seemed good ^[em]to Pharaoh and ^[en]to all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, ^(EH)in whom there is a divine spirit?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one as ^(EI)discerning and wise as you are. ^40 (EJ)You shall be ^[eo]in charge of my house, and all my people shall ^[ep]be obedient to you; only regarding the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I have placed you ^(EK)over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh ^(EL)took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and ^(EM)put the gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in ^[eq]his second chariot; and they proclaimed ahead of him, “^[er]Bow the knee!” And he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^(EN)without ^[es]your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh named Joseph ^[et]Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ^[eu](EO)On, to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was ^(EP)thirty years old when he ^[ev]stood in the presence 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 years of plenty the land produced ^[ew]abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain ^[ex]in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ^[ey]measuring it, for it was ^[ez]beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now before the year of famine came, ^(EQ)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^[fa]On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn ^[fb]Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.” ⁵² And he named the second ^[fc]Ephraim; “For,” he said, “^(ER)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and ^(ES)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^(ET)whatever he says to you, you shall do.” ⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ^[fd]the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^(EU)the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42 Now ^(EV)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ² Then he said, “Look, ^(EW)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from ^[fe]that place, ^(EX)so that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^(EY)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^(EZ)I am afraid that harm may happen to him.” ⁵ So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^(FA)because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now ^(FB)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(FC)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^(FD)spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although ^(FE)they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph ^(FF)remembered the dreams which he ^[ff]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ^[fg]undefended parts of our land.” ¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, ^(FG)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of one man; we are ^(FH)honest men, your servants are not spies.” ¹² Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ^[fh]undefended parts of our land!” ¹³ But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^(FI)our father today, and ^(FJ)one is no longer alive.” ¹⁴ Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ^[fi]to you, you are spies; ¹⁵ by this you will be tested: ^(FK)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is ^(FL)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in ^(FM)prison for three days.

¹⁸ Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^(FN)I fear God: ¹⁹ if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ^[fj]your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰ and ^(FO)bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(FP)Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “^(FQ)Did I not tell ^[fk]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[fl](FR)Now justice for his blood is required.” ²³ They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ Then he turned away from them and ^(FS)wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he ^(FT)took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ^25 (FU)Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, but also to return every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And that is what was done for them.

²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. ²⁷ But when one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the overnight campsite, he saw his ^(FV)money; and behold, it was in the opening of his sack! ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and look, it is right in my sack!” Then their hearts ^[fm]sank, and they turned ^[fn]trembling to one another, saying, “^(FW)What is this that God has done to us?”

Simeon Is Held Hostage

²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, ^(FX)spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are ^(FY)honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ But the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^(FZ)By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. ³⁴ But bring your youngest brother to me so that I may know that you are not spies, but ^[fo]honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^(GA)trade in the land.’”

³⁵ Now it came about, as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, ^(GB)every man’s bag of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^(GC)deprived me of my sons: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my ^[fp]care, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But ^[fq]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^(GD)brother is dead, and he alone is left. ^(GE)If harm should happen to him on the journey ^[fr]you are taking, then you will ^(GF)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”