¹⁶ When God called for a famine in the land,
    destroying every source of food,
¹⁷         he sent a man ahead of them,
            who was sold as a slave: it was Joseph.
¹⁸ Joseph’s feet hurt in his shackles;
        his neck was in an iron collar,
¹⁹     until what he predicted actually happened,
        until what the Lord had said proved him true.^[a]
20 The king sent for Joseph and set him free;
    the ruler of many people released him.
²¹ The king made Joseph master of his house and ruler over everything he owned,
²²     to make sure his princes acted according to his will,
    and to teach wisdom to his advisors.
²³ That’s how Israel came to Egypt,
    how Jacob became an immigrant in the land of Ham.

²⁴ God made his people very fruitful,
    more powerful than their enemies,
²⁵     whose hearts God changed so they hated his people
    and dealt shrewdly with his servants.
²⁶ God sent Moses his servant
    and the one he chose, Aaron.
²⁷ They put God’s signs on Egypt,^[b]
    his marvelous works on the land of Ham.
²⁸ God sent darkness, and it became dark,
    but the Egyptians rejected his word.
²⁹ God turned their waters into blood
    and killed their fish.
³⁰ God made their land swarm with frogs^[c]—
    even in the bedrooms of their king!
³¹ God spoke, and the insects came—
    gnats throughout their whole country!
³² God turned their rain into hail
    along with lightning flashes throughout their land.
³³ God destroyed their vines and their fig trees;
    shattered the trees of their countryside.
³⁴ God spoke, and the locusts came—
    countless grasshoppers came!
³⁵     They devoured all the plants in their land;
        they devoured the fruit of their soil.
³⁶ God struck down all the oldest sons throughout their land;
    struck down their very pride and joy.

27 Don’t brag about tomorrow,
    for you don’t know what a day will bring.
² Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth;
    a stranger, and not your own lips.