Beginning
Pharaoh’s Dreams
41 At the end of two full years Pharaoh also had a dream. In the dream he was standing beside the river. 2 There, right in front of him, seven beautiful, fat cows came up out of the river and were grazing in the marsh grass. 3 Just then seven ugly, thin cows came up out of the river behind them, and they stood beside the other cows on the bank of the river. 4 The ugly, thin cows ate up the seven beautiful, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 Pharaoh fell asleep again and dreamed a second time. He saw seven healthy, good heads of grain come up on one stalk. 6 Right after that, seven thin heads of grain, blasted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Pharaoh woke up and realized that it was a dream. 8 The next morning he was very troubled, so he sent for all of Egypt’s magicians[a] and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. 10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard—me and the chief baker. 11 We each had a dream during the same night—he and I. Each of us dreamed a dream that had its own interpretation. 12 There was a young man with us, a Hebrew, a servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each man he gave the interpretation of his dream. 13 It turned out exactly as he interpreted them for us. Pharaoh restored me to my office but hanged the chief baker.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. Joseph shaved, changed his clothing, and went to Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.”
16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in my power. God will give Pharaoh an answer to give him peace of mind.”
17 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph: “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the river. 18 Suddenly seven fat, beautiful cows came up out of the river and were grazing in the marsh grass. 19 Just then seven poor cattle, very ugly and thin, came up after them. They were uglier than any I had ever seen in the whole land of Egypt. 20 The thin, ugly cattle ate up the first seven cattle, the fat ones, 21 and when they had eaten them up, you could not even tell that they had eaten them, because they were still as ugly as they were at the beginning. Then I woke up.
22 “Later I had another dream, in which I saw seven heads of grain grow on one stalk. They were full and good. 23 Then I saw seven heads of grain spring up after them. They were withered, thin, and blasted by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told the dream to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has declared to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cattle are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It is one dream. 27 The seven thin, ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted by the east wind. They will be seven years of famine. 28 This is the very thing that I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Look, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 30 Seven years of famine will come up after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that follows, for it will be very severe. 32 The double dream was shown to Pharaoh, because this matter is established by God, and God will bring it to pass very soon.”
Joseph Comes to Power
33 “Let Pharaoh, therefore, look for a man who is wise and discerning, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 When Pharaoh does this, let him appoint overseers over the land to collect one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 Let them collect all this food from these good years that are coming. Accumulate grain under the authority of Pharaoh to provide food for the cities, and let them store it. 36 The food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt so that the land does not perish because of the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 Pharaoh said to his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man, a man who has the spirit of God?”
39 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people will submit to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “Look, I have appointed you over the whole land of Egypt.”
42 Pharaoh took his signet ring off of his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed Joseph in robes made from the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in the second best chariot that he had. Men went ahead of him crying out, “Kneel down!”[b] Pharaoh appointed him over the whole land of Egypt. 44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but in the whole land of Egypt no one will lift up his hand or his foot without your permission.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as a wife. Joseph went out and began to rule over the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled throughout the whole land of Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the earth produced plentiful harvests. 48 He collected all the food during the seven good years in the land of Egypt, and he stored up the food in the cities. In every city he stored the food from the fields that were around the city. 49 Joseph stored up a huge amount of grain, like the sand of the sea. Finally he stopped keeping track, because it was too much to measure.
50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the first year of famine arrived. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, gave birth to them. 51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, because he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”[c] 52 He named the second son Ephraim. He said, “Yes, God has made me fruitful in the land where I was afflicted.”[d]
53 So the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 54 The seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every land, but in the whole land of Egypt there was bread. 55 When the whole land of Egypt was starving, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do whatever he tells you.” 56 The famine spread over the face of the whole earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 The whole world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe all over the whole world.
Joseph and His Brothers
42 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing here looking at each other?” 2 He also said, “Listen, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us there, 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 Benjamin along with his other brothers, because he said, “Something bad might happen to him.”
5 The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain because of the famine in the land of Canaan. 6 Joseph was the governor over the land. He was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted like a stranger toward them and spoke harshly to them. He asked them, “Where did you come from?”
They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where the land is exposed.”
10 They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
12 He said to them, “No, you have come to see where the land is exposed!”
13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Listen, at the present time the youngest remains with our father, and one is no more.”
14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I said. You are spies! 15 This is how you will be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall never get out of here, unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you to get your brother. The rest of you will be kept under arrest, so that your words may be tested, whether you are telling the truth. Otherwise, by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies.” 17 He kept them all together, confined in the jail for three days.
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do what I tell you and you will live, because I fear God. 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in the jail, but the rest of you go and deliver grain to your houses to relieve the famine. 20 Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.” So they did as he said.
21 They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the misery of his soul when he begged us, but we would not listen. That is why this misery has come upon us.”
22 Reuben answered them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’? But you would not listen. So now payment for his blood is being required from us.”
23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, because an interpreter was being used between them. 24 Joseph turned away from them and wept. After he returned and spoke to them, he seized Simeon from among them and tied him up before their very eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their containers with grain, to return each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the journey. So all this was done for them.
26 They loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. 27 When one of them opened his sack at the lodging place to give his donkey food, he saw his money. It was right there in the mouth of his bag. 28 He said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! Look, there it is, in my bag!” Their hearts sank, and they turned to one another trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 They came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him everything that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and accused us of being spies against the country. 31 We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One brother is no more, and at the present time the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 That man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me. Take grain to relieve the famine at your houses, and go on your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will release your brother to you, and you will be allowed to conduct business in the land.’”
35 Then as they emptied their sacks, they were surprised to see that each man’s pouch of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their pouch of money, they were afraid.
36 Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have deprived me of my children! Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more. And now you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
37 Reuben spoke to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back to you again.”
38 Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you, since his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If he has a mishap on the journey that you are taking, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave with sorrow.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.