Genesis 40 - 43 — Legacy Standard Bible

Joseph Interprets the Officials’ Dreams

40Now it happened that after these things, ^athe cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ²And Pharaoh was ^afurious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ³So he put them in confinement in the house of the ^acaptain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. ⁴And the captain of the bodyguard appointed Joseph as overseer over them, and he ¹attended to them; and they were in confinement for ²some time. ⁵Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. ⁶Now Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, and behold, they were dejected. ⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, saying, “^aWhy are your faces so sad today?” ⁸Then they said to him, “^aWe have ¹had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “^bDo not interpretations belong to God? Recount it to me, please.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer recounted his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream, ¹behold, there was a vine in front of me; ¹⁰and 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 ¹hand.” ¹²Then Joseph said to him, “This is the ^ainterpretation of it: the three branches are three days; ¹³within three more days Pharaoh will ¹lift up your head and restore you to your ²office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴“Only remember me when it goes well with you, and please ^ashow me lovingkindness by remembering me to Pharaoh and getting me out of this house. ¹⁵“For ^aI was in fact stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the pit.”

¹⁶And the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, so he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; ¹⁷and in the top basket there were some of all ¹sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head off of you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off of you.”

²⁰Thus it happened on the third day, which was ^aPharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; ^band he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹And he restored the chief cupbearer to his ¹office, and ^ahe put the cup into Pharaoh’s ²hand; ²²but ^ahe hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but ^aforgot him.

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream

41Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. ²And behold, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and ¹fat; and they grazed in the ^areeds. ³Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ¹ugly and ²thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴And the ugly and ¹thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵He again fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. ⁶And behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ⁷And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸Now it happened that in the morning ^ahis spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the ¹^,^bmagicians of Egypt and all its ^cwise men. And Pharaoh recounted to them his dream, but ^dthere was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would bring to remembrance today ^amy own ¹offenses. ¹⁰“Pharaoh was ^afurious with his servants, and ^bhe put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. ¹¹“^aAnd we had a dream ¹on the same night, ²he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹²“Now there was with us a Hebrew youth, a ^aslave of the captain of the bodyguard, and we recounted them to him, and ^bhe interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³“And just ^aas he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my ¹office, but he hanged him.”

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent and ^acalled for Joseph, and they ^brushed him out of the pit; and he shaved himself and changed his clothes, and he came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^abut no one can interpret it; yet ^bI have heard ¹it said about you, that ²you hear a dream and that you can interpret it.” ¹⁶Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “¹^,^aIt is not in me; ^bGod will ²answer concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.” ¹⁷So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸and behold, seven cows, ¹fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. ¹⁹“And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and lean, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt, in regard to ¹ugliness; ²⁰and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. ²¹“But they ¹devoured them, and yet it could not be known that they had ²devoured them. ³For they were just as ugly as ⁴before. Then I awoke. ²²“Then I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk; ²³and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them; ²⁴and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. So ^aI told it to the ¹magicians, but there was no one who could declare it to me.”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ¹dreams are one and the same; ^aGod has declared 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 ¹dreams are one and the same. ²⁷“And the seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven lean ears scorched by the east wind ^awill be seven years of famine. ²⁸“¹It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^aGod has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹“Behold, ^aseven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; ³⁰and after them ^aseven years of famine will arise, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ¹ravage the land, ³¹so that the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very heavy. ³²“Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^athe matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. ³³“So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^aunderstanding and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴“Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵“Then let them ^agather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep watch over it. ³⁶“And let the food be appointed for the land for the seven years of famine which will happen in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off during the famine.”

Joseph Is Set over Egypt

³⁷And the ¹proposal seemed good ²to Pharaoh and ³to all his servants. ³⁸Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, ^ain whom is a divine spirit?” ³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made you know all of this, there is no one so ^aunderstanding and wise as you are. ⁴⁰“^aYou shall be over my house, and according to your ¹command all my people shall ²do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.” ⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you ^aover all the land of Egypt.” ⁴²Then Pharaoh ^aremoved his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and ^bput the gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³And he had him ride in ¹his second chariot; and they called out before him, “²Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^awithout ¹your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵Then Pharaoh named Joseph ¹Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ²^,^aOn, as a wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Now Joseph was ^athirty years old when he ¹stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and passed through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷And during the seven years of plenty the land brought forth ¹abundantly. ⁴⁸So he gathered all the food of these seven years which happened in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. ⁴⁹Thus Joseph stored up grain ¹in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ²measuring it, for it was ³beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰Now before the year of famine came, ^atwo sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ¹On, bore to him. ⁵¹And Joseph named the firstborn ¹Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” ⁵²And he named the second ¹Ephraim, “For,” he said, “^aGod has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³Then the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴and ^athe seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. So there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵Then all the land of Egypt was famished, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^awhatever he says to you, you shall do.” ⁵⁶Now the famine was over all the face of the land. And Joseph opened all ¹the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷Now all the earth also came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because ^athe famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42Now ^aJacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ²Then he said, “Behold, ^aI have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from there, ^bso that we may live and not die.” ³So ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^aBenjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^bLest any harm befall him.” ⁵So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^afor the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

⁶Now ^aJoseph was the one in power over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^bbowed down to him with their ¹faces to the ground. ⁷And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^aspoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸But Joseph recognized his brothers, although ^athey did not recognize him. ⁹And Joseph ^aremembered the dreams which he ¹had about them and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ²nakedness of the land.” ¹⁰Then they said to him, “No, ^amy lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹“We are all sons of one man; we are ^ahonest men; your servants are not spies.” ¹²And he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ¹nakedness of our land!” ¹³So 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 ^aour father today, and ^bone is no more.” ¹⁴And Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ¹to you, you are spies; ¹⁵by this you will be tested: ^aby the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶“Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is ^atruth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” ¹⁷Then he put them all together in ^aprison for three days.

¹⁸And Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^aI fear God: ¹⁹if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ¹your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, bring grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰and ^abring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be proven true, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹Then they said to one another, “^aSurely we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²²And Reuben answered them, saying, “^aDid I not tell you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; yet you would not listen? ^bSo also his blood, behold, it is required of us.” ²³Now they did not know that Joseph was listening, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴And he turned away from them and ^awept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them. And he ^btook Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵^aThen Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.

²⁶So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and went from there. ²⁷Then one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place. And he saw his ^amoney; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts ¹sank, and they turned ²trembling to one another, saying, “^aWhat is this that God has done to us?”

Jacob Is Bereaved

²⁹Then they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, ^aspoke harshly with us and took us for spies of the country. ³¹“So we said to him, ‘We are ^ahonest men; we are not spies. ³²‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³“Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^aBy 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 that I may know that you are not spies, but ¹honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^atrade in the land.’”

³⁵Now it happened that they were emptying their sacks, and behold, ^aevery man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and they and their father saw their bundles of money, and they feared. ³⁶And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^abereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷Then 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 hand, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸But ¹Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^abrother is dead, and he alone remains. ^bIf harm should befall him on the journey on which you are going, then you will ^cbring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

The Brothers Return to Egypt

43^aNow the famine was heavy in the land. ²And it happened when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^aThe man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴“If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵“But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly ¹by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our kin, saying, ‘^aIs your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we told him concerning these things. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, ^athat we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ⁹“^aI myself will be the guarantee for him; from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then ¹I shall bear the sin before you all my days. ¹⁰“For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ¹bags, and bring them down to the man ^aas a present, a little ²^,^bbalm and a little honey, ³aromatic gum and ⁴myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹²“Now take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^athe money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³“And take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴and may ¹^,^aGod Almighty ^bgrant you compassion before the man, so that he will release to you ^cyour other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^dif I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” ¹⁵So the men took ^athis present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶Then Joseph saw Benjamin with them and said to his ^ahouse steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and prepare it; for the men are to eat with me at noon.” ¹⁷So the man did as Joseph said and ¹brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may ¹seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹So they came near to Joseph’s house steward and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰and they said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹and it happened when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^aeach man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in ¹full. So ^bwe have brought it back in our hand. ²²“We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³And he said, “¹Be well, do not be afraid. ^aYour God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money has come to me.” Then ^bhe brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^agave them water, and they ^bwashed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵So they prepared ^athe present ¹for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ²a meal there.

²⁶Then Joseph came home, and they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and ^abowed to the ground before him. ²⁷And he asked them about their ¹well-being and said, “^aIs your old father ²well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” ^aThey bowed down and prostrated themselves. ²⁹Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. And he said, “Is this ^ayour youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “^bMay God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰And Joseph hurried out for ¹^,^ahe was deeply stirred with compassion over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and ^bwept there. ³¹Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^arestrained himself and said, “Set the ¹meal.” ³²So they set the meal for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is ^aan abomination to the Egyptians. ³³And they ¹were seated before him, ^athe firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴And he took portions to them from ¹his own table, ^abut Benjamin’s portion was five times greater than any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.