Genesis 39–40

Chapter 39

¹And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, a chamberlain of Pharaoh, the captain of the life-guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down thither. ²And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. ⁴And Joseph found favour in his eyes, and attended on him; and he set him over his house, and all that he had he gave into his hand. ⁵And it came to pass from the time he had set him over his house and all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of Jehovah was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and took cognizance of nothing with him, save the bread that he ate. And Joseph was of a beautiful form and of a beautiful countenance.

⁷And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and said, Lie with me! ⁸But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, Behold, my master takes cognizance of nothing with me: what is in the house, and all that he has, he has given into my hand. ⁹There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he withheld anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife; and how should I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? ¹⁰And it came to pass as she spoke to Joseph day by day and he hearkened not to her, to lie with her and to be with her, ¹¹that on a certain day he went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house there in the house. ¹²Then she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran out.

¹³And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled forth, ¹⁴that she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, See, he has brought in a Hebrew man to us, to mock us: he came in to me, to lie with me; and I cried with a loud voice; ¹⁵and it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went out. ¹⁶And she laid his garment by her until his lord came home. ¹⁷And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew bondman that thou hast brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled forth.

¹⁹And it came to pass when his lord heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, After this manner did thy bondman to me, that his wrath was kindled. ²⁰And Joseph’s lord took him and put him into the tower-house, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the tower-house. ²¹And Jehovah was with Joseph, and extended mercy to him, and gave him favour in the eyes of the chief of the tower-house. ²²And the chief of the tower-house committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the tower-house; and whatever they had to do there he did. ²³The chief of the tower-house looked not to anything under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and what he did, Jehovah made it prosper.

Chapter 40

¹And it came to pass after these things, that the cup-bearer of the king of Egypt and the baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. ²And Pharaoh was wroth with his two chamberlains—with the chief of the cup-bearers and with the chief of the bakers; ³and he put them in custody into the house of the captain of the life-guard, into the tower-house, into the place where Joseph was imprisoned. ⁴And the captain of the life-guard appointed Joseph to them, that he should attend on them. And they were several days in custody.

⁵And they dreamed a dream, both of them in one night, each his dream, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup-bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were imprisoned in the tower-house. ⁶And Joseph came in to them in the morning, and looked on them, and behold, they were sad. ⁷And he asked Pharaoh’s chamberlains that were with him in custody in his lord’s house, saying, Why are your faces so sad to-day? ⁸And they said to him, We have dreamt a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me your dreams, I pray you. ⁹Then the chief of the cup-bearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; ¹⁰and in the vine were three branches; and it was as though it budded: its blossoms shot forth, its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. ¹²And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days. ¹³In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head and restore thee to thy place, and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his cup-bearer. ¹⁴Only bear a remembrance with thee of me when it goes well with thee, and deal kindly, I pray thee, with me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house; ¹⁵for indeed I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. ¹⁶And when the chief of the bakers saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷And in the uppermost basket there were all manner of victuals for Pharaoh that the baker makes, and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head. ¹⁸And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: the three baskets are three days. ¹⁹In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and hang thee on a tree; and the birds will eat thy flesh from off thee.

²⁰And it came to pass the third day—Pharaoh’s birthday—that he made a feast to all his bondmen. And he lifted up the head of the chief of the cup-bearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers among his bondmen. ²¹And he restored the chief of the cup-bearers to his office of cup-bearer again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. ²²And he hanged the chief of the bakers, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³But the chief of the cup-bearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him.