Genesis 39–50

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and ^lPotiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^mhad bought him from the ⁿIshmaelites who had brought him down there. ^2oThe Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. ³His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^pcaused all that he did to succeed in his hands. ⁴So Joseph ^qfound favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house ^rand put him in charge of all that he had. ⁵From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house ^sfor Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. ⁶So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was ^thandsome in form and appearance. ⁷And after a time 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, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and ^uhe has put everything that he has in my charge. ⁹He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and ^vsin against God?” ¹⁰And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he ^wwould not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

¹¹But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, ^12xshe caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. ¹³And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, ¹⁴she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” ¹⁶Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. ¹⁸But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”

¹⁹As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. ²⁰And Joseph’s master took him and ^yput him into the ^zprison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. ²¹But ^athe Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love ^band gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²²And the keeper of the prison ^cput Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because ^dthe Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

40Some time after this, the ^ecupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. ²And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ^3fand he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

⁵And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. ⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. ⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, ^g“Why are your faces downcast today?” ⁸They said to him, ^h“We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, ⁱ“Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” ¹²Then Joseph said to him, ^j“This is its interpretation: ^kthe three branches are three days. ¹³In three days Pharaoh will ^llift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. ¹⁵For ^mI was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and ⁿhere also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, ¹⁷and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸And Joseph answered and said, ^o“This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. ^19pIn three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and ^qhang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s ^rbirthday, he made a feast for all his servants and ^slifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ^21tHe restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and ^uhe placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²²But he ^vhanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

41After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, ²and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. ³And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. ⁵And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. ⁶And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and ^wblighted by the east wind. ⁷And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸So in the morning ^xhis spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the ^ymagicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. ¹⁰When Pharaoh was ^zangry with his servants ^aand put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, ^11bwe dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. ¹²A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, ^che interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. ¹³And ^das he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”

^14eThen Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they ^fquickly brought him ^gout of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. ^hI have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶Joseph answered Pharaoh, ⁱ“It is not in me; ^jGod will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^{1 17}Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, ^kin my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. ¹⁸Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. ¹⁹Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, ²¹but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. ²²I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. ²³Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, ²⁴and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And ^lI told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ^mGod has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also ⁿseven years of famine. ²⁸It is as I told Pharaoh; ^oGod has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹There will come ^pseven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, ³⁰but after them there will arise ^qseven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. ^rThe famine will consume the land, ³¹and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. ³²And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the ^sthing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. ³³Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the…