Genesis 39–50

39TH CHAPTER

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

¹Joseph had been taken to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s Egyptian officials and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 

²The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. He worked in the house of his Egyptian master. ³Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful. ⁴Potiphar liked Joseph so much that he made him his trusted servant. He put him in charge of his household and everything he owned. ⁵From that time on the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. Therefore, the Lord’s blessing was on everything Potiphar owned in his house and in his fields. ⁶So he left all that he owned in Joseph’s care. He wasn’t concerned about anything except the food he ate. 

Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷After a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph, so she said, “Come to bed with me.” 

⁸But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master doesn’t concern himself with anything in the house. He trusts me with everything he owns. ⁹No one in this house is greater than I. He’s kept nothing back from me except you, because you’re his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” ¹⁰Although she kept asking Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or be with her. 

¹¹One day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. ¹²She grabbed him by his clothes and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he ran outside and left his clothes in her hand. 

¹³When she realized that he had gone but had left his clothes behind, ¹⁴she called her household servants and said to them, “Look! My husband brought this Hebrew here to fool around with us. He came in and tried to go to bed with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵As soon as he heard me scream, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.” 

¹⁶She kept Joseph’s clothes with her until his master came home. ¹⁷Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought here came in and tried to fool around with me. ¹⁸But when I screamed, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.” 

¹⁹When Potiphar heard his wife’s story, especially when she said, “This is what your slave did to me,” he became very angry. ²⁰So Joseph’s master arrested him and put him in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept. 

While Joseph was in prison, ²¹the Lord was with him. The Lord reached out to him with his unchanging love and gave him protection. The Lord also put Joseph on good terms with the warden. ²²So the warden placed Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in that prison. Joseph became responsible for everything that they were doing. ²³The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made whatever he did successful. 

40TH CHAPTER

Joseph in Prison

¹Later the king’s cupbearer^aand his baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh was angry with his chief cupbearer and his chief baker. ³He put them in the prison of the captain of the guard, the same place where Joseph was a prisoner. ⁴The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. 

After they had been confined for some time, ⁵both prisoners—the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt—had dreams one night. Each man had a dream with its own special meaning. 

⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷So he asked these officials of Pharaoh who were with him in his master’s prison, “Why do you look so unhappy today?” 

⁸“We both had dreams,” they answered him, “but there’s no one to tell us what they mean.” 

“Isn’t God the only one who can tell what they mean?” Joseph asked them. “Why don’t you tell me all about them.” 

⁹So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said “In my dream a grapevine with three branches appeared in front of me. ¹⁰Soon after it sprouted it blossomed. Then its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes and squeezed them into it. I put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 

¹²“This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. ¹³In the next three days Pharaoh will release you and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴Remember me when things go well for you, and please do me a favor. Mention me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I’ve done nothing to deserve being put in this prison.” 

¹⁶The chief baker saw that the meaning Joseph had given to the cupbearer’s dream was good. So he said to Joseph, “I had a dream too. In my dream three baskets of white baked goods were on my head. ¹⁷The top basket contained all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 

¹⁸“This is what it means,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹In the next three days Pharaoh will cut off your head and hang your dead body on a pole. The birds will eat the flesh from your bones.” 

²⁰Two days later, on his birthday, Pharaoh had a special dinner prepared for all his servants. Of all his servants he gave special attention to the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ²¹He restored the chief cupbearer to his position. So the cupbearer put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²²But he hung the chief baker just as Joseph had said in his interpretation. 

²³Nevertheless, the chief cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph. He forgot all about him. 

41ST CHAPTER

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

¹After two full years Pharaoh had a dream. He dreamed he was standing by the Nile River. ²Suddenly, seven nice-looking, well-fed cows came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. ³Seven other cows came up from the river behind them. These cows were sickly and skinny. They stood behind the first seven cows on the riverbank. ⁴The cows that were sickly and skinny ate the seven nice-looking, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 

⁵He fell asleep again and had a second dream. Seven good, healthy heads of grain were growing on a single stalk. ⁶Seven other heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted behind them. ⁷The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full, healthy heads. Then Pharaoh woke up. It was only a dream. 

⁸In the morning he was so upset that he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could tell him what they meant. 

⁹Then the chief cupbearer^aspoke to Pharaoh, “I remember a promise I failed to keep.¹⁰Some time ago when Pharaoh was angry with his servants, he confined me and the chief baker to the captain of the guard’s prison. ¹¹We both had dreams the same night. Each dream had its own meaning. ¹²A young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guard, was with us. We told him our dreams, and he told each of us what they meant. ¹³What he told us happened: Pharaoh restored me to my position, but he hung the baker on a pole.” 

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and immediately he was brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came in front of Pharaoh. 

¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can tell me what it means. I heard that when you are told a dream, you can say what it means.” 

¹⁶Joseph answered Pharaoh, “I can’t, but God can give Pharaoh the answer that he needs.” 

¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. ¹⁸Suddenly, seven nice-looking, well-fed cows came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. ¹⁹Seven other cows came up behind them. These cows were scrawny, very sick, and thin. I’ve never seen such sickly cows in all of Egypt! ²⁰The thin, sickly cows ate up the seven well-fed ones. ²¹Even though they had eaten them, no one could tell they had eaten them. They looked just as sick as before. Then I woke up. 

²²“In my second dream I saw seven good, full heads of grain growing on a single stalk. ²³Seven other heads of grain, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted behind them. ²⁴The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but no one could tell me what it meant.” 

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh had the same dream twice. God has told Pharaoh what he’s going to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It’s all the same dream. ²⁷The seven thin, sickly cows that came up behind them are seven years. The seven empty heads of grain scorched by the east wind are also seven years. Seven years of famine are coming. 

²⁸“It’s just as I said to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he’s going to do. ²⁹Seven years are coming when there will be plenty of food in Egypt. ³⁰After them will come seven years of famine. People will forget that there was plenty of food in Egypt, and the famine will ruin the land. ³¹People won’t remember that there once was plenty of food in the land, because the coming famine will be so severe. ³²The reason Pharaoh has had a recurring dream is because the matter has been definitely decided by God, and he will do it very soon. 

Joseph Advises Pharaoh

³³“Pharaoh should look for a wise and intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt. ³⁴Make arrangements to appoint supervisors over the land to take a fifth of Egypt’s harvest during the seven good years. ³⁵Have them collect all the food during these good years and store up grain under Pharaoh’s control, to be kept for food in the cities. ³⁶This food will be a reserve supply for our country during the seven years of famine that will happen in Egypt. Then the land will not be ruined by the famine.” 

³⁷Pharaoh and all his servants liked the idea. ³⁸So Pharaoh asked his servants, “Can we find anyone like this—a man who has God’s Spirit in him?” 

³⁹Then Pharaoh said…