Genesis 41–50

Chapter 41

Pharaoh’s Dream

¹Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.

²And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and ¹fat; and they grazed in the ^amarsh grass.

³Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and ¹gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

⁴The ugly and ¹gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

⁵He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.

⁶Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.

⁷The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

⁸Now in the morning ^ahis spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the ^1bmagicians of Egypt, and all its ^cwise men. And Pharaoh told them his ²dreams, but ^dthere was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of ^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“^aWe had a dream ¹on the same night, ²he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.

¹²“Now a Hebrew youth was with us there, a ^aservant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related 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.”

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent and ^acalled for Joseph, and they ^bhurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^abut no one can interpret it; and ^bI have heard ¹it said about you, that ²when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “^1aIt is not in me; ^bGod will ²give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

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 marsh grass.

¹⁹“Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and ¹gaunt, such as I had never seen for ²ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

²⁰and the lean and ¹ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

²¹“Yet when they had ¹devoured them, it could not be ²detected that they had devoured them, ³for they were just as ugly as ⁴before. Then I awoke.

²²“I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

²³and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;

²⁴and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^aI told it to the ¹magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ¹dreams are one and the same; ^aGod has told 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“The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin 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 ¹come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ²ravage the land.

³¹“So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.

³²“Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^athe matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

³³“Now let Pharaoh look for a man ^adiscerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴“Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ¹in charge of 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 store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them guard it.

³⁶“Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

³⁷Now the ¹proposal seemed good ²to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

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 informed you of all this, there is no one so ^adiscerning 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.”

⁴¹Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you ^aover all the land of Egypt.”

⁴²Then Pharaoh ^atook off 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.

⁴³He had him ride in ¹his second chariot; and they proclaimed 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 ^2aOn, as his 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 went through all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth ¹abundantly.

⁴⁸So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred 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.

⁵¹Joseph named the firstborn ¹Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”

⁵²He named the second ¹Ephraim, “For,” he said, “^aGod has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³When 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, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

⁵⁵So when all the land of Egypt was famished, 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.”

⁵⁶When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ¹the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^athe famine was severe in all the earth.

Chapter 42

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

¹Now ^aJacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

²He said, “Behold, ^aI have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us ¹from that place, ^bso that we may live and not die.”

³Then 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, “^bI am afraid that harm may 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 ruler 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 faces to the ground.

⁷When Joseph saw his brothers he 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 had recognized his brothers, although ^athey did not recognize him.

⁹Joseph ^aremembered the dreams which he ¹had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ²undefended parts of our 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.”

¹²Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ¹undefended parts of our land!”

¹³But 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 longer alive.”

¹⁴Joseph 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.”

¹⁷So he put them all together in ^aprison for three days.

¹⁸Now 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, carry grain for the famine of your households,

²⁰and ^abring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.

²¹Then they said to one another, “^aTruly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his…