Genesis 39–50

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39Now Joseph^x had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard,^y bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.^z

²The Lord was with Joseph^a so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. ³When his master saw that the Lord was with him^b and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,^{c 4}Joseph found favor in his eyes^d and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household,^e and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.^{f 5}From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household^g of the Egyptian because of Joseph.^h The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.^{i 6}So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care;^j with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,^{k 7}and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”^l

⁸But he refused.^m “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.^{n 9}No one is greater in this house than I am.^o My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”^{p 10}And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^q to go to bed with her or even be with her.

¹¹One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,^r and none of the household servants^s was inside. ¹²She caught him by his cloak^t and said, “Come to bed with me!”^u But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.^v

¹³When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴she called her household servants.^w “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew^x has been brought to us to make sport of us!^y He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.^{z 15}When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”^a

¹⁶She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷Then she told him this story:^b “That Hebrew^c slave^d you brought us came to me to make sport of me. ¹⁸But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.^{e 20}Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison,^f the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹the Lord was with him;^g he showed him kindness^h and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.^{i 22}So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.^{j 23}The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s^k care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.^l

The Cupbearer and the Baker

40Some time later, the cupbearer^m and the bakerⁿ of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh was angry^o with his two officials,^p the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,^q in the same prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴The captain of the guard^r assigned them to Joseph,^s and he attended them.

After they had been in custody^t for some time, ⁵each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream^u the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.^v

⁶When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. ⁷So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody^w with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”^x

⁸“We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”^y

Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God?^z Tell me your dreams.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer^a told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, ¹⁰and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed,^b and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

¹²“This is what it means,^c” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.^{d 13}Within three days^e Pharaoh will lift up your head^f and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.^{g 14}But when all goes well with you, remember me^h and show me kindness;ⁱ mention me to Pharaoh^j and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews,^k and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”^l

¹⁶When the chief baker^m saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation,ⁿ he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets^o of bread.^{a 17}In the top basket were 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 said. “The three baskets are three days.^{p 19}Within three days^q Pharaoh will lift off your head^r and impale your body on a pole.^s And the birds will eat away your flesh.”^t

²⁰Now the third day^u was Pharaoh’s birthday,^v and he gave a feast for all his officials.^w He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker^x in the presence of his officials: ²¹He restored the chief cupbearer^y to his position,^z so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand^a—²²but he impaled the chief baker,^b just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.^c

²³The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.^d

Pharaoh’s Dreams

41When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream:^e He was standing by the Nile,^{f 2}when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat,^g and they grazed among the reeds.^{h 3}After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. ⁴And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.ⁱ

⁵He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain,^j healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. ⁶After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind.^{k 7}The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up;^l it had been a dream.

⁸In the morning his mind was troubled,^m so he sent for all the magiciansⁿ and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.^o

⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.^{p 10}Pharaoh was once angry with his servants,^q and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.^{r 11}Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.^{s 12}Now a young Hebrew^t was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.^u We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.^{v 13}And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.^w”

¹⁴So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.^x When he had shaved^y and changed his clothes,^z he came before Pharaoh.

¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.^a But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”^b

¹⁶“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”^c

¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,^{d 18}when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.^{e 19}After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. ²¹But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.

²²“In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. ²³After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. ²⁴The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.^f”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same.^g God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.^{h 26}The seven good cowsⁱ are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. ²⁷The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.^j

²⁸“It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.^{k 29}Seven years of great abundance^l are coming throughout the land of Egypt, ³⁰but seven years of famine^m will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.^{n 31}The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. ³²The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided^o by God, and God will do it soon.^p

³³“And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man^q and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.^{r 34}Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners^s over the land to take a fifth^t of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.^{u 35}They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.^{v 36}…