Genesis 39–50

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

³⁹Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.^{* 2}The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master.^{* 3}His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.^{* 4}So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.^{* 5}From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.^{* 6}So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and with him there he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. ⁷And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”^{* 8}But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. ⁹He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”^{* 10}And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. ¹¹One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, ¹²she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside.^{* 13}When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband^a has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice, ¹⁵and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” ¹⁶Then she kept 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 insult me,^{* 18}but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

¹⁹When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged.^{* 20}And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.^{* 21}But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.^{* 22}The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.^{* 23}The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.^*

The Dreams of Two Prisoners

⁴⁰Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.^{* 2}Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.^{* 4}The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them, and they continued for some time in custody. ⁵One 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 meaning. 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, “Why are your faces downcast today?” ⁸They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “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 came out, 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, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days;^{* 13}within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place.^{* 15}For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”^*

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, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;^{* 19}within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a pole, and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”^*

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.^{* 21}He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand,^{* 22}but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.^{* 23}Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him.

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream

⁴¹After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, ²and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. ³Then 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. ⁴The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. ⁵Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. ⁶Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. ⁷The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. ⁸In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.^*

⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard.^{* 11}We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.^{* 12}A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream.^{* 13}As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”^*

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.^{* 15}And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”^{* 16}Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^{* 17}Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile, ¹⁸and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. ¹⁹Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin. Never had I seen such ugly ones in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰The thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows, ²¹but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had done so, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke. ²²I fell asleep a second time,^b and I saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one stalk, ²³and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after them, ²⁴and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. But when I told it to the magicians, there was no one who could explain it to me.”^*

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God 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, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind. They are seven years of famine.^{* 28}It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.^{* 29}There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.^{* 30}After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land.^{* 31}The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous. ³²And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.^{* 33}Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise 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 land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. ³⁵Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.^{* 36 …}