Genesis 41–50

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}That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. ³⁸Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find anyone else like this, one in whom is the spirit of God?”^{* 39}So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”^{* 41}And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”^{* 42}Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.^{* 43}He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command, and they cried out in front of him, “Bow the knee!”^c Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.^{* 44}Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”^{* 45}Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.^{* 47}During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. ⁴⁸He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty^d in the land of Egypt and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.^{* 51}Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh,^e “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” ⁵²The second he named Ephraim,^f “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”^*

⁵³The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread.^{* 55}When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses^g and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.^{* 57}Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

⁴²When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at one another?^{* 2}I have heard,” he said, “that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”^{* 3}So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. ⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come to him.^{* 5}Thus the sons of Israel were among the people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.^*

⁶Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.^{* 7}When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”^{* 8}Although Joseph had recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. ⁹Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them. He said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”^{* 10}They said to him, “No, my lord; your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants have never been spies.” ¹²But he said to them, “No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!” ¹³They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan; the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more.”^{* 14}But Joseph said to them, “It is just as I have said to you; you are spies! ¹⁵Here is how you shall be tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison, in order that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else, as Pharaoh lives, surely you are spies.” ¹⁷And he put them all together in prison for three days.

¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:^{* 19}if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned. The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households ²⁰and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they agreed to do so.^{* 21}They said to one another, “Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this anguish has come upon us.”^{* 22}Then Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”^{* 23}They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. ²⁴He turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. And he picked out Simeon and had him bound before their eyes.^* …