Gen. 40:1‑45:28• 1And it came to pass after these things, that the cup-bearer of the king of Egypt and the baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.
2And Pharaoh was wroth with his two chamberlains--with the chief of the cup bearers and with the chief of the bakers;
3and he put them in custody into the house of the captain of the life-guard, into the tower-house, into the place where Joseph was imprisoned.
4And the captain of the life-guard appointed Joseph to them, that he should attend on them. And they were several days in custody.
5And they dreamed a dream, both of them in one night, each his dream, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup-bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were imprisoned in the tower-house.
6And Joseph came in to them in the morning, and looked on them, and behold, they were sad.
7And he asked Pharaoh's chamberlains that were with him in custody in his lord's house, saying, Why are your faces so sad to-day?
8And they said to him, We have dreamt a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me your dreams, I pray you.
9Then the chief of the cup-bearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;
10and in the vine were three branches; and it was as though it budded: its blossoms shot forth, its clusters ripened into grapes.
11And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
12And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days.
13In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head and restore thee to thy place, and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his cup bearer.
14Only bear a remembrance with thee of me when it goes well with thee, and deal kindly, I pray thee, with me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house;
15for indeed I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
16And when the chief of the bakers saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head.
17And in the uppermost basket there were all manner of victuals for Pharaoh that the baker makes, and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head.
18And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: the three baskets are three days.
19In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and hang thee on a tree; and the birds will eat thy flesh from off thee.
20And it came to pass the third day--Pharaoh's birthday--that he made a feast to all his bondmen. And he lifted up the head of the chief of the cup-bearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers among his bondmen.
21And he restored the chief of the cup-bearers to his office of cup-bearer again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
22And he hanged the chief of the bakers, as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23But the chief of the cup-bearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him.
1And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river.
2And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fine-looking and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed-grass.
3And behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, bad-looking and lean-fleshed, and stood by the kine on the bank of the river.
4And the kine that were bad-looking and lean-fleshed ate up the seven kine that were fine-looking and fat. And Pharaoh awoke.
5And he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of corn grew up on one stalk, fat and good.
6And behold, seven ears, thin and parched with the east wind, sprung up after them.
7And the thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke; and behold, it was a dream.
8And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the scribes of Egypt, and all the sages who were therein, and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none to interpret them to Pharaoh.
9Then spoke the chief of the cup-bearers to Pharaoh, saying, I remember mine offences this day.
10Pharaoh was wroth with his bondmen, and put me in custody into the captain of the life-guard's house, me and the chief of the bakers.
11And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each according to the interpretation of his dream.
12And there was there with us a Hebrew youth, a bondman of the captain of the life guard, to whom we told them, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each he interpreted according to his dream.
13And it came to pass, just as he interpreted to us, so it came about: me has he restored to my office, and him he hanged.
14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph; and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. And he shaved himself, and changed his clothes, and came in to Pharaoh.
15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamt a dream, and there is none to interpret it. And I have heard say of thee, thou understandest a dream to interpret it.
16And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
17And Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood on the bank of the river.
18And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and of fine form, and they fed in the reed-grass.
19And behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor, and very ill-formed, and lean-fleshed--such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness.
20And the lean and bad kine ate up the seven first fat kine;
21and they came into their belly, and it could not be known that they had come into their belly; and their look was bad, as at the beginning. And I awoke.
22And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good.
23And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, parched with the east wind, sprung up after them;
24and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told it to the scribes; but there was none to make it known to me.
25And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God will do he has made known to Pharaoh.
26The seven fine kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
27And the seven lean and bad kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears, parched with the east wind, will be seven years of famine.
28This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh: what God is about to do he has let Pharaoh see.
29Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout the land of Egypt.
30And there will arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will waste away the land.
31And the plenty will not be known afterwards in the land by reason of that famine; for it will be very grievous.
32And as regards the double repetition of the dream to Pharaoh, it is that the thing is established by God, and God will hasten to do it.
33And now let Pharaoh look himself out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34Let Pharaoh do this: let him appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty,
35and let them gather all the food of these coming good years, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, for food in the cities, and keep it.
36And let the food be as store for the land for the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine.
37And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his bondmen.
38And Pharaoh said to his bondmen, Shall we find one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
39And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has made all this known to thee, there is none so discreet and wise as thou.
40Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy commandment shall all my people regulate themselves; only concerning the throne will I be greater than thou.
41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
42And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in clothes of byssus, and put a gold chain on his neck.
43And he caused him to ride in the second chariot that he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee! and he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.
45And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him as wife Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
46And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh, and passed through the whole land of Egypt.
47And in the seven years of plenty the land brought forth by handfuls.
48And he gathered up all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities; the food of the fields of the city, which were round about it, he laid up in it.
49And Joseph laid up corn as sand of the sea exceeding much, until they left off numbering; for it was without number.
50And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On bore to him.
51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh--For God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
52And the name of the second he called Ephraim--For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
53And the seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt were ended;
54and the seven years of the dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And there was dearth in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55And all the land of Egypt suffered from the dearth. And the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph: what he says to you, that do.
56And the famine was on all the earth. And Joseph opened every place in which there was provision, and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was grievous in the land of Egypt.
57And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was grievous on the whole earth.
1And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
2And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down thither and buy grain for us from thence, in order that we may live, and not die.
3And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy grain out of Egypt.
4But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest mischief may befall him.
5So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6And Joseph, he was the governor over the land--he it was that sold the corn to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down to him, the face to the earth.
7And Joseph saw his brethren, and knew them; but he made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them, and said to them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
8And Joseph knew his brethren, but they did not know him.
9And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamt of them; and he said to them, Ye are spies: to see the exposed places of the land ye are come.
10And they said to him, No, my lord; but to buy food are thy servants come.
11We are all one man's sons; we are honest: thy servants are not spies.
12And he said to them, No; but to see the exposed places of the land are ye come.
13And they said, Thy servants were twelve brethren, sons of one man, in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14And Joseph said to them, That is it that I have spoken to you, saying, Ye are spies.
15By this ye shall be put to the proof: as Pharaoh lives, ye shall not go forth hence, unless your youngest brother come hither!
16Send one of you, that he may fetch your brother, but ye shall be imprisoned, and your words shall be put to the proof, whether the truth is in you; and if not, as Pharaoh lives, ye are spies.
17And he put them in custody three days.
18And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, that ye may live: I fear God.
19If ye are honest, let one of your brethren remain bound in the house of your prison, but go ye, carry grain for the hunger of your households;
20and bring your youngest brother to me, in order that your words be verified, and that ye may not die. And they did so.
21Then they said one to another, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw when he besought us, and we did not hearken; therefore this distress is come upon us.
22And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the lad? But ye did not hearken; and now behold, his blood also is required.
23And they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them.
24And he turned away from them, and wept. And he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.
25And Joseph gave orders to fill their vessels with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way. And thus did they to them.
26And they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed thence.
27And one of them opened his sack to give his ass food in the inn, and saw his money, and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28And he said to his brethren, My money is returned to me, and behold, it is even in my sack. And their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God has done to us?
29And they came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,
30The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and treated us as spies of the land.
31And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies:
32we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Hereby shall I know that ye are honest: leave one of your brethren with me, and take for the hunger of your households, and go,
34and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that ye are not spies, but are honest. Your brother will I give up to you; and ye may trade in the land.
35And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man had his bundle of money in his sack; and they saw their bundles of money, they and their father, and were afraid.
36And Jacob their father said to them, Ye have bereaved me of children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin! All these things are against me.
37And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not back to thee: give him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
38But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left; and if mischief should befall him by the way in which ye go, then would ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
1And the famine was grievous in the land.
2And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.
3And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.
4If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;
5but if thou do not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.
6And Israel said, Why did ye deal so ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
7And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
8And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones.
9I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.
10For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.
11And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.
12And take other money in your hand, and the money that was returned to you in the mouth of your sacks, carry back in your hand: perhaps it is an oversight.
13And take your brother, and arise, go again to the man.
14And the Almighty *God give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.
15And the men took that gift, and took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and came before Joseph.
16And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the man who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.
17And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and said, Because of the money that was returned to us in our sacks at the beginning are we brought in, that he may turn against us, and fall upon us and take us for bondmen, and our asses.
19And they came up to the man that was over Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
20and said, Ah! my lord, we came indeed down at the first to buy food.
21And it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money according to its weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.
22And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.
23And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me. And he brought Simeon out to them.
24And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses food.
25And they made ready the gift for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they should eat bread there.
26When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift that was in their hand, into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.
27And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well--the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?
28And they said, Thy servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And they bowed, and made obeisance.
29And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son!
30And Joseph made haste, for his bowels burned for his brother; and he sought a place to weep, and he went into the chamber, and wept there.
31And he washed his face, and came out, and controlled himself, and said, Set on bread.
32And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
33And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another.
34And he had portions carried to them from before him. And Benjamin's portion was five times greater than the portions of them all. And they drank, and made merry with him.
1And he commanded him who was over his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry; and put every man's money in the mouth of his sack.
2And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain-money. And he did according to the word of Joseph which he had spoken.
3In the morning, when it was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
4They were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, when Joseph said to him who was over his house, Up! follow after the men; and when thou overtakest them, thou shalt say to them, Why have ye rewarded evil for good?
5Is not this it in which my lord drinks, and in which indeed he divines? Ye have done evil in what ye have done.
6And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these words.
7And they said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from thy servants to do such a thing!
8Behold, the money that we found in our sacks' mouths we have brought again to thee from the land of Canaan; and how should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?
9With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be my lord's bondmen.
10And he said, Now also let it be according to your words: let him with whom it is found be my bondman, but ye shall be blameless.
11And they hasted and laid down every man his sack on the ground, and opened every man his sack.
12And he searched carefully: he began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13Then they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and they returned to the city.
14And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; and he was still there; and they fell down before him to the ground.
15And Joseph said to them, What deed is this which ye have done? Did ye not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?
16And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak, and how justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord's bondmen, both we, and he in whose hand the cup has been found.
17And he said, Far be it from me to do so! The man in whose hand the cup has been found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.
18Then Judah came near to him, and said, Ah! my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.
19My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
20And we said to my lord, We have an aged father, and a child born to him in his old age, yet young; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.
21And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set mine eye on him.
22And we said to my lord, The youth cannot leave his father: if he should leave his father, his father would die.
23And thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
24And it came to pass when we came up to thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food.
26But we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.
27And thy servant my father said to us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons;
28and the one went out from me, and I said, He must certainly have been torn in pieces; and I have not seen him again hitherto.
29And if ye take this one also from me, and mischief should befall him, ye will bring down my grey hairs with misery to Sheol.
30And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us,--seeing that his life is bound up with his life,
31it will come to pass when he sees that the lad is not there, that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.
32For thy servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, then I shall be guilty toward my father all my days.
33And now, let thy servant stay, I pray thee, instead of the lad a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren;
34for how should I go up to my father if the lad were not with me?--lest I see the evil that would come on my father.
1And Joseph could not control himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, Put every man out from me! And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brethren.
2And he raised his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3And Joseph said to his brethren, I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence.
4And Joseph said to his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5And now, be not grieved, and be not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6For the famine has been these two years in the land; and yet there are five years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.
7So God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
8And now it was not you that sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and governor over all the land of Egypt.
9Haste and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus says thy son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, tarry not.
10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near to me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons' sons, and thy sheep, and thy cattle, and all that thou hast.
11And there will I maintain thee; for yet there are five years of famine; in order that thou be not impoverished, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast.
12And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth which speaks to you.
13And tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen, and haste and bring down my father hither.
14And he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck.
15And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him.
16And the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come. And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his bondmen.
17And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to thy brethren, Do this: load your beasts and depart, go into the land of Canaan,
18and take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
19And thou art commanded--this do: take waggons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and take up your father, and come.
20And let not your eye regret your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt shall be yours.
21And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them waggons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.
22To each one of them all he gave changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
23And to his father he sent this: ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread, and food for his father by the way.
24And he sent his brethren away, and they departed. And he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way.
25And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father.
26And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them.
27And they spoke to him all the words of Joseph, which he had spoken to them. And he saw the waggons that Joseph had sent to carry him. And the spirit of Jacob their father revived.
28And Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die. (Gen. 40:1‑45:28)