Genesis 37:2-41:40

New King James Version

² This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^(A)a bad report of them to his father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^(B)the son of his old age. Also he ^(C)made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^(D)hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ^7 (E)There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, ^(F)the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and ^(G)your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹ And ^(H)his brothers envied him, but his father ^(I)kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^(J)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^(K)Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^(L)Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ^(M)Dothan.

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^(N)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this ^[a]dreamer is coming! ^20 (O)Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹ But ^(P)Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^(Q)stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^25 (R)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(S)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(T)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(U)conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(V)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(W)our brother and ^(X)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then ^(Y)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(Z)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(AA)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^(AB)tore his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^(AC)is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹ So they took ^(AD)Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^(AE)wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob ^(AF)tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^(AG)mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(AH)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(AI)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶ Now ^(AJ)the ^[b]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38 It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and ^(AK)visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ² And Judah ^(AL)saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(AM)Shua, and he married her and went in to her. ³ So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^(AN)Er. ⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^(AO)Onan. ⁵ And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name ^(AP)Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

⁶ Then Judah ^(AQ)took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was ^(AR)Tamar. ⁷ But ^(AS)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, ^(AT)and the Lord killed him. ⁸ And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^(AU)your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the heir would not be ^(AV)his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. ¹⁰ And the thing which he did ^[c]displeased the Lord; therefore He killed ^(AW)him also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ^(AX)“Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt ^(AY)in her father’s house.

¹² Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah ^(AZ)was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up ^(BA)to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and ^(BB)sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw ^(BC)that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷ And he said, ^(BD)“I will send a young goat from the flock.”

So she said, ^(BE)“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”

¹⁸ Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”

So she said, ^(BF)“Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ So she arose and went away, and ^(BG)laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. ²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was ^[d]openly by the roadside?”

And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”

²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”

²³ Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

²⁴ And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has ^(BH)played the harlot; furthermore she is ^[e]with child by harlotry.”

So Judah said, “Bring her out ^(BI)and let her be burned!”

²⁵ When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, ^(BJ)“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”

²⁶ So Judah ^(BK)acknowledged them and said, ^(BL)“She has been more righteous than I, because ^(BM)I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he ^(BN)never knew her again.

²⁷ Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸ And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called ^(BO)Perez.^{[f] 30} Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called ^(BP)Zerah.

Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken ^(BQ)down to Egypt. And ^(BR)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^(BS)bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ^2 (BT)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(BU)made all he did ^[g]to prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(BV)found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him ^(BW)overseer of his house, and all that he had he put ^[h]under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that ^(BX)the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s ^[i]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the ^[j]bread which he ate.

Now Joseph ^(BY)was handsome in form and appearance.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife ^[k]cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ^(BZ)“Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. ^(CA)How then can I do this great wickedness, and ^(CB)sin against God?”

¹⁰ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he ^(CC)did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹ But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹² that she ^(CD)caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³ And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a ^(CE)Hebrew to ^[l]mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(CF)spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸ so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his ^(CG)anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and ^(CH)put him into the ^(CI)prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He ^(CJ)gave^[m] him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison ^(CK)committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under ^[n]Joseph’s authority, because ^(CL)the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The Prisoners’ Dreams

40 It came to pass after these things that the ^(CM)butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(CN)angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. ^3 (CO)So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. ⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

⁵ Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, ^(CP)had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. ⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were ^[o]sad. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, ^(CQ)“Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, ^(CR)“We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

So Joseph said to them, ^(CS)“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh’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.”

¹² And Joseph said to him, ^(CT)“This is the interpretation of it: The three branches ^(CU)are three days. ¹³ Now within three days Pharaoh will ^(CV)lift up your head and restore you to your ^[p]place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. ¹⁴ But ^(CW)remember me when it is well with you, and ^(CX)please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed I was ^(CY)stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; ^(CZ)and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three ^[q]white baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ So Joseph answered and said, ^(DA)“This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. ^19 (DB)Within three days Pharaoh will lift ^[r]off your head from you and ^(DC)hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

²⁰ Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s ^(DD)birthday, that he ^(DE)made a feast for all his servants; and he ^(DF)lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ Then he ^(DG)restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and ^(DH)he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But he ^(DI)hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but ^(DJ)forgot him.

Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that ^(DK)Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. ² Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. ⁴ And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the ^(DL)east wind, sprang up after them. ⁷ And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. ⁸ Now it came to pass in the morning ^(DM)that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all ^(DN)the magicians of Egypt and all its ^(DO)wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the ^(DP)chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh was ^(DQ)angry with his servants, ^(DR)and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, ^11 (DS)we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹² Now there was a young ^(DT)Hebrew man with us there, a ^(DU)servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he ^(DV)interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³ And it came to pass, just ^(DW)as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”

^14 (DX)Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they ^(DY)brought him quickly ^(DZ)out of the dungeon; and he shaved, ^(EA)changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. ^(EB)But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”

¹⁶ So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, ^(EC)“It is not in me; ^(ED)God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, ^(EE)in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. ²¹ When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²² Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven ^[s]heads came up on one stalk, full and good. ²³ Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ²⁴ And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So ^(EF)I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ^(EG)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ^[t]heads are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are ^(EH)seven years of famine. ^28 (EI)This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Indeed ^(EJ)seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but after them seven years of famine will ^(EK)arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine ^(EL)will deplete the land. ³¹ So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. ³² And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the ^(EM)thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint ^[u]officers over the land, ^(EN)to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ And ^(EO)let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the ^[v]authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. ³⁶ Then that food shall be as a ^[w]reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land ^(EP)may not ^[x]perish during the famine.”

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷ So ^(EQ)the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man ^(ER)in whom is the Spirit of God?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ^40 (ES)You shall be ^[y]over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”