Joseph’s Dreams

37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,^(A) the land of Canaan.^(B)

² This is the account^(C) of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph,^(D) a young man of seventeen,^(E) was tending the flocks^(F) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah^(G) and the sons of Zilpah,^(H) his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report^(I) about them.

³ Now Israel^(J) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(K) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(L) and he made an ornate^[a] robe^(M) for him.^{(N) 4} When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him^(O) and could not speak a kind word to him.

⁵ Joseph had a dream,^(P) and when he told it to his brothers,^(Q) they hated him all the more.^{(R) 6} He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves^(S) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”^(T)

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”^(U) And they hated him all the more^(V) because of his dream and what he had said.

⁹ Then he had another dream,^(W) and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars^(X) were bowing down to me.”^(Y)

¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers,^(Z) his father rebuked^(AA) him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”^{(AB) 11} His brothers were jealous of him,^(AC) but his father kept the matter in mind.^(AD)

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,^{(AE) 13} and Israel^(AF) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.^(AG) Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers^(AH) and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.^(AI)

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.^(AJ)’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.^(AK)

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!^(AL)” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^(AM) and say that a ferocious animal^(AN) devoured him.^(AO) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^(AP)

²¹ When Reuben^(AQ) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.^{(AR) 22} “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern^(AS) here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.^(AT)

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(AU) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(AV) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites^(AW) coming from Gilead.^(AX) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(AY) and myrrh,^(AZ) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(BA)

²⁶ Judah^(BB) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(BC) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(BD) our own flesh and blood.^(BE)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(BF) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(BG) and sold^(BH) him for twenty shekels^[b] of silver^(BI) to the Ishmaelites,^(BJ) who took him to Egypt.^(BK)

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.^{(BL) 30} He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”^(BM)

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s robe,^(BN) slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.^{(BO) 32} They took the ornate robe^(BP) back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal^(BQ) has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”^(BR)

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes,^(BS) put on sackcloth^(BT) and mourned for his son many days.^{(BU) 35} All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,^(BV) but he refused to be comforted.^(BW) “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son^(BX) in the grave.^(BY)” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianites^[c](BZ) sold Joseph^(CA) in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.^(CB)

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph^(A) had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard,^(B) bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.^(C)

² The Lord was with Joseph^(D) so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him^(E) and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,^{(F) 4} Joseph found favor in his eyes^(G) and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household,^(H) and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.^{(I) 5} From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household^(J) of the Egyptian because of Joseph.^(K) The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.^{(L) 6} So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care;^(M) with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

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

⁸ But he refused.^(P) “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.^{(Q) 9} No one is greater in this house than I am.^(R) 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?”^{(S) 10} And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^(T) to go to bed with her or even be with her.

¹¹ One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,^(U) and none of the household servants^(V) was inside. ¹² She caught him by his cloak^(W) and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(X) But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.^(Y)

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

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

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

But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹ the Lord was with him;^(AJ) he showed him kindness^(AK) and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.^{(AL) 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.^{(AM) 23} The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s^(AN) care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.^(AO)

The Cupbearer and the Baker

40 Some time later, the cupbearer^(A) and the baker^(B) of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry^(C) with his two officials,^(D) the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,^(E) in the same prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard^(F) assigned them to Joseph,^(G) and he attended them.

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

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

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

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

⁹ So the chief cupbearer^(O) told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed,^(P) and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’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,^(Q)” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.^{(R) 13} Within three days^(S) Pharaoh will lift up your head^(T) 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.^{(U) 14} But when all goes well with you, remember me^(V) and show me kindness;^(W) mention me to Pharaoh^(X) and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵ I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews,^(Y) and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”^(Z)

¹⁶ When the chief baker^(AA) saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation,^(AB) he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets^(AC) 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.^{(AD) 19} Within three days^(AE) Pharaoh will lift off your head^(AF) and impale your body on a pole.^(AG) And the birds will eat away your flesh.”^(AH)

²⁰ Now the third day^(AI) was Pharaoh’s birthday,^(AJ) and he gave a feast for all his officials.^(AK) He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker^(AL) in the presence of his officials: ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer^(AM) to his position,^(AN) so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand^(AO)— ²² but he impaled the chief baker,^(AP) just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.^(AQ)

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