Genesis 37-47

Tree of Life Version

Parashat Vayeshev

Joseph, Favored Son

37 Now Jacob dwelled in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. ² These are the genealogies of Jacob.

When Joseph was 17 years old (he was a youth), he was shepherding the flocks with his brothers—with the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons because he was the son of his old age. So he had made him a long-sleeved tunic. ⁴ When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak to him in shalom.

⁵ Then Joseph dreamed a dream and told his brothers—and they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to this dream I dreamed. ⁷ There we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field. All of a sudden, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ “Will you truly be a king over us?” his brothers said to him. “Will you really rule over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of his words.

⁹ But then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “I have just dreamed another dream. Suddenly, there was the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowing down to me!” ¹⁰ He told it to his father as well as his brothers.

Then his father rebuked him and said to him, “What’s this dream you dreamed? Will we really come—your mother and I with your brothers—to bow down to the ground to you?” ¹¹ So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the speech in mind.

Joseph Betrayed

¹² Then his brothers went to graze their father’s flocks at Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers grazing the flocks in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.”

“Here I am,” he said to him.

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Go now, and check on the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flocks and bring word back to me.”

So he sent him from the valley of Hebron and he went to Shechem. ¹⁵ A man found him there, wandering in the field, and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ “I’m looking for my brothers,” he said. “Please tell me where they’re grazing.”

¹⁷ The man said, “They moved on from here. For I heard them saying, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ Now they saw him from a distance. Before he was close to them they plotted together against him in order to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes the master of dreams! ²⁰ Come on now! Let’s kill him and throw him into one of those pits, so we can say that an evil animal devoured him. Then let’s see what becomes of his dreams.”

²¹ But Reuben heard and rescued him out of their hands, saying, “We must not beat him to death.” ²² In order to rescue him from their hand and to return him to his father, Reuben said to them, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him!”

²³ So as soon as Joseph came up to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his tunic (the long sleeved tunic that he had on). ²⁴ Then they took him and threw him into the pit. (Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.)

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat bread. When they looked up, behold, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balsam, and myrrh—going to bring them down to Egypt.

²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on! ²⁷ Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let’s not lay our hand on him—since he’s our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers listened to him. ²⁸ When some men, Midianite merchants, passed by, they dragged Joseph up and out of the pit and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph to Egypt. ²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. ³⁰ Then he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! And I—where should I go?”

³¹ So they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a billy goat, and they dipped the tunic into the blood. ³² Then they sent the long-sleeved tunic, and it was brought to their father, and they said, “We found this. Do you recognize whether or not it is your son’s tunic?”

³³ He did recognize it and said, “My son’s tunic! An evil animal has devoured him! Joseph must be torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Jacob tore his clothing and put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons got up along with all his daughters to console him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” So his father kept weeping for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Potiphar an official of Pharaoh, the commander of the bodyguards.

Judah and Tamar

38 About that time Judah went down from his brothers and he camped near an Adullamite man, whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man whose name was Shua, and he took her as wife and slept with her. ³ Then she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. ⁴ She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to yet another son and she called him Shelah. He was in Chezib when she gave birth to him.

⁶ Then Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in Adonai’s eyes, so Adonai put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, go to your brother’s wife to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a seed for your brother. ⁹ But Onan knew that the seed would not be his. So every time he went to his brother’s wife he would destroy it on the ground so as not to provide a seed for his brother. ¹⁰ What he did was evil in Adonai’s eyes, so He put him to death also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up,” because he thought, “Otherwise he too might die, like his brothers.” So Tamar went and stayed in her father’s house.

¹² Now the days became many, and Shua’s daughter, Judah’s wife, died. After Judah consoled himself, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ Then Tamar was told, “Look! Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flocks.” ¹⁴ And she removed her widow’s clothes from herself, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself, and sat by the entrance to the springs on the way to Timnah (for she saw that Shelah had grown up and she had not been given to him as a wife).

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he turned aside to her along the way and said, “Please let me sleep with you” (for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law).

“What,” she asked, “will you give me to sleep with me?”

¹⁷ “I will send you a young goat from the flock,” he said,

“Provided you give a pledge until you send it,” she said.

¹⁸ “What kind of pledge shall I give you?” he asked.

“Your seal, and your cord, and your staff in your hand,” she said. So he gave them to her and he slept with her, and she got pregnant by him. ¹⁹ After she got up and left, she removed her veil from herself and put on her widow’s clothes.

²⁰ When Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he could not find her. ²¹ He asked the men of her area saying, “Where is the cult prostitute? She was at the springs along the way.”

But they said, “There hasn’t been a cult prostitute here.”

²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her, and the people of that place also said, ‘There hasn’t been a cult prostitute here.’”

²³ Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, or we’ll be held in contempt. Behold, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been a prostitute—look, she’s even pregnant by prostitution.”

“Bring her out!” Judah said, “and let her be burned.”

²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law saying, “I’m pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” Then she said, “Do you recognize whose these are—the seal, the cords and the staff?”

²⁶ Then Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I didn’t give her to my son Shelah.” He was not intimate with her again.

²⁷ Now when it was time for her to give birth, behold there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ While she was giving birth, one stuck out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it to his hand saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But as he was pulling his hand back in, behold, his brother came out. So she said, “How you have broken through! The breach is because of you.” And he named him Perez. ³⁰ Afterward his brother, on whose hand was the scarlet thread, came out. And he named him Zerah.

Joseph Succeeds in Adversity

39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, commander of the bodyguards, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. ² But Adonai was with Joseph. So he became a successful man in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³ His master saw that Adonai was with him and that Adonai made everything he set his hand to successful. ⁴ Joseph found favor in his eyes, so he served him as a personal servant and he made him an overseer over his household; everything that was his he entrusted into his hand. ⁵ From the time that he made him an overseer in his house and over everything that belonged to him, Adonai blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph; Adonai’s blessing was on everything that belonged to him, in the house and in the field. ⁶ So he released everything he owned into Joseph’s hand. With him in charge, he did not think about anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and handsome in appearance.

⁷ Now after these things, the master’s wife lifted up her eyes at Joseph and said, “Come, lie down with me!”

⁸ But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “my master doesn’t think about anything in the house with me in charge, and everything that belongs to him he’s entrusted into my hand. ⁹ No one in this house is greater than I, and he has withheld nothing from me—except you, because you are his wife. So how could I commit this great evil and sin against God?”

¹⁰ So whenever she spoke to Joseph, day after day, he did not listen to her invitation to lie down beside her, to be with her. ¹¹ Now on one such day, he came into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the house were there in the house. ¹² Then she grabbed him by his garment saying, “Come, lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, fled and went outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴ she screamed to the men of her house and said to them, “Look! Someone brought a Hebrew man to us to fool with us. He approached me to lie with me so I screamed out loud. ¹⁵ When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his garment with me, fled and went outside.”

¹⁶ Then she kept the garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ She spoke the same words to him saying, “The Hebrew slave that you brought us approached me to fool with me. ¹⁸ When I raised my voiced and screamed, he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ Now when his master heard the words his wife spoke to him saying, “Such are the things your slave did to me,” his anger burned. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So there he was, in the prison.

²¹ But Adonai was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the eyes of the commander of the prison. ²² The commander of the prison entrusted into Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison, so that everything that was done there, he was responsible for it. ²³ The commander of the prison did not concern himself with anything at all under his care, because Adonai was with him, and Adonai made whatever he did successful.

Interpreter of Dreams

40 Now it was after these things that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers. ³ So he put them in custody of the house of the commander of the bodyguards—in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The commander of the bodyguards assigned Joseph to be with them and served them as their personal servant. They were in custody for some time.

⁵ Then the two of them each dreamed a dream on the same night. The dream of each man—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each had its own interpretation. ⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he observed them, and there they were, looking miserable. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in the custody of the house of his master saying, “Why are your faces so sad today?”

⁸ They said to him, “We dreamed a dream and there is no one to interpret it.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell me.”

⁹ So the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph, saying to him, “In my dream, suddenly, there was a vine in front of me. ¹⁰ On the vine were three branches, and as it was budding, its blossoms came out, its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand and I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in Pharaoh’s palm.”

¹² “This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches: they are three days. ¹³ In another three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position. Then you’ll put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand just as you used to do before when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But if you remember me, that I was with you, when it goes well with you, please show me kindness and mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For I was forcibly kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing at all that they should put me in this pit.”

¹⁶ When the chief of the bakers saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream. Expectantly, there were three baskets of white bread on my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket was food for Pharaoh—all kinds of baked goods. But the birds were eating them from the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets: they are three days. ¹⁹ In another three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—off of you—and will hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat your flesh off of you.”

²⁰ Then it happened on the third day—Pharaoh’s birthday—that he held a banquet for all his servants. He lifted up the head of the chief of the cupbearers and the head of the chief of the bakers among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief of the cupbearers as his cupbearer, and he put the cup on the palm of Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But the chief of the bakers he hung. It was just as Joseph had interpreted for them. ²³ Yet the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph—indeed, he forgot him.

Parashat Miketz

Exalted by Pharaoh

41 Now at the end of two whole years, Pharaoh was dreaming. Behold, there he was standing by the Nile. ² Then behold, there were seven cows, good-looking and beefy, and they grazed in the reeds. ³ Then behold, there were seven other cows coming up after them from the Nile, ugly and emaciated, and they stood beside the cows at the edge of the Nile. ⁴ Then the ugly emaciated cows ate the seven good-looking beefy cows—and Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ Then he slept and dreamed a second time: behold, there were seven ears of corn coming up on one stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, there were seven ears of corn, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouting up after them. ⁷ Then the seven thin ears of corn swallowed up the seven plump and full ears of corn. Then Pharaoh woke up—it was a dream.

⁸ But in the morning he was disturbed in his spirit. So he sent and called for the fortune-telling priests of Egypt and all its wise men and Pharaoh told them his dream. But no one could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Pharaoh saying, “I am reminded of my sins today. ¹⁰ Pharaoh had been angry with his servants and put me in the custody of the house of the commander of the bodyguards—me and the chief of the bakers. ¹¹ Then we each dreamed a dream on the same night, he and I, we both dreamed, yet each dream had its own interpretation. ¹² Now there with us was a Hebrew youth—a slave belonging to the commander of the bodyguards. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams for us, each man’s dream he interpreted. ¹³ Then it came about, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. Me he restored to my position, but him he hung.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph. So they quickly fetched him from the pit. He shaved, changed his clothes, and came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I dreamed a dream and there’s no one to interpret it. I heard about you—it’s said that you can listen to a dream to interpret it.”

¹⁶ Then Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, “It’s not within me. God will answer with shalom for Pharaoh.”

¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream, there I was, standing by the bank of the Nile. ¹⁸ And to my surprise, out of the Nile seven cows were coming up, beefy and good-looking, and they grazed in the reeds. ¹⁹ Then all of a sudden, there were seven other cows coming up after them, feeble, very ugly and emaciated. I’ve never seen the likes of these in the whole land of Egypt for ugliness. ²⁰ Then the emaciated and ugly cows ate the first seven beefy cows. ²¹ When they were devoured, one couldn’t tell that they had been devoured. Their appearance was as ugly as it was at first. Then I woke up. ²² Then I saw in my dream, there were seven ears of corn coming up on one stalk, plump and good. ²³ Then suddenly, there were seven ears of corn, dried up, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouting up after them. ²⁴ Then the thin ears of corn swallowed up the seven good ears of corn. So I told the fortune-telling priests, but no one could provide me with an explanation.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dream is one. God has told Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows: they are seven years. Also the seven ears of corn: they’re seven years. It is one dream. ²⁷ The seven emaciated and ugly cows coming up after them: they’re seven years. Also the seven empty ears of corn scorched by the east wind: there will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ It is the word that I have already said to Pharaoh: what God is about to do, he has shown to Pharaoh. ²⁹ Seven years of abundance are about to come in the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰ Then seven years of famine will come up after them and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten and the famine will consume the land. ³¹ So the abundance in the land will be unknown because of the famine that follows, for it will be a very oppressive famine.

³² “Now as for repeating Pharaoh’s dream twice: it’s because the matter has been settled by God and God will quickly make it happen. ³³ So now, let Pharaoh select a man discerning and wise and set him in authority over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh act by appointing administrators over the land and take a fifth portion from the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Then let them gather all the food from these good years that are coming, and let them store up grain under Pharaoh’s hand as food for the cities, so they may preserve it. ³⁶ Let the food be held in reserve for the land for the seven years of famine that is coming upon the land of Egypt. Then the land will not be annihilated by the famine.”

³⁷ Now the plan seemed good in the eyes of Pharaoh as well as all his servants. ³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can a man like this be found, one in whom is God’s Spirit?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You! You will be over my house, and all my people will pay homage to you^[a]. Only in relation to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I appoint you over the whole land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, clothed him with fine linen garments, and put a chain of gold around his neck. ⁴³ Then he had him ride in the chariot as second-in-command, the one that belonged to him, and they called out before him, “Kneel down!” So he appointed him over the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one will lift up his hand or his foot in the whole land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Then Joseph went out, in charge of the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving as representative of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and passed throughout the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance, the land produced in heaps. ⁴⁸ So he gathered all the food in the land of Egypt during the seven years, and put food in the cities; the food from the city fields surrounding the cities he put in each city. ⁴⁹ So Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea, vast amounts, until he stopped keeping record because it was beyond counting.

⁵⁰ Two sons also had been born to Joseph before the year of famine came, born to him by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his first-born Manasseh, “because God has caused me to forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” ⁵² And the second he named Ephraim, “because God has made me fruitful in the land of my oppression.”

⁵³ Then the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine started to come—just as Joseph had said. So there was famine in all the lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When the whole land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, and Pharaoh said to all of Egypt, “Go to Joseph. Do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the entire land, so Joseph opened up all that was among them and sold grain to Egypt. Then the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Yet the whole world came to Egypt to buy grain—to Joseph—because the famine was severe in the whole world.

Joseph Meets His Brothers

42 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, so Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” ² Then he said, “Look! I’ve heard that there’s grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some grain for us there so that we’ll live and not die.”

³ So Joseph’s brothers went down, ten of them, to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob did not send, for he said, “An accident might happen to him.”

⁵ The sons of Israel went to buy grain among the others who were coming, because the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Now Joseph was the ruler over the land. He was the provider of grain for all the people of the earth. ⁷ Then Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he made himself unrecognizable to them. Then he spoke harshly and said to them, “Where have you come from?”

“From the land of Canaan,” they said, “to buy grain as food.”

⁸ Though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. ⁹ Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them. He said to them, “You’re spies! You’ve come to see the undefended places in the land.”

¹⁰ “No, my lord!” they said to him. “Your servants came to buy grain as food. ¹¹ All of us—we are sons of one man. We’re honest. Your servants have never been spies.”

¹² “Not so,” he said to them. “Rather, you’ve come to see the undefended places in the land.”

¹³ But they said, “We your servants are twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Look, the youngest is with our father today and the other one is no more.”

¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It’s just like I told you when I said, ‘You’re spies.’ ¹⁵ By this you’ll be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you’ll not leave from here until your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one from among yourselves to get your brother, while you remain confined, in order to test your words, to see whether the truth is with you. If not, by the life of Pharaoh, you’re definitely spies!”

¹⁷ So he put them together in custody for three days. ¹⁸ Then Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and you will live. I fear God. ¹⁹ If you’re honest, let one of your brothers remain as a prisoner in the guardhouse where you’ve been, while you, go and bring grain for the hunger in your homes. ²⁰ And your youngest brother, bring to me so that your words can be verified—and you won’t die.” So they did.

²¹ Then each man said to his brother, “We’re truly guilty for our brother. We saw the distress of his soul when he begged us for mercy, but we didn’t listen. That’s why this distress has come to us.”

²² Reuben answered them and said, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy’? But you didn’t listen. Now, see how his blood is now being accounted for.”

²³ They did not know that Joseph was listening, since there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and tied him up before their eyes.

²⁵ Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. So it was done for them. ²⁶ Then they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left from there. ²⁷ As one of them opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the lodge, he saw his money—behold, it was in the opening of his bag. ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! Look, it’s in my bag.”

Their hearts sank. Trembling, each one turned to his brother and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke with us harshly, and took us as spies of the land. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We’re honest. We’ve never been spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I’ll know if you’re honest: leave one of your brothers with me. As for the hunger of your homes: take and go! ³⁴ Then bring your youngest brother to me, so that I may know you are not spies, but you are honest. I’ll give you back your brother and you can move about freely in the land.’”

³⁵ Now as they were emptying their sacks, behold, there was each man’s bundle of money in his sack. When they saw their money bundles, they and their father, they were afraid.

³⁶ Then their father Jacob said to them, “You’ve made me childless! Joseph is no more. Now Simeon is gone, and next you’ll take Benjamin! Everything is against me!”

³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You can put my two sons to death if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my hand and I—I will return him to you.”

³⁸ But he said, “My son will not go down with you—for his brother is dead and he alone remains. And if harm should happen to him along the way you’re going, you’ll bring my grey hair down to Sheol in grief.”

Judah Pledges for Benjamin

43 Now the famine was severe in the land. ² When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, “Go back. Buy us a little food.”

³ But Judah said to him, “The man warned us firmly saying, ‘You won’t see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy grain for you for food. ⁵ But if you won’t send him, we won’t go down, because the man said to us, ‘You won’t see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you do evil to me by telling the man that you have another brother?”

⁷ They said, “The man questioned particularly about us and about our relatives saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother?’ So we spoke to him on the basis of these words. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’”?

⁸ Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Please, send the boy with me and we’ll get up and go, so that we’ll live and not die—we and you, and our children. ⁹ I myself will be his pledge. You can demand him back from my own hand. If I don’t bring him back to you and place him before you, then you can blame me all my days. ¹⁰ If we had not delayed, we could have returned twice by now.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and bring an offering down to the man—a little balsam and a little honey, gum and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. ¹² Also take in your hand a double portion of silver, and bring back in your hand the silver that had been returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother too—now, get up, go back to the man! ¹⁴ May El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, so that he may release your other brother to you, along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

The Brothers Return With Benjamin

¹⁵ Then the men took this offering. They also took the double portion of silver in their hand, as well as Benjamin. So they got up and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the one over his house, “Bring the men into the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me this afternoon. ¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ But the men were afraid, because they had been brought into Joseph’s house. They said, “It’s because of the silver that was returned to our sacks the first time that we are being brought in—to pounce on us and fall on us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

¹⁹ So they approached the man who was over Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the entrance of the house. ²⁰ “I beg your pardon, my lord!” they said. “We indeed came down on the previous occasion to buy grain for food. ²¹ When we came to the lodge and opened our sacks, behold, there was each man’s money at the opening of the sack, the full amount of our money. So we’ve returned it in our hand. ²² Moreover, we’ve brought down other money in our hand to buy grain for food. We didn’t know who put our money into our sacks.”

²³ “Be at peace,” he replied. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. Your money had come to me.”

Then he brought Simeon out to them, ²⁴ and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water and they washed their feet. He also provided fodder for their donkeys. ²⁵ So they prepared the offering for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they were going to eat there. ²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought him the offering in their hand into the house, and they bowed down to the ground to him. ²⁷ Then he asked if they were well, and said, “Is he well—your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ “Your servant, our father, is well,” they said. “He’s still alive.” Then they knelt and bowed down.

²⁹ Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother whom you mentioned to me?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Then Joseph hurried out because his compassion grew warm and tender toward his brother so that he wanted to cry. So he went into an inner room and wept there.

³¹ Then he washed his face, came out, and controlled himself. “Serve the food,” he said. ³² So they served him by himself, them by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves (for Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews because it was an abomination to Egyptians). ³³ They were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. The men looked at each other in astonishment. ³⁴ Then portions were brought to them from before him—and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of their portions. Yet they drank and made merry with him.

Joseph Tests His Brothers

44 Then he commanded the one over his household saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they are able to carry and put money in the opening of each man’s sack. ² Put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest along with his grain money.” So he did as Joseph told him.

³ When the morning dawned, the men were sent off, they and their donkeys. ⁴ They left the city and did not get far, when Joseph said to the one over his household, “Get up, go after the men. When you catch up to them, say to them, “Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Isn’t this the one from which my lord drinks? He even uses it especially to discern by divination. What you’ve done is evil!” ⁶ So he caught up to them and spoke these words to them.

⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing as this. ⁸ Look, the money we found in the opening of our bags, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. So how could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ⁹ Whoever among your servants is found with it, let him die! And we, we’ll also be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ “Even now let it be according to your words,” he said. “The one with whom it is found shall be my slave. But the rest of you shall be innocent.”

¹¹ Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and each man opened his sack. ¹² He searched them beginning with the eldest and finishing with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they tore their clothing, and each one loaded up his donkey and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers entered Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. ¹⁵ “What’s this deed you’ve done?” Joseph said to them, “Didn’t you know that a man like me can discern by divination?”

¹⁶ Then Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we as well as the one in whose hand the cup was found.”

¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The one in whose hand the cup was found—he will be my slave. But you, go up to your father in peace.”

Parashat Vayigash

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

¹⁸ Then Judah approached him and said, “I beg your pardon, my lord. Please let your servant say a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t be angry with your servant, since you are like Pharaoh. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants saying, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ So we said to my lord, ‘We have a father who is old, a child born to him of his old age is young. Now his brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can look at him.’ ²² But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave his father, he would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you won’t see my face again.’

²⁴ “Now when we went up to your servant, my father, we told him my lord’s words. ²⁵ Then our father said, ‘Go back, buy us a little grain for food.’ ²⁶ So we said, ‘We won’t go down unless we have our youngest brother with us—then we’ll go down. For we won’t see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷ “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You yourselves know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One went out from me, so I said, “He must have been torn to shreds,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ And if you also take this one away from before me and an accident happens to him, then you’ll bring my grey hair down to the evil of Sheol.’

³⁰ “Now if I come to your servant my father and the boy isn’t with us, since his life is bound to his life, ³¹ when he sees that the boy is no more, he’ll die. Then your servants will bring the grey hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in grief. ³² For your servant became pledge for the boy with my father saying, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before my father all my days.’ ³³ So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave in the boy’s place, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go up to my father and the boy is not with me? Else I must see the evil that would come upon my father!”

Joseph Reveals Himself

45 Now Joseph could no longer restrain himself in front of all those who were standing by him, so he cried out, “Get everyone away from me!” So no one stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² But he gave his voice to weeping so that the Egyptians heard, and Pharaoh’s household heard. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” And his brothers were unable to answer him because they were terrified at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” So they came near. “I’m Joseph, your brother—the one you sold to Egypt,” he said. ⁵ “So now, don’t be grieved and don’t be angry in your own eyes that you sold me here—since it was for preserving life that God sent me here before you. ⁶ For there has been two years of famine in the land, and there will be five more years yet with no plowing or harvesting. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to ensure a remnant in the land and to keep you alive for a great escape. ⁸ So now, it wasn’t you, you didn’t send me here, but God! And He made me as a father to Pharaoh, lord over his whole house and ruler over the entire land of Egypt.

⁹ “Go up quickly to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son, Joseph: God has made me lord over all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t delay. ¹⁰ Then you’ll live in the land of Goshen, and be close to me, you and your children and your children’s children, your flocks and your cattle, and everything that belongs to you. ¹¹ I’ll provide food for you there—for the famine will last another five years—otherwise you’ll lose everything, you and your household, and everything that belongs to you.’ ¹² And look, you and my brother Benjamin can see with your own eyes that it’s my mouth that’s speaking to you. ¹³ You must tell my father about all my honor in Egypt, and about all that you’ve seen. And you must quickly bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept while Benjamin wept upon his neck, ¹⁵ and he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. Finally after this, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the commotion was heard in Pharaoh’s house—“Joseph’s brothers have come!”—it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, ¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers: ‘Do this! Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Then get your father, your households, and come to me. I’ll give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ You are also commanded to say: “Do this! Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt for your little children and for your wives, and pick up your father and come. ²⁰ Don’t be concerned about your goods, because the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them carts by Pharaoh’s command and he gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To each of them he gave a change of clothes, while to Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver and five sets of clothes. ²³ Also to his father he sent the following: ten donkeys carrying from the best of Egypt, and ten female donkeys carrying grain and food and provisions for his father’s journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers off, and as they departed, he said to them, “Don’t be anxious on the way.”

²⁵ Then they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. ²⁶ They told him saying, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler of the whole land of Egypt!”

His heart went numb, for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But they told him all of Joseph’s words that he had told them. When he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to pick him up, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him, before I die.”

Jacob Goes to Egypt

46 So Israel set out, along with everything that belonged to him. When he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² In visions of the night God said to Israel, “Jacob, Jacob.”

“Hineni,” he said.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” He said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will turn you into a great nation there. ⁴ I Myself will go down with you to Egypt and I Myself will also most certainly bring you up. Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob arose from Beersheba and Israel’s sons carried Jacob their father, their little children, and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They also took their livestock and their possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him. ⁷ His sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt. ⁸ Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben, ⁹ and Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. ¹⁰ Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zochar and Shaul the son of the Canaanite woman. ¹¹ Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. ¹² Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah. Er died along with Onan in the land of Canaan. Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Iob and Shimron. ¹⁴ Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are Leah’s sons whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, along with his daughter Dinah. The tally of all of his sons and daughters was 33 people.

¹⁶ Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli. ¹⁷ Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. Beriah’s sons: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob: 16 people.

¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt—Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On bore them to him. ²¹ Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. ²² These are Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob. The tally of all the people was 14.

²³ The sons of Dan: Hushim ²⁴ Naphtali’s sons: Yachzeel, Guni, Yezer and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter and she bore these to Jacob. The tally of all the people was seven. ²⁶ All the people belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt—those coming from his loins (not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons)—the tally of all the people was 66. ²⁷ The sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt was a tally of two people. The tally of all the people belonging to Jacob’s house who came to Egypt was 70.

²⁸ Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph to show him the way to Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as he appeared before him, he fell upon his neck, and wept on his neck for some time.

³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “At this time I am ready to die, after seeing your face in person—for you’re still alive!”

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I’ll go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. ³² The men are shepherds, for they’ve been men who handle livestock, who have brought their flocks and cattle and everything that they possess.’ ³³ So when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you must say, ‘Your servants have been men who handle livestock since the time of our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you can live in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”

Jacob Blesses Pharaoh

47 Then Joseph came and informed Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their cattle and everything that belongs to them have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

² From among his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ Then they said to Pharaoh, “We came to dwell temporarily in the land, since there is no pasture for the flocks that belong to your servants, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph saying, “Your father and your brothers came to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you—settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, make them overseers of the livestock—over those that are mine.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How many days are the years of your life?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourn are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Moreover, the days of the years of my life have not attained the days of the years of the lives of my fathers, in the days of their sojourn.”

¹⁰ And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from Pharaoh’s presence. ¹¹ Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh commanded. ¹² And Joseph supported his father and his brothers and his father’s entire household with food for the mouths of the little ones.

Joseph’s Leadership in the Famine

¹³ Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe. Both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ Then the money of the land of Egypt and of the land of Canaan ran out and all of Egypt came to Joseph saying, “Give us food. Why should we die in front of you because the money is gone?”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give your livestock and I’ll give it to you for your livestock, if the money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses, for flocks of sheep, for herds of cattle and for donkeys. He provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. ¹⁸ When that year came to an end, they came to him in the second year and said to him, “We won’t hide from my lord that the money has run out and the livestock and the domestic animals are my lord’s. There is nothing left in my lord’s sight except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes—both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food—we and our land will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Provide seed so that we may live and not die, and the land won’t be deserted.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh because the Egyptians, each one, sold his field, for the famine overcame them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ He made the people slaves from one end of Egypt’s border to the other. ²² Only he did not buy the land belonging to the priests, because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ate their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their land.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you, so that you can sow the land. ²⁴ During the harvest you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh and four-fifths will be for you, for seed for the field and for your food, and for those in your houses, and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵ “You’ve saved our lives,” they said. “We find favor in the eyes of my lord, and we’ll be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁶ So Joseph set it as a statute until this very day concerning the land of Egypt: a fifth-part goes to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ land did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Meanwhile, Israel settled in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, acquired property in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

Parashat Vayechi

Joseph’s Promise to Jacob

²⁸ Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for 17 years, so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. ²⁹ As the time of Israel’s death drew near, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh and show me faithful kindness. Please do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I lie down with my fathers, you must carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

So he said, “I myself will do according to your word.”

³¹ “Swear to me,” he said. So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed down in worship on the head of his staff.^[b]