Genesis 39-50

New Century Version

Joseph Is Sold to Potiphar

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar was an officer to the king of Egypt and the captain of the palace guard. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.

³ Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did. ⁴ So Potiphar was very happy with Joseph and allowed him to be his personal servant. He put Joseph in charge of the house, trusting him with everything he owned. ⁵ When Joseph was put in charge of the house and everything Potiphar owned, the Lord blessed the people in Potiphar’s house because of Joseph. And the Lord blessed everything that belonged to Potiphar, both in the house and in the field. ⁶ So Potiphar left Joseph in charge of everything he owned and was not concerned about anything except the food he ate.

Joseph Is Put into Prison

Now Joseph was well built and handsome. ⁷ After some time the wife of Joseph’s master began to desire Joseph, and one day she said to him, “Have sexual relations with me.”

⁸ But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has put me in charge of everything he owns. ⁹ There is no one in his house greater than I. He has not kept anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God.”

¹⁰ The woman talked to Joseph every day, but he refused to have sexual relations with her or even spend time with her.

¹¹ One day Joseph went into the house to do his work as usual and was the only man in the house at that time. ¹² His master’s wife grabbed his coat and said to him, “Come and have sexual relations with me.” But Joseph left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house.

¹³ When she saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hands and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called to the servants in her house and said, “Look! This Hebrew slave was brought here to shame us. He came in and tried to have sexual relations with me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ My scream scared him and he ran away, but he left his coat with me.” ¹⁶ She kept his coat until her husband came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here came in to shame me! ¹⁸ When he came near me, I screamed. He ran away, but he left his coat.”

¹⁹ When Joseph’s master heard what his wife said Joseph had done, he became very angry. ²⁰ So Potiphar arrested Joseph and put him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were put. And Joseph stayed there in the prison.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness and caused the prison warden to like Joseph. ²² The prison warden chose Joseph to take care of all the prisoners, and he was responsible for whatever was done in the prison. ²³ The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful in everything he did.

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams

40 After these things happened, two of the king’s officers displeased the king—the man who served wine to the king and the king’s baker. ² The king became angry with his officer who served him wine and his baker, ³ so he put them in the prison of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was kept. ⁴ The captain of the guard put the two prisoners in Joseph’s care, and they stayed in prison for some time.

⁵ One night both the king’s officer who served him wine and the baker had a dream. Each had his own dream with its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw they were worried. ⁷ He asked the king’s officers who were with him, “Why do you look so unhappy today?”

⁸ The two men answered, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can explain their meaning to us.”

Joseph said to them, “God is the only One who can explain the meaning of dreams. Tell me your dreams.”

⁹ So the man who served wine to the king told Joseph his dream. He said, “I dreamed I saw a vine, and ¹⁰ on the vine were three branches. I watched the branches bud and blossom, and then the grapes ripened. ¹¹ I was holding the king’s cup, so I took the grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I gave it to the king.”

¹² Then Joseph said, “I will explain the dream to you. The three branches stand for three days. ¹³ Before the end of three days the king will free you, and he will allow you to return to your work. You will serve the king his wine just as you did before. ¹⁴ But when you are free, remember me. Be kind to me, and tell the king about me so I can get out of this prison. ¹⁵ I was taken by force from the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing here to deserve being put in prison.”

¹⁶ The baker saw that Joseph’s explanation of the dream was good, so he said to him, “I also had a dream. I dreamed there were three bread baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket were all kinds of baked food for the king, but the birds were eating this food out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ Joseph answered, “I will tell you what the dream means. The three baskets stand for three days. ¹⁹ Before the end of three days, the king will cut off your head! He will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh.”

²⁰ Three days later, on his birthday, the king gave a feast for all his officers. In front of his officers, he released from prison the chief officer who served his wine and the chief baker. ²¹ The king gave his chief officer who served wine his old position, and once again he put the king’s cup of wine into the king’s hand. ²² But the king hanged the baker on a pole. Everything happened just as Joseph had said it would, ²³ but the officer who served wine did not remember Joseph. He forgot all about him.

The King’s Dreams

41 Two years later the king dreamed he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ² He saw seven fat and beautiful cows come up out of the river, and they stood there, eating the grass. ³ Then seven more cows came up out of the river, but they were thin and ugly. They stood beside the seven beautiful cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ The seven thin and ugly cows ate the seven beautiful fat cows. Then the king woke up. ⁵ The king slept again and dreamed a second time. In his dream he saw seven full and good heads of grain growing on one stalk. ⁶ After that, seven more heads of grain sprang up, but they were thin and burned by the hot east wind. ⁷ The thin heads of grain ate the seven full and good heads. Then the king woke up again, and he realized it was only a dream. ⁸ The next morning the king was troubled about these dreams, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. The king told them his dreams, but no one could explain their meaning to him.

⁹ Then the chief officer who served wine to the king said to him, “Now I remember something I promised to do, but I forgot about it. ¹⁰ There was a time when you were angry with the baker and me, and you put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ In prison we each had a dream on the same night, and each dream had a different meaning. ¹² A young Hebrew man, a servant of the captain of the guard, was in the prison with us. When we told him our dreams, he explained their meanings to us. He told each man the meaning of his dream, and ¹³ things happened exactly as he said they would: I was given back my old position, and the baker was hanged.”

¹⁴ So the king called for Joseph. The guards quickly brought him out of the prison, and he shaved, put on clean clothes, and went before the king.

¹⁵ The king said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can explain its meaning to me. I have heard that you can explain a dream when someone tells it to you.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered the king, “I am not able to explain the meaning of dreams, but God will do this for the king.”

¹⁷ Then the king said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ¹⁸ I saw seven fat and beautiful cows that came up out of the river and ate the grass. ¹⁹ Then I saw seven more cows come out of the river that were thin and lean and ugly—the worst looking cows I have seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And these thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows, ²¹ but after they had eaten the seven cows, no one could tell they had eaten them. They looked just as thin and ugly as they did in the beginning. Then I woke up.

²² “I had another dream. I saw seven full and good heads of grain growing on one stalk. ²³ Then seven more heads of grain sprang up after them, but these heads were thin and ugly and were burned by the hot east wind. ²⁴ Then the thin heads ate the seven good heads. I told this dream to the magicians, but no one could explain its meaning to me.”

Joseph Tells the Dreams’ Meaning

²⁵ Then Joseph said to the king, “Both of these dreams mean the same thing. God is telling you what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows stand for seven years, and the seven good heads of grain stand for seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows stand for seven years, and the seven thin heads of grain burned by the hot east wind stand for seven years of hunger. ²⁸ This will happen as I told you. God is showing the king what he is about to do. ²⁹ You will have seven years of good crops and plenty to eat in all the land of Egypt. ³⁰ But after those seven years, there will come seven years of hunger, and all the food that grew in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The time of hunger will eat up the land. ³¹ People will forget what it was like to have plenty of food, because the hunger that follows will be so great. ³² You had two dreams which mean the same thing. This shows that God has firmly decided that this will happen, and he will make it happen soon.

³³ “So let the king choose a man who is very wise and understanding and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ And let the king also appoint officers over the land, who should take one-fifth of all the food that is grown during the seven good years. ³⁵ They should gather all the food that is produced during the good years that are coming, and under the king’s authority they should store the grain in the cities and guard it. ³⁶ That food should be saved to use during the seven years of hunger that will come on the land of Egypt. Then the people in Egypt will not die during the seven years of hunger.”

Joseph Is Made Ruler over Egypt

³⁷ This seemed like a very good idea to the king, and all his officers agreed. ³⁸ And the king asked them, “Can we find a better man than Joseph to take this job? God’s spirit is truly in him!”

³⁹ So the king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this. There is no one as wise and understanding as you are, so ⁴⁰ I will put you in charge of my palace. All the people will obey your orders, and only I will be greater than you.”

⁴¹ Then the king said to Joseph, “Look! I have put you in charge of all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then the king took off from his own finger his ring with the royal seal on it, and he put it on Joseph’s finger. He gave Joseph fine linen clothes to wear, and he put a gold chain around Joseph’s neck. ⁴³ The king had Joseph ride in the second royal chariot, and people walked ahead of his chariot calling, “Bow down!” By doing these things, the king put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt.

⁴⁴ The king said to him, “I am the king, and I say that no one in all the land of Egypt may lift a hand or a foot without your permission.” ⁴⁵ The king gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave Joseph a wife named Asenath, who was the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. So Joseph traveled through all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he began serving the king of Egypt. And he left the king’s court and traveled through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven good years, the crops in the land grew well. ⁴⁸ And Joseph gathered all the food produced in Egypt during those seven years of good crops and stored the food in the cities. In every city he stored grain that had been grown in the fields around that city. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored much grain, as much as the sand of the seashore—so much that he could not measure it.

⁵⁰ Joseph’s wife was Asenath daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. Before the years of hunger came, Joseph and Asenath had two sons. ⁵¹ Joseph named the first son Manasseh^[a] and said, “God has made me forget all the troubles I have had and all my father’s family.” ⁵² Joseph named the second son Ephraim^[b] and said, “God has given me children in the land of my troubles.”

⁵³ The seven years of good crops came to an end in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁴ Then the seven years of hunger began, just as Joseph had said. In all the lands people had nothing to eat, but in Egypt there was food. ⁵⁵ The time of hunger became terrible in all of Egypt, and the people cried to the king for food. He said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

⁵⁶ The hunger was everywhere in that part of the world. And Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the people of Egypt, because the time of hunger became terrible in Egypt. ⁵⁷ And all the people in that part of the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the hunger was terrible everywhere in that part of the world.

The Dreams Come True

42 Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, so he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here looking at one another? ² I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us to eat, so that we will live and not die.”

³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with them, because he was afraid that something terrible might happen to him. ⁵ Along with many other people, the sons of Israel^[c] went to Egypt to buy grain, because the people in the land of Canaan were also hungry.

⁶ Now Joseph was governor over Egypt. He was the one who sold the grain to people who came to buy it. So Joseph’s brothers came to him and bowed facedown on the ground before him. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he acted as if he didn’t know them. He asked unkindly, “Where do you come from?”

They answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ Joseph knew they were his brothers, but they did not know who he was. ⁹ And Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers bowing to him. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to learn where the nation is weak!”

¹⁰ But his brothers said to him, “No, my master. We come as your servants just to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies.”

¹² Then Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to learn where this nation is weak!”

¹³ And they said, “We are ten of twelve brothers, sons of the same father, and we live in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father right now, and our other brother is gone.”

¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “I can see I was right! You are spies! ¹⁵ But I will give you a way to prove you are telling the truth. As surely as the king lives, you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ One of you must go and get your brother. The rest of you will stay here in prison. We will see if you are telling the truth. If not, as surely as the king lives, you are spies.” ¹⁷ Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.

¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. Do this and I will let you live: ¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison while the rest of you go and carry grain back to feed your hungry families. ²⁰ Then bring your youngest brother back here to me. If you do this, I will know you are telling the truth, and you will not die.”

The brothers agreed to this. ²¹ They said to each other, “We are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his trouble, and he begged us to save him, but we refused to listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”

²² Then Reuben said to them, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you refused to listen to me. So now we are being punished for what we did to him.”

²³ When Joseph talked to his brothers, he used an interpreter, so they did not know that Joseph understood what they were saying. ²⁴ Then Joseph left them and cried. After a short time he went back and spoke to them. He took Simeon and tied him up while the other brothers watched. ²⁵ Joseph told his servants to fill his brothers’ bags with grain and to put the money the brothers had paid for the grain back in their bags. The servants were also to give them what they would need for their trip back home. And the servants did this.

²⁶ So the brothers put the grain on their donkeys and left. ²⁷ When they stopped for the night, one of the brothers opened his sack to get food for his donkey. Then he saw his money in the top of the sack. ²⁸ He said to the other brothers, “The money I paid for the grain has been put back. Here it is in my sack!”

The brothers were very frightened. They said to each other, “What has God done to us?”

The Brothers Return to Jacob

²⁹ The brothers went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him everything that had happened. ³⁰ They said, “The master of that land spoke unkindly to us. He accused us of spying on his country, ³¹ but we told him that we were honest men, not spies. ³² We told him that we were ten of twelve brothers—sons of one father. We said that one of our brothers was gone and that our youngest brother was with our father in Canaan.

³³ “Then the master of the land said to us, ‘Here is a way I can know you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain to feed your hungry families, and go. ³⁴ And bring your youngest brother to me so I will know you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give you back your brother whom you leave with me, and you can move about freely in our land.’”

³⁵ As the brothers emptied their sacks, each of them found his money in his sack. When they and their father saw it, they were afraid.

³⁶ Their father Jacob said to them, “You are robbing me of all my children. Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away, too. Everything is against me.”

³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. Trust him to my care, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But Jacob said, “I will not allow Benjamin to go with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only son left from my wife Rachel. I am afraid something terrible might happen to him during the trip to Egypt. Then I would be sad until the day I die.”

The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

43 Still no food grew in the land of Canaan. ² When Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more grain for us to eat.”

³ But Judah said to Jacob, “The governor of that country strongly warned us, ‘If you don’t bring your brother back with you, you will not be allowed to see me.’ ⁴ If you will send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy food for you. ⁵ But if you refuse to send Benjamin, we will not go. The governor of that country warned us that we would not see him if we didn’t bring Benjamin with us.”

⁶ Israel^[d] said, “Why did you tell the man you had another brother? You have caused me a lot of trouble.”

⁷ The brothers answered, “He questioned us carefully about ourselves and our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. How could we know he would ask us to bring our other brother to him?”

⁸ Then Judah said to his father Jacob, “Send Benjamin with me, and we will go at once so that we, you, and our children may live and not die. ⁹ I will guarantee you that he will be safe, and I will be personally responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life. ¹⁰ If we had not wasted all this time, we could have already made two trips.”

¹¹ Then their father Jacob said to them, “If it has to be that way, then do this: Take some of the best foods in our land in your packs. Give them to the man as a gift: some balm, some honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹² Take twice as much money with you this time, and take back the money that was returned to you in your sacks last time. Maybe it was a mistake. ¹³ And take Benjamin with you. Now leave and go to the man. ¹⁴ I pray that God Almighty will cause the governor to be merciful to you and that he will allow Simeon and Benjamin to come back with you. If I am robbed of my children, then I am robbed of them!”

¹⁵ So the brothers took the gifts. They also took twice as much money as they had taken the first time, and they took Benjamin. They hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Bring those men into my house. Kill an animal and prepare a meal. Those men will eat with me today at noon.” ¹⁷ The servant did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ The brothers were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house and thought, “We were brought here because of the money that was put in our sacks on the first trip. He wants to attack us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So the brothers went to the servant in charge of Joseph’s house and spoke to him at the door of the house. ²⁰ They said, “Master, we came here once before to buy food. ²¹ While we were going home, we stopped for the night and when we opened our sacks each of us found all his money in his sack. We brought that money with us to give it back to you. ²² And we have brought more money to pay for the food we want to buy this time. We don’t know who put that money in our sacks.”

²³ But the servant answered, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks. I got the money you paid me for the grain last time.” Then the servant brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The servant led the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys food to eat. ²⁵ The men prepared their gift to give to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had heard they were going to eat with him there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, the brothers gave him the gift they had brought into the house and bowed down to the ground in front of him. ²⁷ Joseph asked them how they were doing. He said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ The brothers answered, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed low before Joseph to show him respect.

²⁹ When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, who had the same mother as he, Joseph asked, “Is this your youngest brother you told me about?” Then he said to Benjamin, “God be good to you, my son!” ³⁰ Then Joseph hurried off because he had to hold back the tears when he saw his brother Benjamin. So Joseph went into his room and cried there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”

³² So they served Joseph at one table, his brothers at another table, and the Egyptians who ate with him at another table. This was because Egyptians did not like Hebrews and never ate with them. ³³ Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him in order of their ages, from oldest to youngest. They looked at each other because they were so amazed. ³⁴ Food from Joseph’s table was taken to them, but Benjamin was given five times more food than the others. Joseph’s brothers ate and drank freely with him.

Joseph Sets a Trap

44 Then Joseph gave a command to the servant in charge of his house. He said, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money into his sack with the grain. ² Put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother, along with his money for the grain.” The servant did what Joseph told him.

³ At dawn the brothers were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They were not far from the city when Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Go after the men. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good? ⁵ The cup you have stolen is the one my master uses for drinking and for explaining dreams. You have done a very wicked thing!’”

⁶ So the servant caught up with the brothers and said to them what Joseph had told him to say.

⁷ But the brothers said to the servant, “Why do you say these things? We would not do anything like that! ⁸ We brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in our sacks. So surely we would not steal silver or gold from your master’s house. ⁹ If you find that silver cup in the sack of one of us, then let him die, and we will be your slaves.”

¹⁰ The servant said, “We will do as you say, but only the man who has taken the cup will become my slave. The rest of you may go free.”

¹¹ Then every brother quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. ¹² The servant searched the sacks, going from the oldest brother to the youngest, and found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ The brothers tore their clothes to show they were afraid. Then they put their sacks back on the donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers went back to Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there, so the brothers bowed facedown on the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man like me can learn things by signs and dreams?”

¹⁶ Judah said, “Master, what can we say? And how can we show we are not guilty? God has uncovered our guilt, so all of us will be your slaves, not just Benjamin.”

¹⁷ But Joseph said, “I will not make you all slaves! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safely to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah went to Joseph and said, “Master, please let me speak plainly to you, and please don’t be angry with me. I know that you are as powerful as the king of Egypt himself. ¹⁹ When we were here before, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we answered you, ‘We have an old father. And we have a younger brother, who was born when our father was old. This youngest son’s brother is dead, so he is the only one of his mother’s children left alive, and our father loves him very much.’ ²¹ Then you said to us, ‘Bring that brother to me. I want to see him.’ ²² And we said to you, ‘That young boy cannot leave his father, because if he leaves him, his father would die.’ ²³ But you said to us, ‘If you don’t bring your youngest brother, you will not be allowed to see me again.’ ²⁴ So we went back to our father and told him what you had said.

²⁵ “Later, our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little more food.’ ²⁶ We said to our father, ‘We cannot go without our youngest brother. Without our youngest brother, we will not be allowed to see the governor.’ ²⁷ Then my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel gave me two sons. ²⁸ When one son left me, I thought, “Surely he has been torn apart by a wild animal,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ Now you want to take this son away from me also. But something terrible might happen to him, and I would be miserable until the day I die.’ ³⁰ Now what will happen if we go home to our father without our youngest brother? He is so important in our father’s life that ³¹ when our father sees the young boy is not with us, he will die. And it will be our fault. We will cause the great sorrow that kills our father.

³² “I gave my father a guarantee that the young boy would be safe. I said to my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life.’ ³³ So now, please allow me to stay here and be your slave, and let the young boy go back home with his brothers. ³⁴ I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn’t stand to see my father that sad.”

Joseph Reveals Who He Is

45 Joseph could not control himself in front of his servants any longer, so he cried out, “Have everyone leave me.” When only the brothers were left with Joseph, he told them who he was. ² Joseph cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and the people in the king’s palace heard about it. ³ He said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But the brothers could not answer him, because they were very afraid of him.

⁴ So Joseph said to them, “Come close to me.” When the brothers came close to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold as a slave to go to Egypt. ⁵ Now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to save people’s lives. ⁶ No food has grown on the land for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. ⁷ So God sent me here ahead of you to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and to keep you alive in an amazing way. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God. God has made me the highest officer of the king of Egypt. I am in charge of his palace, and I am the master of all the land of Egypt.

⁹ “So leave quickly and go to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all Egypt. Come down to me quickly. ¹⁰ Live in the land of Goshen where you will be near me. Your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have will also be near me. ¹¹ I will care for you during the next five years of hunger so that you and your family and all that you have will not starve.’

¹² “Now you can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that the one speaking to you is really Joseph. ¹³ So tell my father about how powerful I have become in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring him back to me.” ¹⁴ Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and cried, and Benjamin cried also. ¹⁵ And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried as he hugged them. After this, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the king of Egypt and his officers learned that Joseph’s brothers had come, they were very happy. ¹⁷ So the king said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and go back to the land of Canaan ¹⁸ and bring their father and their families back here to me. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will eat the best food we have here. ¹⁹ Tell them to take some wagons from Egypt for their children and their wives and to bring their father back also. ²⁰ Tell them not to worry about bringing any of their things with them, because we will give them the best of what we have in Egypt.”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as the king had ordered and food for their trip. ²² He gave each brother a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin five changes of clothes and about seven and one-half pounds of silver. ²³ Joseph also sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for his father on his trip back. ²⁴ Then Joseph told his brothers to go. As they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way home.”

²⁵ So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive and is the ruler over all the land of Egypt.” Their father was shocked and did not believe them. ²⁷ But when the brothers told him everything Joseph had said, and when Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt, he felt better. ²⁸ Israel^[e] said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive, and I will go and see him before I die.”

Jacob Goes to Egypt

46 So Israel^[f] took all he had and started his trip. He went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² During the night God spoke to Israel in a vision and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”

And Jacob answered, “Here I am.”

³ Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, because I will make your descendants a great nation there. ⁴ I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you out of Egypt again. Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes when you die.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba. The sons of Israel loaded their father, their children, and their wives in the wagons the king of Egypt had sent. ⁶ They also took their farm animals and everything they had gotten in Canaan. So Jacob went to Egypt with all his descendants— ⁷ his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He took all his family to Egypt with him.

Jacob’s Family

⁸ Now these are the names of the children of Israel who went into Egypt (Jacob and his descendants).

Reuben was Jacob’s first son. ⁹ Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰ Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul (Simeon’s son by a Canaanite woman).

¹¹ Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹² Judah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan). Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³ Issachar’s sons were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.

¹⁴ Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah and Jacob born in Northwest Mesopotamia, in addition to his daughter Dinah. There were thirty-three persons in this part of Jacob’s family.

¹⁶ Gad’s sons were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷ Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and their sister was Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malkiel.

¹⁸ These are Jacob’s sons by Zilpah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. There were sixteen persons in this part of Jacob’s family.

¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ In Egypt, Joseph became the father of Manasseh and Ephraim by his wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

²¹ Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

²² These are the sons of Jacob by his wife Rachel. There were fourteen persons in this part of Jacob’s family.

²³ Dan’s son was Hushim.

²⁴ Naphtali’s sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

²⁵ These are Jacob’s sons by Bilhah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. There were seven persons in this part of Jacob’s family.

²⁶ So the total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went to Egypt was sixty-six, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons. ²⁷ Joseph had two sons born in Egypt, so the total number in the family of Jacob in Egypt was seventy.

Jacob Arrives in Egypt

²⁸ Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to see Joseph in Goshen. When Jacob and his people came into the land of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as Joseph saw his father, he hugged him, and cried there for a long time.

³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, because I have seen your face and I know you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s family, “I will go and tell the king you are here. I will say, ‘My brothers and my father’s family have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me. ³² They are shepherds and take care of farm animals, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and everything they own with them.’ ³³ When the king calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’ ³⁴ This is what you should tell him: ‘We, your servants, have taken care of farm animals all our lives. Our ancestors did the same thing.’ Then the king will allow you to settle in the land of Goshen, away from the Egyptians, because they don’t like to be near shepherds.”

Jacob Settles in Goshen

47 Joseph went in to the king and said, “My father and my brothers have arrived from Canaan with their flocks and herds and everything they own. They are now in the land of Goshen.” ² Joseph chose five of his brothers to introduce to the king.

³ The king said to the brothers, “What work do you do?”

And they said to him, “We, your servants, are shepherds, just as our ancestors were.” ⁴ They said to the king, “We have come to live in this land, because there is no grass in the land of Canaan for our animals to eat, and the hunger is terrible there. So please allow us to live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Then the king said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, ⁶ and you may choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if any of them are skilled shepherds, put them in charge of my sheep and cattle.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and introduced him to the king, and Jacob blessed the king.

⁸ Then the king said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent wandering from place to place. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ancestors lived much longer than I.” ¹⁰ Then Jacob blessed the king and left.

¹¹ Joseph obeyed the king and gave his father and brothers the best land in Egypt, near the city of Rameses. ¹² And Joseph gave his father, his brothers, and everyone who lived with them the food they needed.

Joseph Buys Land for the King

¹³ The hunger became worse, and since there was no food anywhere in the land, Egypt and Canaan became very poor. ¹⁴ Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan. People paid for the grain they were buying, and he brought that money to the king’s palace. ¹⁵ After some time, when the people in Egypt and Canaan had no money left, they went to Joseph and said, “Please give us food. Our money is gone, and if we don’t eat, we will die here in front of you.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered, “Since you have no money, give me your farm animals, and I will give you food in return.” ¹⁷ So people brought their farm animals to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. And he kept them alive by trading food for their farm animals that year.

¹⁸ The next year the people came to Joseph and said, “You know we have no money left, and all our animals belong to you. We have nothing left except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Surely both we and our land will die here in front of you. Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we will be slaves to the king, together with our land. Give us seed to plant so that we will live and not die, and the land will not become a desert.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian sold Joseph his field, because the hunger was very great. So the land became the king’s, ²¹ and Joseph made the people slaves from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² The only land he did not buy was the land the priests owned. They did not need to sell their land because the king paid them for their work. So they had money to buy food.

²³ Joseph said to the people, “Now I have bought you and your land for the king, so I will give you seed and you can plant your fields. ²⁴ At harvest time you must give one-fifth to the king. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves to use as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your families, and your children.”

²⁵ The people said, “You have saved our lives. If you like, we will become slaves of the king.”

²⁶ So Joseph made a law in Egypt, which continues today: One-fifth of everything from the land belongs to the king. The only land the king did not get was the priests’ land.

“Don’t Bury Me in Egypt”

²⁷ The Israelites continued to live in the land of Goshen in Egypt. There they got possessions and had many children and grew in number.

²⁸ Jacob^[g] lived in Egypt seventeen years, so he lived to be one hundred forty-seven years old. ²⁹ When Israel knew he soon would die, he called his son Joseph to him and said to him, “If you love me, put your hand under my leg.^[h] Promise me you will not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I die, carry me out of Egypt, and bury me where my ancestors are buried.”

Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”

³¹ Then Jacob said, “Promise me.” And Joseph promised him that he would do this. Then Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his walking stick.

Blessings for Manasseh and Ephraim

48 Some time later Joseph learned that his father was very sick, so he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim and went to his father. ² When Joseph arrived, someone told Jacob,^[i] “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” Jacob was weak, so he used all his strength and sat up on his bed.

³ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me there. ⁴ He said to me, ‘I will give you many children. I will make you the father of many peoples, and I will give your descendants this land forever.’ ⁵ Your two sons, who were born here in Egypt before I came, will be counted as my own sons. Ephraim and Manasseh will be my sons just as Reuben and Simeon are my sons. ⁶ But if you have other children, they will be your own, and their land will be part of the land given to Ephraim and Manasseh. ⁷ When I came from Northwest Mesopotamia, Rachel died in the land of Canaan, as we were traveling toward Ephrath. This made me very sad, and I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.” (Today Ephrath is Bethlehem.)

⁸ Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these boys?”

⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons that God has given me here in Egypt.”

Israel said, “Bring your sons to me so I may bless them.”

¹⁰ At this time Israel’s eyesight was bad because he was old. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Israel kissed the boys and put his arms around them. ¹¹ He said to Joseph, “I thought I would never see you alive again, and now God has let me see you and also your children.” ¹² Then Joseph moved his sons off Israel’s lap and bowed facedown to the ground. ¹³ He put Ephraim on his right side and Manasseh on his left. (So Ephraim was near Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh was near Israel’s right hand.) Joseph brought the boys close to Israel. ¹⁴ But Israel crossed his arms and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, who was younger. He put his left hand on the head of Manasseh, the firstborn son. ¹⁵ And Israel blessed Joseph and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he didn’t like it. So he took hold of his father’s hand, wanting to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “You are doing it wrong, Father. Manasseh is the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will be great and have many descendants. But his younger brother will be greater, and his descendants will be enough to make a nation.”

²⁰ So Israel blessed them that day and said,

In this way he made Ephraim greater than Manasseh.

²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look at me; I am about to die. But God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your fathers. ²² I have given you something that I did not give your brothers—the land of Shechem that I took from the Amorite people with my sword and my bow.”

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49 Then Jacob called his sons to him. He said, “Come here to me, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future.

²⁸ These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them. He gave each son the blessing that was right for him. ²⁹ Then Israel gave them a command and said, “I am about to die. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. ³⁰ That cave is in the field of Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the field and cave from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place. ³¹ Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried there. Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried there, and I buried my wife Leah there. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittite people.” ³³ After Jacob finished talking to his sons, he lay down. He put his feet back on the bed, took his last breath, and died.

Jacob’s Burial

50 When Jacob died, Joseph hugged his father and cried over him and kissed him. ² He commanded the doctors who served him to prepare his father’s body, so the doctors prepared Jacob’s body to be buried. ³ It took the doctors forty days to prepare his body (the usual time it took). And the Egyptians had a time of sorrow for Jacob that lasted seventy days.

⁴ When this time of sorrow had ended, Joseph spoke to the king’s officers and said, “If you think well of me, please tell this to the king: ⁵ ‘When my father was near death, I made a promise to him that I would bury him in a cave in the land of Canaan, in a burial place that he cut out for himself. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will return.’”

⁶ The king answered, “Keep your promise. Go and bury your father.”

⁷ So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king’s officers, the elders of his court, and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph. ⁸ Everyone who lived with Joseph and his brothers went with him, as well as everyone who lived with his father. They left only their children, their flocks, and their herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ They went with Joseph in chariots and on horses. It was a very large group.

¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they cried loudly and bitterly for his father. Joseph’s time of sorrow continued for seven days. ¹¹ The people that lived in Canaan saw the sadness at the threshing floor of Atad and said, “Those Egyptians are showing great sorrow!” So now that place is named Sorrow of the Egyptians.

¹² So Jacob’s sons did as their father commanded. ¹³ They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried it in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham had bought this cave and field from Ephron the Hittite to use as a burial place. ¹⁴ After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and everyone who had gone with him to bury his father.

The Brothers Fear Joseph

¹⁵ After Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph is still angry with us? We did many wrong things to him. What if he plans to pay us back?” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph that said, “Your father gave this command before he died. ¹⁷ He said to us, ‘You have done wrong and have sinned and done evil to Joseph. Tell Joseph to forgive you, his brothers.’ So now, Joseph, we beg you to forgive our wrong. We are the servants of the God of your father.” When Joseph received the message, he cried.

¹⁸ And his brothers went to him and bowed low before him and said, “We are your slaves.”

¹⁹ Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Can I do what only God can do? ²⁰ You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done. ²¹ So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” So Joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kind words to them.

²² Joseph continued to live in Egypt with all his father’s family. He died when he was one hundred ten years old. ²³ During Joseph’s life Ephraim had children and grandchildren, and Joseph’s son Manasseh had a son named Makir. Joseph accepted Makir’s children as his own.

The Death of Joseph

²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will take care of you. He will lead you out of this land to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph had the sons of Israel make a promise. He said, “Promise me that you will carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”

²⁶ Joseph died when he was one hundred ten years old. Doctors prepared his body for burial, and then they put him in a coffin in Egypt.