Genesis 39:1-41:16

New King James Version

Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken ^(A)down to Egypt. And ^(B)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^(C)bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ²^(D)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(E)made all he did ^[a]to prosper in his hand. ⁴So Joseph ^(F)found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him ^(G)overseer of his house, and all that he had he put ^[b]under his authority. ⁵So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that ^(H)the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s ^[c]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the ^[d]bread which he ate.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Prisoners’ Dreams

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pharaoh’s Dreams

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

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

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