GENESIS: CHAPTER 41-42
GENESIS: CHAPTER 41
Pharaoh's
Dream
1 Now it happened at the end of two full years
that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.
2 And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows,
sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass.
3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after
them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other
cows on the bank of the Nile.
4 The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek
and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
5 He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and
behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.
6 Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched
by the east wind, sprouted up after them.
7 The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump
and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8 Now in the morning his spirit was troubled,
so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise
men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could
interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh,
saying, "I would make mention today of my own offenses.
10 "Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and
he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard,
both me and the chief baker.
11 "We had a dream on the same night, he and
I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own
dream.
12 "Now a Hebrew youth was with us there,
a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related them
to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted
according to his own dream.
13 "And just as he interpreted for us, so it
happened; he restored me in my office, but he hanged him."
Joseph Interprets
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph,
and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved
himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream,
but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that
when you hear a dream you can interpret it."
16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "It
is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."
17 So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream,
behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;
18 and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came
up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.
19 "Lo, seven other cows came up after them,
poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness
in all the land of Egypt;
20 and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first
seven fat cows.
21 "Yet when they had devoured them, it could
not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly
as before. Then I awoke.
22 "I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven
ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk;
23 and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and
scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;
24 and the thin ears swallowed the seven good
ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could
explain it to me."
25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's
dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He
is about to do.
26 "The seven good cows are seven years; and
the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.
27 "The seven lean and ugly cows that came up
after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the
east wind will be seven years of famine.
28 "It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has
shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 "Behold, seven years of great abundance are
coming in all the land of Egypt;
30 and after them seven years of famine will
come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt,
and the famine will ravage the land.
31 "So the abundance will be unknown in the land
because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.
32 "Now as for the repeating of the dream to
Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God,
and God will quickly bring it about.
33 "Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning
and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 "Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers
in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce
of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.
35 "Then let them gather all the food of these
good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities
under Pharaoh's authority, and let them guard it.
36 "Let the food become as a reserve for the
land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt,
so that the land will not perish during the famine."
37 Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh
and to all his servants.
Joseph Is
Made a Ruler of Egypt
38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we
find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?"
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has
informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as
you are.
40 "You shall be over my house, and according
to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I
will be greater than you."
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you
over all the land of Egypt."
42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from
his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of
fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.
43 He had him ride in his second chariot; and
they proclaimed before him, "Bow the knee!" And he set him over all
the land of Egypt.
44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Though
I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand
or foot in all the land of Egypt."
45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah;
and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as
his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.
46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when
he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the
presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
47 During the seven years of plenty the land
brought forth abundantly.
48 So he gathered all the food of these
seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food
in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding
fields.
49 Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance
like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for
it was beyond measure.
The Sons
of Joseph
50 Now before the year of famine came,
two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera
priest of On, bore to him.
51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For,"
he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's
household."
52 He named the second Ephraim, "For," he
said, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
53 When the seven years of plenty which
had been in the land of Egypt came to an end,
54 and the seven years of famine began to come,
just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but
in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished,
the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the
Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do."
56 When the famine was spread over all
the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold
to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
57 The people of all the earth came to
Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all
the earth.
GENESIS: CHAPTER
42
Joseph's
Brothers Sent to Egypt
1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt,
and Jacob said to his sons, "Why are you staring at one another?"
2 He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is
grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place,
so that we may live and not die."
3 Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy
grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin
with his brothers, for he said, "I am afraid that harm may befall him."
5 So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among
those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land;
he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's
brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
7 When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized
them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And
he said to them, "Where have you come from?" And they said, "From the
land of Canaan, to buy food."
8 But Joseph had recognized his brothers,
although they did not recognize him.
9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about
them, and said to them, "You are spies; you have come to look at the
undefended parts of our land."
10 Then they said to him, "No, my lord, but your
servants have come to buy food.
11 "We are all sons of one man; we are honest
men, your servants are not spies."
12 Yet he said to them, "No, but you have come
to look at the undefended parts of our land!"
13 But they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers
in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold,
the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive."
14 Joseph said to them, "It is as I said to you,
you are spies;
15 by this you will be tested: by the life of
Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother
comes here!
16 "Send one of you that he may get your brother,
while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there
is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are
spies."
17 So he put them all together in prison for
three days.
18 Now Joseph said to them on the third
day, "Do this and live, for I fear God:
19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers
be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry
grain for the famine of your households,
20 and bring your youngest brother to me, so
your words may be verified, and you will not die." And they did so.
21 Then they said to one another, "Truly we are
guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul
when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress
has come upon us."
22 Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not tell
you, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Now comes
the reckoning for his blood."
23 They did not know, however, that Joseph understood,
for there was an interpreter between them.
24 He turned away from them and wept. But when
he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and
bound him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags
with grain and to restore every man's money in his sack, and to give
them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with their
grain and departed from there.
27 As one of them opened his sack to give
his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold,
it was in the mouth of his sack.
28 Then he said to his brothers, "My money has
been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack." And their hearts
sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, "What
is this that God has done to us?"
Simeon Is
Held Hostage
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 harshly
with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 "But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we
are not spies.
32 'We are twelve brothers, sons of our father;
one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in
the land of Canaan.'
33 "The man, the lord of the land, said to us,
'By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers
with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and
go.
34 'But bring your youngest brother to me that
I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your
brother to you, and you may trade in the land.' "
35 Now it came about as they were emptying
their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money was in
his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money,
they were dismayed.
36 Their father Jacob said to them, "You have
bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more,
and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me."
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, "You
may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you;
put him in my care, and I will return him to you."
38 But Jacob said, "My son shall not go down
with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should
befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray
hair down to Sheol in sorrow." |
