Category: Genesis

[41:37] The king and his officials approved this plan,

[41:38] and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God's spirit in him.”

[41:39] The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else.

[41:40] I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine.

[41:41] I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.”

[41:42] The king removed from his finger the ring engraved with the royal seal and put it on Joseph's finger. He put a fine linen robe on him, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

[41:43] He gave him the second royal chariot to ride in, and his guard of honor went ahead of him and cried out, “Make way! Make way!” And so Joseph was appointed governor over all Egypt.

[41:44] The king said to him, “I am the king—and no one in all Egypt shall so much as lift a hand or a foot without your permission.” Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve the king of Egypt. He left the king's court and traveled all over the land.

[41:47] During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundant crops,

[41:48] all of which Joseph collected and stored in the cities. In each city he stored the food from the fields around it.

[41:49] There was so much grain that Joseph stopped measuring it—it was like the sand of the sea.

[41:50] Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons by Asenath.

[41:51] He said, “God has made me forget all my sufferings and all my father's family”; so he named his first son Manasseh.

[41:52] He also said, “God has given me children in the land of my trouble”; so he named his second son Ephraim.

[41:53] The seven years of plenty that the land of Egypt had enjoyed came to an end,

[41:54] and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every other country, but there was food throughout Egypt.

[41:55] When the Egyptians began to be hungry, they cried out to the king for food. So he ordered them to go to Joseph and do what he told them.

[41:56] The famine grew worse and spread over the whole country, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians.

[41:57] People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.

[42:1] When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why don't you do something?

[42:2] I hear that there is grain in Egypt; go there and buy some to keep us from starving to death.”

[42:3] So Joseph's ten half brothers went to buy grain in Egypt,

[42:4] but Jacob did not send Joseph's full brother Benjamin with them, because he was afraid that something might happen to him.

[42:5] The sons of Jacob came with others to buy grain, because there was famine in the land of Canaan.

[42:6] Joseph, as governor of the land of Egypt, was selling grain to people from all over the world. So Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

[42:7] When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted as if he did not know them. He asked them harshly, “Where do you come from?” “We have come from Canaan to buy food,” they answered.

[42:8] Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

[42:9] He remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said, “You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak.”

[42:10] “No, sir,” they answered. “We have come as your slaves, to buy food.

[42:11] We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men.”

[42:12] Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to find out where our country is weak.”

[42:13] They said, “We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father.”

[42:14] “It is just as I said,” Joseph answered. “You are spies.

[42:15] This is how you will be tested: I swear by the name of the king that you will never leave unless your youngest brother comes here.

[42:16] One of you must go and get him. The rest of you will be kept under guard until the truth of what you say can be tested. Otherwise, as sure as the king lives, you are spies.”

[42:17] With that, he put them in prison for three days.

[42:18] On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition.

[42:19] To prove that you are honest, one of you will stay in the prison where you have been kept; the rest of you may go and take back to your starving families the grain that you have bought.

[42:20] Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death.” They agreed to this

[42:21] and said to one another, “Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”

[42:22] Reuben said, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you wouldn't listen. And now we are being paid back for his death.”

[42:23] Joseph understood what they said, but they did not know it, because they had been speaking to him through an interpreter.

[42:24] Joseph left them and began to cry. When he was able to speak again, he came back, picked out Simeon, and had him tied up in front of them.

[42:25] Joseph gave orders to fill his brothers' packs with grain, to put each man's money back in his sack, and to give them food for the trip. This was done.

[42:26] The brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain they had bought, and then they left.

[42:27] At the place where they spent the night, one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey and found his money at the top of the sack.

[42:28] “My money has been returned to me,” he called to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack!” Their hearts sank, and in fear they asked one another, “What has God done to us?”

[42:29] When they came to their father Jacob in Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:

[42:30] “The governor of Egypt spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying against his country.

[42:31] ‘We are not spies,’ we answered, ‘we are honest men.

[42:32] We were twelve brothers in all, sons of the same father. One brother is dead, and the youngest is still in Canaan with our father.’

[42:33] The man answered, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men: One of you will stay with me; the rest will take grain for your starving families and leave.

[42:34] Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but honest men; I will give your brother back to you, and you can stay here and trade.’”

[42:35] Then when they emptied out their sacks, every one of them found his bag of money; and when they saw the money, they and their father Jacob were afraid.

[42:36] Their father said to them, “Do you want to make me lose all my children? Joseph is gone; Simeon is gone; and now you want to take away Benjamin. I am the one who suffers!”

[42:37] Reuben said to his father, “If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you can kill my two sons. Put him in my care, and I will bring him back.”

[42:38] But Jacob said, “My son cannot go with you; his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. Something might happen to him on the way. I am an old man, and the sorrow you would cause me would kill me.”

[43:1] The famine in Canaan got worse,

[43:2] and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the grain which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy a little food for us.”

[43:3] Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us that we would not be admitted to his presence unless we had our brother with us.

[43:4] If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you.

[43:5] If you are not willing, we will not go, because the man told us we would not be admitted to his presence unless our brother was with us.”

[43:6] Jacob said, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another brother?”

[43:7] They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother with us?”

[43:8] Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will leave at once. Then none of us will starve to death.

[43:9] I will pledge my own life, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you safe and sound, I will always bear the blame.

[43:10] If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now.”

[43:11] Their father said to them, “If that is how it has to be, then take the best products of the land in your packs as a present for the governor: a little resin, a little honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

[43:12] Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake.

[43:13] Take your brother and return at once.

[43:14] May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your other brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them.”

[43:15] So the brothers took the gifts and twice as much money, and set out for Egypt with Benjamin. There they presented themselves to Joseph.

[43:16] When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. They are going to eat with me at noon, so kill an animal and prepare it.”

[43:17] The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to Joseph's house.

[43:18] As they were being brought to the house, they were afraid and thought, “We are being brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time. They will suddenly attack us, take our donkeys, and make us his slaves.”

[43:19] So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge,

[43:20] “If you please, sir, we came here once before to buy food.

[43:21] When we set up camp on the way home, we opened our sacks, and each man found his money in the top of his sack—every bit of it. We have brought it back to you.

[43:22] We have also brought some more money with us to buy more food. We do not know who put our money back in our sacks.”

[43:23] The servant said, “Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks for you. I received your payment.” Then he brought Simeon to them.

[43:24] The servant took the brothers into the house. He gave them water so that they could wash their feet, and he fed their donkeys.

[43:25] They got their gifts ready to present to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had been told that they were to eat with him.

[43:26] When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him.

[43:27] He asked about their health and then said, “You told me about your old father—how is he? Is he still alive and well?”

[43:28] They answered, “Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well.” And they knelt and bowed down before him.

[43:29] When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “So this is your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.”

[43:30] Then Joseph left suddenly, because his heart was full of tender feelings for his brother. He was about to break down, so he went to his room and cried.

[43:31] After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served.

[43:32] Joseph was served at one table and his brothers at another. The Egyptians who were eating there were served separately, because they considered it beneath their dignity to eat with Hebrews.

[43:33] The brothers had been seated at the table, facing Joseph, in the order of their age from the oldest to the youngest. When they saw how they had been seated, they looked at one another in amazement.

[43:34] Food was served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was served five times as much as the rest of them. So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.

[44:1] Joseph commanded the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's money in the top of his sack.

[44:2] Put my silver cup in the top of the youngest brother's sack, together with the money for his grain.” He did as he was told.

[44:3] Early in the morning the brothers were sent on their way with their donkeys.

[44:4] When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Hurry after those men. When you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good?

[44:5] Why did you steal my master's silver cup? It is the one he drinks from, the one he uses for divination. You have committed a serious crime!’”

[44:6] When the servant caught up with them, he repeated these words.

[44:7] They answered him, “What do you mean, sir, by talking like this? We swear that we have done no such thing.

[44:8] You know that we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in the top of our sacks. Why then should we steal silver or gold from your master's house?

[44:9] Sir, if any one of us is found to have it, he will be put to death, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”

[44:10] He said, “I agree; but only the one who has taken the cup will become my slave, and the rest of you can go free.”

[44:11] So they quickly lowered their sacks to the ground, and each man opened his sack.

[44:12] Joseph's servant searched carefully, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

[44:13] The brothers tore their clothes in sorrow, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.

[44:14] When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They bowed down before him,

[44:15] and Joseph said, “What have you done? Didn't you know that a man in my position could find you out by practicing divination?”

[44:16] “What can we say to you, sir?” Judah answered. “How can we argue? How can we clear ourselves? God has uncovered our guilt. All of us are now your slaves and not just the one with whom the cup was found.”

[44:17] Joseph said, “Oh, no! I would never do that! Only the one who had the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safe and sound to your father.”

[44:18] Judah went up to Joseph and said, “Please, sir, allow me to speak with you freely. Don't be angry with me; you are like the king himself.

[44:19] Sir, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or another brother?’

[44:20] We answered, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother, born to him in his old age. The boy's brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's children still alive; his father loves him very much.’

[44:21] Sir, you told us to bring him here, so that you could see him,

[44:22] and we answered that the boy could not leave his father; if he did, his father would die.

[44:23] Then you said, ‘You will not be admitted to my presence again unless your youngest brother comes with you.’

[44:24] “When we went back to our father, we told him what you had said.

[44:25] Then he told us to return and buy a little food.

[44:26] We answered, ‘We cannot go; we will not be admitted to the man's presence unless our youngest brother is with us. We can go only if our youngest brother goes also.’

[44:27] Our father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel bore me only two sons.

[44:28] One of them has already left me. He must have been torn to pieces by wild animals, because I have not seen him since he left.

[44:29] If you take this one from me now and something happens to him, the sorrow you would cause me would kill me, as old as I am.’

[44:32] What is more, I pledged my life to my father for the boy. I told him that if I did not bring the boy back to him, I would bear the blame all my life.

[44:33] And now, sir, I will stay here as your slave in place of the boy; let him go back with his brothers.

[44:34] How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I cannot bear to see this disaster come upon my father.”

[45:1] Joseph was no longer able to control his feelings in front of his servants, so he ordered them all to leave the room. No one else was with him when Joseph told his brothers who he was.

[45:2] He cried with such loud sobs that the Egyptians heard it, and the news was taken to the king's palace.

[45:3] Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But when his brothers heard this, they were so terrified that they could not answer.

[45:4] Then Joseph said to them, “Please come closer.” They did, and he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

[45:5] Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people's lives.

[45:6] This is only the second year of famine in the land; there will be five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor reaping.

[45:7] God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure that you and your descendants survive.

[45:8] So it was not really you who sent me here, but God. He has made me the king's highest official. I am in charge of his whole country; I am the ruler of all Egypt.

[45:9] “Now hurry back to my father and tell him that this is what his son Joseph says: ‘God has made me ruler of all Egypt; come to me without delay.

[45:10] You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your sheep, your goats, your cattle, and everything else that you have.

[45:11] If you are in Goshen, I can take care of you. There will still be five years of famine; and I do not want you, your family, and your livestock to starve.’”

[45:12] Joseph continued, “Now all of you, and you too, Benjamin, can see that I am really Joseph.

[45:13] Tell my father how powerful I am here in Egypt and tell him about everything that you have seen. Then hurry and bring him here.”

[45:14] He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and began to cry; Benjamin also cried as he hugged him.

[45:15] Then, still weeping, he embraced each of his brothers and kissed them. After that, his brothers began to talk with him.

[45:16] When the news reached the palace that Joseph's brothers had come, the king and his officials were pleased.

[45:17] He said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and to return to the land of Canaan.

[45:18] Let them get their father and their families and come back here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will have more than enough to live on.

[45:19] Tell them also to take wagons with them from Egypt for their wives and small children and to bring their father with them.

[45:20] They are not to worry about leaving their possessions behind; the best in the whole land of Egypt will be theirs.”

[45:21] Jacob's sons did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons, as the king had ordered, and food for the trip.

[45:22] He also gave each of them a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothes.

[45:23] He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best Egyptian goods and ten donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for the trip.

[45:24] He sent his brothers off and as they left, he said to them, “Don't quarrel on the way.”

[45:25] They left Egypt and went back home to their father Jacob in Canaan.

[45:26] “Joseph is still alive!” they told him. “He is the ruler of all Egypt!” Jacob was stunned and could not believe them.

[45:27] But when they told him all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to take him to Egypt, he recovered from the shock.

[45:28] “My son Joseph is still alive!” he said. “This is all I could ask for! I must go and see him before I die.”

[46:1] Jacob packed up all he had and went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

[46:2] God spoke to him in a vision at night and called, “Jacob, Jacob!” “Yes, here I am,” he answered.

[46:3] “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go to Egypt; I will make your descendants a great nation there.

[46:4] I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land. Joseph will be with you when you die.”

[46:5] Jacob set out from Beersheba. His sons put him, their small children, and their wives in the wagons which the king of Egypt had sent.

[46:6] They took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan and went to Egypt. Jacob took all his descendants with him:

[46:7] his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters.

[46:8] The members of Jacob's family who went to Egypt with him were his oldest son Reuben

[46:9] and Reuben's sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

[46:10] Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

[46:11] Levi and his sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

[46:12] Judah and his sons: Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Judah's other sons, Er and Onan, had died in Canaan.) Perez' sons were Hezron and Hamul.

[46:13] Issachar and his sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.

[46:14] Zebulun and his sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

[46:15] These are the sons that Leah had borne to Jacob in Mesopotamia, besides his daughter Dinah. In all, his descendants by Leah numbered thirty-three.

[46:16] Gad and his sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli.

[46:17] Asher and his sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malchiel.

[46:18] These sixteen are the descendants of Jacob by Zilpah, the slave woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah.

[46:19] Jacob's wife Rachel bore him two sons: Joseph and Benjamin.

[46:20] In Egypt Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in Heliopolis.

[46:21] Benjamin's sons were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

[46:22] These fourteen are the descendants of Jacob by Rachel.

[46:23] Dan and his son Hushim.

[46:24] Naphtali and his sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

[46:25] These seven are the descendants of Jacob by Bilhah, the slave woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel.

[46:26] The total number of the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt was sixty-six, not including his sons' wives.

[46:27] Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt, bringing to seventy the total number of Jacob's family who went there.

[47:13] The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger.

[47:14] As they bought grain, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace.

[47:15] When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Don't let us die. Do something! Our money is all gone.”

[47:16] Joseph answered, “Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone.”

[47:17] So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

[47:18] The following year they came to him and said, “We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.

[47:19] Don't let us die. Do something! Don't let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king's slaves, and he will own our land. Give us grain to keep us alive and seed so that we can plant our fields.”

[47:20] Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king's property.

[47:21] Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other.

[47:22] The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on.

[47:23] Joseph said to the people, “You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields.

[47:24] At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families.”

[47:25] They answered, “You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king's slaves.”

[47:26] So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.