Genesis 40-43

Genesis 40

¹And it cometh to pass, after these things -- the butler of the king of Egypt and the baker have sinned against their lord, against the king of Egypt;

²and Pharaoh is wroth against his two eunuchs, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers,

³and giveth them in charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, unto the round-house, the place where Joseph [is] a prisoner,

⁴and the chief of the executioners chargeth Joseph with them, and he serveth them; and they are days in charge.

⁵And they dream a dream both of them, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker whom the king of Egypt hath, who [are] prisoners in the round-house.

⁶And Joseph cometh in unto them in the morning, and seeth them, and lo, they [are] morose;

⁷and he asketh Pharaoh's eunuchs who [are] with him in charge in the house of his lord, saying, ‘Wherefore [are] your faces sad to-day?'

⁸And they say unto him, ‘A dream we have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it;' and Joseph saith unto them, ‘Are not interpretations with God? recount, I pray you, to me.'

⁹And the chief of the butlers recounteth his dream to Joseph, and saith to him, ‘In my dream, then lo, a vine [is] before me!

¹⁰and in the vine [are] three branches, and it [is] as it were flourishing; gone up hath its blossom, its clusters have ripened grapes;

¹¹and Pharaoh's cup [is] in my hand, and I take the grapes and press them into the cup of Pharaoh, and I give the cup into the hand of Pharaoh.'

¹²And Joseph saith to him, ‘This [is] its interpretation: the three branches are three days;

¹³yet, within three days doth Pharaoh lift up thy head, and hath put thee back on thy station, and thou hast given the cup of Pharaoh into his hand, according to the former custom when thou wast his butler.

¹⁴‘Surely if thou hast remembered me with thee, when it is well with thee, and hast done (I pray thee) kindness with me, and hast made mention of me unto Pharaoh, then hast thou brought me out from this house,

¹⁵for I was really stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and here also have I done nothing that they have put me in the pit.'

¹⁶And the chief of the bakers seeth that he hath interpreted good, and he saith unto Joseph, ‘I also [am] in a dream, and lo, three baskets of white bread [are] on my head,

¹⁷and in the uppermost basket [are] of all [kinds] of Pharaoh's food, work of a baker; and the birds are eating them out of the basket, from off my head.'

¹⁸And Joseph answereth and saith, ‘This [is] its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;

¹⁹yet, within three days doth Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and hath hanged thee on a tree, and the birds have eaten thy flesh from off thee.'

²⁰And it cometh to pass, on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he maketh a banquet to all his servants, and lifteth up the head of the chief of the butlers, and the head of the chief of the bakers among his servants,

²¹and he putteth back the chief of the butlers to his butlership, and he giveth the cup into the hand of Pharaoh;

²²and the chief of the bakers he hath hanged, as Joseph hath interpreted to them;

²³and the chief of the butlers hath not remembered Joseph, but forgetteth him.

Genesis 41

¹And it cometh to pass, at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh is dreaming, and lo, he is standing by the River,

²and lo, from the River coming up are seven kine, of fair appearance, and fat [in] flesh, and they feed among the reeds;

³and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean [in] flesh, and they stand near the kine on the edge of the River,

⁴and the kine of bad appearance and lean [in] flesh eat up the seven kine of fair appearance, and fat -- and Pharaoh awaketh.

⁵And he sleepeth, and dreameth a second time, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, fat and good,

⁶and lo, seven ears, thin, and blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them;

⁷and the thin ears swallow the seven fat and full ears -- and Pharaoh awaketh, and lo, a dream.

⁸And it cometh to pass in the morning, that his spirit is moved, and he sendeth and calleth all the scribes of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh recounteth to them his dream, and there is no interpreter of them to Pharaoh.

⁹And the chief of the butlers speaketh with Pharaoh, saying, ‘My sin I mention this day:

¹⁰Pharaoh hath been wroth against his servants, and giveth me into charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, me and the chief of the bakers;

¹¹and we dream a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we have dreamed.

¹²And there [is] with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interpreteth to us our dreams, [to] each according to his dream hath he interpreted,

¹³and it cometh to pass, as he hath interpreted to us so it hath been, me he put back on my station, and him he hanged.'

¹⁴And Pharaoh sendeth and calleth Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaveth, and changeth his garments, and cometh in unto Pharaoh.

¹⁵And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘A dream I have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it, and I -- I have heard concerning thee, saying, Thou understandest a dream to interpret it,'

¹⁶and Joseph answereth Pharaoh, saying, ‘Without me -- God doth answer Pharaoh with peace.'

¹⁷And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph: ‘In my dream, lo, I am standing by the edge of the River,

¹⁸and lo, out of the River coming up are seven kine, fat [in] flesh, and of fair form, and they feed among the reeds;

¹⁹and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them, thin, and of very bad form, and lean [in] flesh; I have not seen like these in all the land of Egypt for badness.

²⁰‘And the lean and the bad kine eat up the first seven fat kine,

²¹and they come in unto their midst, and it hath not been known that they have come in unto their midst, and their appearance [is] bad as at the commencement; and I awake.

²²‘And I see in my dream, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, full and good;

²³and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them;

²⁴and the thin ears swallow the seven good ears; and I tell unto the scribes, and there is none declaring to me.'

²⁵And Joseph saith unto Pharaoh, ‘The dream of Pharaoh is one: that which God is doing he hath declared to Pharaoh;

²⁶the seven good kine are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years, the dream is one;

²⁷and the seven thin and bad kine which are coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears, blasted with an east wind, are seven years of famine;

²⁸this [is] the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: That which God is doing, he hath shewn Pharaoh.

²⁹‘Lo, seven years are coming of great abundance in all the land of Egypt,

³⁰and seven years of famine have arisen after them, and all the plenty is forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine hath finished the land,

³¹and the plenty is not known in the land because of that famine afterwards, for it [is] very grievous.

³²‘And because of the repeating of the dream unto Pharaoh twice, surely the thing is established by God, and God is hastening to do it.

³³‘And now, let Pharaoh provide a man, intelligent and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt;

³⁴let Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, and receive a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty,

³⁵and they gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up corn under the hand of Pharaoh -- food in the cities; and they have kept [it],

³⁶and the food hath been for a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which are in the land of Egypt; and the land is cut off by the famine.'

³⁷And the thing is good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants,

³⁸and Pharaoh saith unto his servants, ‘Do we find like this, a man in whom the spirit of God [is]?'

³⁹and Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘After God's causing thee to know all this, there is none intelligent and wise as thou;

⁴⁰thou -- thou art over my house, and at thy mouth do all my people kiss; only in the throne I am greater than thou.'

⁴¹And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘See, I have put thee over all the land of Egypt.'

⁴²And Pharaoh turneth aside his seal-ring from off his hand, and putteth it on the hand of Joseph, and clotheth him [with] garments of fine linen, and placeth a chain of gold on his neck,

⁴³and causeth him to ride in the second chariot which he hath, and they proclaim before him, ‘Bow the knee!' and -- to put him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, ‘I [am] Pharaoh, and without thee a man doth not lift up his hand and his foot in all the land of Egypt;'

⁴⁵and Pharaoh calleth Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he giveth to him Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, for a wife, and Joseph goeth out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶And Joseph [is] a son of thirty years in his standing before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Joseph goeth out from the presence of Pharaoh, and passeth over through all the land of Egypt;

⁴⁷and the land maketh in the seven years of plenty by handfuls.

⁴⁸And he gathereth all the food of the seven years which have been in the land of Egypt, and putteth food in the cities; the food of the field which [is] round about [each] city hath he put in its midst;

⁴⁹and Joseph gathereth corn as sand of the sea, multiplying exceedingly, until that he hath ceased to number, for there is no number.

⁵⁰And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine cometh, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, hath borne to him,

⁵¹and Joseph calleth the name of the first-born Manasseh: ‘for, God hath made me to forget all my labour, and all the house of my father;'

⁵²and the name of the second he hath called Ephraim: ‘for, God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of mine affliction.'

⁵³And the seven years of plenty are completed which have been in the land of Egypt,

⁵⁴and the seven years of famine begin to come, as Joseph said, and famine is in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt hath been bread;

⁵⁵and all the land of Egypt is famished, and the people crieth unto Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh saith to all the Egyptians, ‘Go unto Joseph; that which he saith to you -- do.'

⁵⁶And the famine has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph openeth all [places] which have [corn] in them, and selleth to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt,

⁵⁷and all the earth hath come to Egypt, to buy, unto Joseph, for the famine was severe in all the earth.

Genesis 42

¹And Jacob seeth that there is corn in Egypt, and Jacob saith to his sons, ‘Why do you look at each other?'

²he saith also, ‘Lo, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, go down thither, and buy for us from thence, and we live and do not die;'

³and the ten brethren of Joseph go down to buy corn in Egypt,

⁴and Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob hath not sent with his brethren, for he said, ‘Lest mischief meet him.'

⁵And the sons of Israel come to buy in the midst of those coming, for the famine hath been in the land of Canaan,

⁶and Joseph is the ruler over the land, he who is selling to all the people of the land, and Joseph's brethren come and bow themselves to him -- face to the earth.

⁷And Joseph seeth his brethren, and discerneth them, and maketh himself strange unto them, and speaketh with them sharp things, and saith unto them, ‘From whence have ye come?' and they say, ‘From the land of Canaan -- to buy food.'

⁸And Joseph discerneth his brethren, but they have not discerned him,

⁹and Joseph remembereth the dreams which he dreamed of them, and saith unto them, ‘Ye [are] spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye have come.'

¹⁰And they say unto him, ‘No, my lord, but thy servants have come to buy food;

¹¹we [are] all of us sons of one man, we [are] right men; thy servants have not been spies;'

¹²and he saith unto them, ‘No, but the nakedness of the land ye have come to see;'

¹³and they say, ‘Thy servants [are] twelve brethren; we [are] sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and lo, the young one [is] with our father to-day, and the one is not.'

¹⁴And Joseph saith unto them, ‘This [is] that which I have spoken unto you, saying, Ye [are] spies,

¹⁵by this ye are proved: Pharaoh liveth! if ye go out from this -- except by your young brother coming hither;

¹⁶send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and ye, remain ye bound, and let your words be proved, whether truth be with you: and if not -- Pharaoh liveth! surely ye [are] spies;'

¹⁷and he removeth them unto charge three days.

¹⁸And Joseph saith unto them on the third day, ‘This do and live; God I fear!

¹⁹if ye [are] right men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your ward, and ye, go, carry in corn [for] the famine of your houses,

²⁰and your young brother ye bring unto me, and your words are established, and ye die not;' and they do so.

²¹And they say one unto another, ‘Verily we [are] guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul, in his making supplication unto us, and we did not hearken: therefore hath this distress come upon us.'

²²And Reuben answereth them, saying, ‘Spake I not unto you, saying, Sin not against the lad? and ye hearkened not; and his blood also, lo, it is required.'

²³And they have not known that Joseph understandeth, for the interpreter [is] between them;

²⁴and he turneth round from them, and weepeth, and turneth back unto them, and speaketh unto them, and taketh from them Simeon, and bindeth him before their eyes.

²⁵And Joseph commandeth, and they fill their vessels [with] corn, also to put back the money of each unto his sack, and to give to them provision for the way; and one doth to them so.

²⁶And they lift up their corn upon their asses, and go from thence,

²⁷and the one openeth his sack to give provender to his ass at a lodging-place, and he seeth his money, and lo, it [is] in the mouth of his bag,

²⁸and he saith unto his brethren, ‘My money hath been put back, and also, lo, in my bag:' and their heart goeth out, and they tremble, one to another saying, ‘What [is] this God hath done to us!'

²⁹And they come in unto Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and they declare to him all the things meeting them, saying,

³⁰‘The man, the lord of the land, hath spoken with us sharp things, and maketh us as spies of the land;

³¹and we say unto him, We [are] right men, we have not been spies,

³²we [are] twelve brethren, sons of our father, the one is not, and the young one [is] to-day with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³‘And the man, the lord of the land, saith unto us, By this I know that ye [are] right men -- one of your brethren leave with me, and [for] the famine of your houses take ye and go,

³⁴and bring your young brother unto me, and I know that ye [are] not spies, but ye [are] right men; your brother I give to you, and ye trade with the land.'

³⁵And it cometh to pass, they are emptying their sacks, and lo, the bundle of each man's silver [is] in his sack, and they see their bundles of silver, they and their father, and are afraid;

³⁶and Jacob their father saith unto them, ‘Me ye have bereaved; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and Benjamin ye take -- against me have been all these.'

³⁷And Reuben speaketh unto his father, saying, ‘My two sons thou dost put to death, if I bring him not in unto thee; give him into my hand, and I -- I bring him back unto thee;'

³⁸and he saith, ‘My son doth not go down with you, for his brother [is] dead, and he by himself is left; when mischief hath met him in the way in which ye go, then ye have brought down my grey hairs in sorrow to sheol.'

Genesis 43

¹And the famine [is] severe in the land;

²and it cometh to pass, when they have finished eating the corn which they brought from Egypt, that their father saith unto them, ‘Turn back, buy for us a little food.'

³And Judah speaketh unto him, saying, ‘The man protesting protested to us, saying, Ye do not see my face without your brother [being] with you;

⁴if thou art sending our brother with us, we go down, and buy for thee food,

⁵and if thou art not sending -- we do not go down, for the man said unto us, Ye do not see my face without your brother [being] with you.'

⁶And Israel saith, ‘Why did ye evil to me, by declaring to the man that ye had yet a brother?'

⁷and they say, ‘The man asked diligently concerning us, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? and we declare to him according to the tenor of these things; do we certainly know that he will say, Bring down your brother?'

⁸And Judah saith unto Israel his father, ‘Send the youth with me, and we arise, and go, and live, and do not die, both we, and thou, and our infants.

⁹I -- I am surety [for] him, from my hand thou dost require him; if I have not brought him in unto thee, and set him before thee -- then I have sinned against thee all the days;

¹⁰for if we had not lingered, surely now we had returned these two times.'

¹¹And Israel their father saith unto them, ‘If so, now, this do: take of the praised thing of the land in your vessels, and take down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds;

¹²and double money take in your hand, even the money which is brought back in the mouth of your bags, ye take back in your hand, it may be it [is] an oversight.

¹³‘And take your brother, and rise, turn back unto the man;

¹⁴and God Almighty give to you mercies before the man, so that he hath sent to you your other brother and Benjamin; and I, when I am bereaved -- I am bereaved.'

¹⁵And the men take this present, double money also they have taken in their hand, and Benjamin; and they rise, and go down to Egypt, and stand before Joseph;

¹⁶and Joseph seeth Benjamin with them, and saith to him who [is] over his house, ‘Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal, and make ready, for with me do the men eat at noon.'

¹⁷And the man doth as Joseph hath said, and the man bringeth in the men into the house of Joseph,

¹⁸and the men are afraid because they have been brought into the house of Joseph, and they say, ‘For the matter of the money which was put back in our bags at the commencement are we brought in -- to roll himself upon us, and to throw himself on us, and to take us for servants -- our asses also.'

¹⁹And they come nigh unto the man who [is] over the house of Joseph, and speak unto him at the opening of the house,

²⁰and say, ‘O, my lord, we really come down at the commencement to buy food;

²¹and it cometh to pass, when we have come in unto the lodging-place, and open our bags, that lo, each one's money [is] in the mouth of his bag, our money in its weight, and we bring it back in our hand;

²²and other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food; we have not known who put our money in our bags.'

²³And he saith, ‘Peace to you, fear not: your God and the God of your father hath given to you hidden treasure in your bags, your money came unto me;' and he bringeth out Simeon unto them.

²⁴And the man bringeth in the men into Joseph's house, and giveth water, and they wash their feet; and he giveth provender for their asses,

²⁵and they prepare the present until the coming of Joseph at noon, for they have heard that there they do eat bread.

²⁶And Joseph cometh into the house, and they bring to him the present which [is] in their hand, into the house, and bow themselves to him, to the earth;

²⁷and he asketh of them of peace, and saith, ‘Is your father well? the aged man of whom ye have spoken, is he yet alive?'

²⁸and they say, ‘Thy servant our father [is] well, he is yet alive;' and they bow, and do obeisance.

²⁹And he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and saith, ‘Is this your young brother, of whom ye have spoken unto me?' and he saith, ‘God favour thee, my son.'

³⁰And Joseph hasteth, for his bowels have been moved for his brother, and he seeketh to weep, and entereth the inner chamber, and weepeth there;

³¹and he washeth his face, and goeth out, and refraineth himself, and saith, ‘Place bread.'

³²And they place for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who are eating with him by themselves: for the Egyptians are unable to eat bread with the Hebrews, for it [is] an abomination to the Egyptians.

³³And they sit before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the young one according to his youth, and the men wonder one at another;

³⁴and he lifteth up gifts from before him unto them, and the gift of Benjamin is five hands more than the gifts of all of them; and they drink, yea, they drink abundantly with him.