Day 12 – Prison and Promotion

₁Now the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard. ₂The LORD was with Joseph and made him successful. He lived in the house of his Egyptian master, ₃who saw that the LORD was with Joseph and had made him successful in everything he did. ₄Potiphar was pleased with him and made him his personal servant; so he put him in charge of his house and everything he owned. ₅From then on, because of Joseph the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian and everything that he had in his house and in his fields. ₆Potiphar handed over everything he had to the care of Joseph and did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Joseph was well-built and good-looking, ₇and after a while his master's wife began to desire Joseph and asked him to go to bed with her. ₈He refused and said to her, “Look, my master does not have to concern himself with anything in the house, because I am here. He has put me in charge of everything he has. ₉I have as much authority in this house as he has, and he has not kept back anything from me except you. How then could I do such an immoral thing and sin against God?” ₁₀Although she asked Joseph day after day, he would not go to bed with her.

₁₁But one day when Joseph went into the house to do his work, none of the house servants was there. ₁₂She caught him by his robe and said, “Come to bed with me.” But he escaped and ran outside, leaving his robe in her hand. ₁₃When she saw that he had left his robe and had run out of the house, ₁₄she called to her house servants and said, “Look at this! This Hebrew that my husband brought to the house is insulting us. He came into my room and tried to rape me, but I screamed as loud as I could. ₁₅When he heard me scream, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me.”

₁₆She kept his robe with her until Joseph's master came home. ₁₇Then she told him the same story: “That Hebrew slave that you brought here came into my room and insulted me. ₁₈But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me.”

₁₉Joseph's master was furious ₂₀and had Joseph arrested and put in the prison where the king's prisoners were kept, and there he stayed. ₂₁But the LORD was with Joseph and blessed him, so that the jailer was pleased with him. ₂₂He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison. ₂₃The jailer did not have to look after anything for which Joseph was responsible, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him succeed in everything he did.

₁Some time later the king of Egypt's wine steward and his chief baker offended the king. ₂He was angry with these two officials ₃and put them in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same place where Joseph was being kept. ₄They spent a long time in prison, and the captain assigned Joseph as their servant.

₅One night there in prison the wine steward and the chief baker each had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings. ₆When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. ₇He asked them, “Why do you look so worried today?”

₈They answered, “Each of us had a dream, and there is no one here to explain what the dreams mean.”

“It is God who gives the ability to interpret dreams,” Joseph said. “Tell me your dreams.”

₉So the wine steward said, “In my dream there was a grapevine in front of me ₁₀with three branches on it. As soon as the leaves came out, the blossoms appeared, and the grapes ripened. ₁₁I was holding the king's cup; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to him.”

₁₂Joseph said, “This is what it means: the three branches are three days. ₁₃In three days the king will release you, pardon you, and restore you to your position. You will give him his cup as you did before when you were his wine steward. ₁₄But please remember me when everything is going well for you, and please be kind enough to mention me to the king and help me to get out of this prison. ₁₅After all, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here in Egypt I didn't do anything to deserve being put in prison.”

₁₆When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the wine steward's dream was favourable, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream too; I was carrying three bread baskets on my head. ₁₇In the top basket there were all kinds of pastries for the king, and the birds were eating them.”

₁₈Joseph answered, “This is what it means: the three baskets are three days. ₁₉In three days the king will release you — and have your head cut off! Then he will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh.”

₂₀On his birthday three days later the king gave a banquet for all his officials; he released his wine steward and his chief baker and brought them before his officials. ₂₁He restored the wine steward to his former position, ₂₂but he executed the chief baker. It all happened just as Joseph had said. ₂₃But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought — he forgot all about him.

₁After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamt that he was standing by the River Nile, ₂when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began to feed on the grass. ₃Then seven other cows came up; they were thin and bony. They came and stood by the other cows on the river bank, ₄and the thin cows ate up the fat cows. Then the king woke up. ₅He fell asleep again and had another dream. Seven ears of corn, full and ripe, were growing on one stalk. ₆Then seven other ears of corn sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, ₇and the thin ears of corn swallowed the full ones. The king woke up and realized that he had been dreaming. ₈In the morning he was worried, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. He told them his dreams, but no one could explain them to him.

₉Then the wine steward said to the king, “I must confess today that I have done wrong. ₁₀You were angry with the chief baker and me, and you put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard. ₁₁One night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings. ₁₂A young Hebrew was there with us, a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us. ₁₃Things turned out just as he said: you restored me to my position, but you executed the baker.”

₁₄The king sent for Joseph, and he was immediately brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came into the king's presence. ₁₅The king said to him, “I have had a dream, and no one can explain it. I have been told that you can interpret dreams.”

₁₆Joseph answered, “I cannot, Your Majesty, but God will give a favourable interpretation.”

₁₇The king said, “I dreamt that I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ₁₈when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began feeding on the grass. ₁₉Then seven other cows came up which were thin and bony. They were the poorest cows I have ever seen anywhere in Egypt. ₂₀The thin cows ate up the fat ones, ₂₁but no one would have known it, because they looked just as bad as before. Then I woke up. ₂₂I also dreamt that I saw seven ears of corn which were full and ripe, growing on one stalk. ₂₃Then seven ears of corn sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind, ₂₄and the thin ears of corn swallowed the full ones. I told the dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain them to me.”

₂₅Joseph said to the king, “The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do. ₂₆The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven full ears of corn are also seven years; they have the same meaning. ₂₇The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin ears of corn scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine. ₂₈It is just as I told you — God has shown you what he is going to do. ₂₉There will be seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt. ₃₀After that, there will be seven years of famine, and all the good years will be forgotten, because the famine will ruin the country. ₃₁The time of plenty will be entirely forgotten, because the famine which follows will be so terrible. ₃₂The repetition of your dream means that the matter is fixed by God and that he will make it happen in the near future.

₃₃“Now you should choose some man with wisdom and insight and put him in charge of the country. ₃₄You must also appoint other officials and take a fifth of the crops during the seven years of plenty. ₃₅Order them to collect all the food during the good years that are coming, and give them authority to store up corn in the cities and guard it. ₃₆The food will be a reserve supply for the country during the seven years of famine which are going to come on Egypt. In this way the people will not starve.”

₃₇The king and his officials approved this plan, ₃₈and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God's Spirit in him.” ₃₉The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else. ₄₀I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine. ₄₁I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.” ₄₂The 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 round his neck. ₄₃He gave him the second royal chariot to ride in, and his guard of honour went ahead of him and cried out, “Make way! Make way!” And so Joseph was appointed governor over all Egypt. ₄₄The 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.” _45-46He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.

Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve the king of Egypt. He left the king's court and travelled all over the land. ₄₇During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundant crops, ₄₈all of which Joseph collected and stored in the cities. In each city he stored the food from the fields around it. ₄₉There was so much corn that Joseph stopped measuring it — it was like the sand of the sea.

₅₀Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons by Asenath. ₅₁He said, “God has made me forget all my sufferings and all my father's family”; so he named his first son Manasseh. ₅₂He also said, “God has given me children in the land of my trouble”; so he named his second son Ephraim.

₅₃The seven years of plenty that the land of Egypt had enjoyed came to an end, ₅₄and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every other country, but there was food throughout Egypt. ₅₅When 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. ₅₆The famine grew worse and spread over the whole country, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold corn to the Egyptians. ₅₇People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy corn from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.