Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 76
Genesis 42 ... page 46
revealed the meaning of the dreams to you,
clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you
are. 40You will be in charge of my court, and all
my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than
yours.”
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in
charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and
placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in
fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain
around his neck. 43 Then he had Joseph ride
in the chariot reserved for his second-incommand. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh
put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. 44And Pharaoh
said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a
hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without
your approval.”
45 Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian
name, Zaphenath-paneah. He also gave him a
wife, whose name was Asenath. She was the
daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt.
46He was thirty years old when he began serving
in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And
when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt.
47As predicted, for seven years the land produced bumper crops. 48During those years, Joseph gathered all the crops grown in Egypt and
stored the grain from the surrounding fields in
the cities. 49He piled up huge amounts of grain
like sand on the seashore. Finally, he stopped
keeping records because there was too much to
measure.
50During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his
wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the
priest of On. 51Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all
my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.”
52Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he
said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of
my grief.”
53At last the seven years of bumper crops
throughout the land of Egypt came to an end.
54Then the seven years of famine began, just as
Joseph had predicted. The famine also struck all
the surrounding countries, but throughout
Egypt there was plenty of food. 55Eventually,
however, the famine spread throughout the land
of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out
to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph,
and do whatever he tells you.” 56So with severe
famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians,
for the famine was severe throughout the land of
Egypt. 57And people from all around came to
Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.
CHAPTER
42
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
When Jacob heard that grain was available in
Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? 2I have
heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and
buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise
we’ll die.”
3 So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to
Egypt to buy grain. 4But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them,
for fear some harm might come to him. 5 So Jacob’s sons arrived in Egypt along with others to
buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.
6Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in
charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to
him that his brothers came. When they arrived,
they bowed before him with their faces to the
ground. 7Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and
spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?”
he demanded.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We
have come to buy food.”
8Although Joseph recognized his brothers,
they didn’t recognize him. 9And he remembered
the dreams he’d had about them many years
before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have
come to see how vulnerable our land has
become.”
10 “No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. 11 We are all
brothers—members of the same family. We are
honest men, sir! We are not spies!”
12 “Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have
come to see how vulnerable our land has
become.”
13 “Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of
us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a
man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest
brother is back there with our father right now,
and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”
14But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies!
15 This is how I will test your story. I swear by the
life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! 16One of
you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the
rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out
