41

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. ²And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, well-favored and fat-fleshed; and they fed in the reed-grass. ³And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. ⁴And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well-favored and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵And he slept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of grain came up upon one stalk, rank and good. ⁶And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ⁷And the thin ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. ⁸And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. 

⁹Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: ¹⁰Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker: ¹¹and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. ¹²And there was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. ¹³And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. 

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent and called Yosef, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. ¹⁵And Pharaoh said unto Yosef, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it. ¹⁶And Yosef answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace. ¹⁷And Pharaoh spake unto Yosef, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the brink of the river: ¹⁸and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and well-favored: and they fed in the reed-grass: ¹⁹and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: ²⁰and the lean and ill-favored kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: ²¹and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²²And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up upon one stalk, full and good: ²³and, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: ²⁴and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears: and I told it unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. 

²⁵And Yosef said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh. ²⁶The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. ²⁷And the seven lean and ill-favored kine that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they shall be seven years of famine. ²⁸That is the thing which I spake unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh. ²⁹Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: ³⁰and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; ³¹and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous. ³²And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. ³³Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. ³⁵And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine. 

³⁷And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is? ³⁹And Pharaoh said unto Yosef, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou: ⁴⁰thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. ⁴¹And Pharaoh said unto Yosef, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. ⁴²And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Yosef’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; ⁴³and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴And Pharaoh said unto Yosef, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁵And Pharaoh called Yosef’s name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On. And Yosef went out over the land of Egypt. 

⁴⁶And Yosef was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Yosef went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. ⁴⁸And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. ⁴⁹And Yosef laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number. ⁵⁰And unto Yosef were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Fera priest of On, bare unto him. ⁵¹And Yosef called the name of the first-born M’nasheh [causing to forget]: For, said he, God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. ⁵²And the name of the second called he Efrayim [fruit]: For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. ⁵³And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ⁵⁴And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Yosef had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Yosef; what he saith to you, do. ⁵⁶And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Yosef opened all the store-houses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And all countries came into Egypt to Yosef to buy grain, because the famine was sore in all the earth. 

42 Now Ya’akov saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Ya’akov said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? ²And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. ³And Yosef’s ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴But Binyamin, Yosef’s brother, Ya’akov sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure harm befall him. ⁵And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Kena’an. ⁶And Yosef was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Yosef’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth. ⁷And Yosef saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them. Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Kena’an to buy food. ⁸And Yosef knew his brethren, but they knew not him. ⁹And Yosef remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. ¹⁰And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. ¹¹We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. ¹²And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. ¹³And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. ¹⁴And Yosef said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: ¹⁵hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. ¹⁶Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. ¹⁷And he put them all together into ward three days. 

¹⁸And Yosef said unto them the third day, This do, and live: for I fear God: ¹⁹if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses: ²⁰and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. ²¹And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. ²²And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required. ²³And they knew not that Yosef understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spake to them, and took Shim’on from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵Then Yosef commanded to fill their vessels with grain, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the way: and thus was it done unto them. 

²⁶And they laded their asses with their grain, and departed thence. ²⁷And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging-place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, What is this that God hath done unto us? ²⁹And they came unto Ya’akov their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying, ³⁰The man, the lord of the land, spake roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies: ³²we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Kena’an. ³³And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way; ³⁴and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land. 

³⁵And it came to pass as they emptied 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 afraid. ³⁶And Ya’akov their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Yosef is not, and Shim’on is not, and ye will take Binyamin away: all these things are against me. ³⁷And Re’uven spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. ³⁸And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. 

43 And the famine was sore in the land. ²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. ³And Y’ehudah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. ⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: ⁵but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. ⁶And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? ⁷And they said, The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we in any wise know that he would say, Bring your brother down? ⁸And Y’hudah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. ⁹I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: ¹⁰for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time. ¹¹And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; ¹²and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: ¹³take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: ¹⁴and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Binyamin. And if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. ¹⁵And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Binyamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Yosef. 

¹⁶And when Yosef saw Binyamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon. ¹⁷And the man did as Yosef bade; and the man brought the men to Yosef’s house. ¹⁸And the men were afraid, because they were brought to Yosef’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. ¹⁹And they came near to the steward of Yosef’s house, and they spake unto him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, Oh, my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: ²¹and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging-place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. ²²And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we know not who put our money in our sacks. ²³And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Shim’on out unto them. ²⁴And the man brought the men into Yosef’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. And he gave their asses provender. ²⁵And they made ready the present against Yosef’s coming at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. 

²⁶And when Yosef came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down themselves to him to the earth. ²⁷And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? ²⁸And they said, Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive. And they bowed the head, and made obeisance. ²⁹And he lifted up his eyes, and saw Binyamin his brother, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. ³⁰And Yosef made haste; for his heart yearned over his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. ³¹And he washed his face, and came out; and he refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. ³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, that did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. ³³And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one with another. ³⁴And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Binyamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him. 

44 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. ²And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his grain money. And he did according to the word that Yosef had spoken. ³As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. ⁴And when they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Yosef said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? ⁵Is not this that in which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. ⁶And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these words. ⁷And they said unto him, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? Far be it from thy servants that they should do such a thing. ⁸Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Kena’an: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? ⁹With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. ¹⁰And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless. ¹¹Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. ¹²And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left off at the youngest: and the cup was found in Binyamin’s sack. ¹³Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 

¹⁴

And Y’hudah and his brethren came to Yosef’s house; and he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. ¹⁵And Yosef said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can indeed divine? ¹⁶And Y’hudah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found. ¹⁷And he said, Far be it from me that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.