Genesis:39-41
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Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt ,
and Pot '
i-phar ,
an officer of Pharaoh ,
the captain of the guard ,
an Egyptian ,
bought him from the Ish '
maelites who had brought him down there .
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The LORD was with Joseph ,
and he became a successful man ;
and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian ,
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and his master saw that the LORD was with him ,
and that the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hands .
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So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him ,
and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had .
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From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the LORD blessed the Egyptian '
s house for Joseph '
s sake ;
the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had ,
in house and field .
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So he left all that he had in Joseph '
s charge ;
and having him he had no concern for anything but the food which he ate .
Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking .
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And after a time his master '
s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph ,
and said , "
Lie with me ."
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But he refused and said to his master '
s wife , "
Lo ,
having me my master has no concern about anything in the house ,
and he has put everything that he has in my hand ;
*
he is not greater in this house than I am ;
nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself ,
because you are his wife ;
how then can I do this great wickedness ,
and sin against God ?"
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And although she spoke to Joseph day after day ,
he would not listen to her ,
to lie with her or to be with her .
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But one day ,
when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house ,
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she caught him by his garment ,
saying , "
Lie with me ."
But he left his garment in her hand ,
and fled and got out of the house .
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And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand ,
and had fled out of the house ,
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she called to the men of her household and said to them , "
See ,
he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us ;
he came in to me to lie with me ,
and I cried out with a loud voice ;
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and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried ,
he left his garment with me ,
and fled and got out of the house ."
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Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home ,
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and she told him the same story ,
saying , "
The Hebrew servant ,
whom you have brought among us ,
came in to me to insult me ;
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but as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried ,
he left his garment with me ,
and fled out of the house ."
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When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him , "
This is the way your servant treated me ,"
his anger was kindled .
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And Joseph '
s master took him and put him into the prison ,
the place where the king '
s prisoners were confined ,
and he was there in prison .
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But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love ,
and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison .
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And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph '
s care all the prisoners who were in the prison ;
and whatever was done there ,
he was the doer of it ;
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the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph '
s care ,
because the LORD was with him ;
and whatever he did ,
the LORD made it prosper .
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Some time after this ,
the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt .
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And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers ,
the chief butler and the chief baker ,
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and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard ,
in the prison where Joseph was confined .
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The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them ,
and he waited on them ;
and they continued for some time in custody .
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And one night they both dreamed--the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt ,
who were confined in the prison--each his own dream ,
and each dream with its own meaning .
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When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them ,
they were troubled .
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So he asked Pharaoh '
s officers who were with him in custody in his master '
s house , "
Why are your faces downcast today ?"
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They said to him , "
We have had dreams ,
and there is no one to interpret them ."
And Joseph said to them , "
Do not interpretations belong to God ?
Tell them to me ,
I pray you ."
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So the chief butler told his dream to Joseph ,
and said to him , "
In my dream there was a vine before me ,
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and on the vine there were three branches ;
as soon as it budded ,
its blossoms shot forth ,
and the clusters ripened into grapes .
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Pharaoh '
s cup was in my hand ;
and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh '
s cup ,
and placed the cup in Pharaoh '
s hand ."
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Then Joseph said to him , "
This is its interpretation :
the three branches are three days ;
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within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office ;
and you shall place Pharaoh '
s cup in his hand as formerly ,
when you were his butler .
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But remember me ,
when it is well with you ,
and do me the kindness ,
I pray you ,
to make mention of me to Pharaoh ,
and so get me out of this house .
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For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews ;
and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon ."
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When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable ,
he said to Joseph , "
I also had a dream :
there were three cake baskets on my head ,
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and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh ,
but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head ."
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And Joseph answered , "
This is its interpretation :
the three baskets are three days ;
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within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head--from you !--
and hang you on a tree ;
and the birds will eat the flesh from you ."
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On the third day ,
which was Pharaoh '
s birthday ,
he made a feast for all his servants ,
and lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants .
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He restored the chief butler to his butlership ,
and he placed the cup in Pharaoh '
s hand ;
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but he hanged the chief baker ,
as Joseph had interpreted to them .
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Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph ,
but forgot him .
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After two whole years ,
Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile ,
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and behold ,
there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat ,
and they fed in the reed grass .
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And behold ,
seven other cows ,
gaunt and thin ,
came up out of the Nile after them ,
and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile .
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And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows .
And Pharaoh awoke .
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And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time ;
and behold ,
seven ears of grain ,
plump and good ,
were growing on one stalk .
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And behold ,
after them sprouted seven ears ,
thin and blighted by the east wind .
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And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears .
And Pharaoh awoke ,
and behold ,
it was a dream .
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So in the morning his spirit was troubled ;
and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men ;
and Pharaoh told them his dream ,
but there was none who could interpret it to Pharaoh .
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Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh , "
I remember my faults today .
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When Pharaoh was angry with his servants ,
and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard ,
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we dreamed on the same night ,
he and I ,
each having a dream with its own meaning .
*
A young Hebrew was there with us ,
a servant of the captain of the guard ;
and when we told him ,
he interpreted our dreams to us ,
giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream .
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And as he interpreted to us ,
so it came to pass ;
I was restored to my office ,
and the baker was hanged ."
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Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph ,
and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon ;
and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes ,
he came in before Pharaoh .
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And Pharaoh said to Joseph , "
I have had a dream ,
and there is no one who can interpret it ;
and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it ."
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Joseph answered Pharaoh , "
It is not in me ;
God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer ."
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Then Pharaoh said to Joseph , "
Behold ,
in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile ;
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and seven cows ,
fat and sleek ,
came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass ;
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and seven other cows came up after them ,
poor and very gaunt and thin ,
such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt .
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And the thin and gaunt cows ate up the first seven fat cows ,
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but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them ,
for they were still as gaunt as at the beginning .
Then I awoke .
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I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk ,
full and good ;
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and seven ears ,
withered ,
thin ,
and blighted by the east wind ,
sprouted after them ,
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and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears .
And I told it to the magicians ,
but there was no one who could explain it to me ."
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Then Joseph said to Pharaoh , "
The dream of Pharaoh is one ;
God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do .
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The seven good cows are seven years ,
and the seven good ears are seven years ;
the dream is one .
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The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years ,
and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine .
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It is as I told Pharaoh ,
God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do .
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There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt ,
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but after them there will arise seven years of famine ,
and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt ;
the famine will consume the land ,
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and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow ,
for it will be very grievous .
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And the doubling of Pharaoh '
s dream means that the thing is fixed by God ,
and God will shortly bring it to pass .
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Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man discreet and wise ,
and set him over the land of Egypt .
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Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land ,
and take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years .
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And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming ,
and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities ,
and let them keep it .
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That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt ,
so that the land may not perish through the famine ."
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This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants .
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And Pharaoh said to his servants , "
Can we find such a man as this ,
in whom is the Spirit of God ?"
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So Pharaoh said to Joseph , "
Since God has shown you all this ,
there is none so discreet and wise as you are ;
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you shall be over my house ,
and all my people shall order themselves as you command ;
only as regards the throne will I be greater than you ."
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And Pharaoh said to Joseph , "
Behold ,
I have set you over all the land of Egypt ."
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Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph '
s hand ,
and arrayed him in garments of fine linen ,
and put a gold chain about his neck ;
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and he made him to ride in his second chariot ;
and they cried before him , "
Bow the knee !"
Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt .
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Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph , "
I am Pharaoh ,
and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt ."
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And Pharaoh called Joseph '
s name Zaph '
enath-pane '
ah ;
and he gave him in marriage As '
enath ,
the daughter of Poti '
phera priest of On .
So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt .
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Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt .
And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh ,
and went through all the land of Egypt .
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During the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly ,
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and he gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt ,
and stored up food in the cities ;
he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it .
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And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance ,
like the sand of the sea ,
until he ceased to measure it ,
for it could not be measured .
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Before the year of famine came ,
Joseph had two sons ,
whom As '
enath ,
the daughter of Poti '
phera priest of On ,
bore to him .
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Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas '
seh , "
For ,"
he said , "
God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father '
s house ."
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The name of the second he called E '
phraim , "
For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction ."
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The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end ;
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and the seven years of famine began to come ,
as Joseph had said .
There was famine in all lands ;
but in all the land of Egypt there was bread .
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When all the land of Egypt was famished ,
the people cried to Pharaoh for bread ;
and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians , "
Go to Joseph ;
what he says to you ,
do ."
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So when the famine had spread over all the land ,
Joseph opened all the storehouses ,
and sold to the Egyptians ,
for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt .
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Moreover ,
all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain ,
because the famine was severe over all the earth .
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When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt ,
he said to his sons , "
Why do you look at one another ?"