Genesis 41

³One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

¹⁴Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,

³Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord God says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’

¹That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.

⁵The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

⁹The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’

⁶The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.

²⁰Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first.

²¹When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke.

⁴And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,

¹⁵Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

¹⁴with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.

¹⁵Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

¹²But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.

¹⁰Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

³One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

⁵Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

⁷When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.

²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,

¹¹But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.

¹⁴Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

¹⁴But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

²³The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.

¹Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

²⁰So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,

²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

³and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

³⁶Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

⁵both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.

⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught.

³⁶Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

¹²Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.

¹³Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.

²⁰So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,

¹Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

³The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,

¹⁰See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

¹²Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

²¹Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

²⁵Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”

⁷He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump

⁸to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people.

¹⁹until his prediction came true and the word of the Lord proved him right.

²⁰The king sent and released him; the ruler of peoples set him free.

⁷The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

⁸He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s, and upon them He has set the world.

³to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

³²And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

³³So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.

¹⁶But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹²did this because Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”

¹⁴The Lord confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.

¹⁰Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard.

⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

⁸“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

⁴⁷The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”

¹²And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

⁶He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord.

²One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

⁵“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

⁸But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.

⁹And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”

¹⁰So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach turned bitter.

³“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

²⁰They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

¹⁹In the time of evil they will not be ashamed, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.

²⁶Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

⁶May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,

⁷unable to fill the hands of the reaper, or the arms of the binder of sheaves.

¹⁶Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs.

¹⁵Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

⁶After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the east wind.

⁷For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

⁷When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.

⁸In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

¹⁹“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

⁴⁵And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

¹After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”

²⁸But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:

²⁹As you lay on your bed, O king, your thoughts turned to the future, and the Revealer of Mysteries made known to you what will happen.

⁴⁰Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.

⁴⁷The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”

¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

²when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

⁴⁷During the seven years of abundance, the land brought forth bountifully.

¹¹This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

⁵but he fell back asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk.

²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,

⁵³When the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end,

¹Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the Lord has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.”

¹⁹So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded.

²⁵At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

¹⁶“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”

⁴⁶Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷During the seven years of abundance, the land brought forth bountifully.

²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams have the same meaning.

⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.

¹³There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

⁵⁴the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.

¹⁷Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

¹⁶He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.

¹Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

²⁵But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.

⁶Now the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors.

¹⁹God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

¹¹I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

²⁴The Lord of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.

²⁵I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁹Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

³⁹Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

³Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will assign this responsibility to them

²⁷Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”

¹³Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

¹⁹Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him.

²⁰Teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way to live and the work they must do.

⁶Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

⁷Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,

¹⁴But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle.

²⁰In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

⁹Joel son of Zichri was the officer over them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the Second District of the city.

³The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.

¹¹And the guards stood with weapons in hand surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.

¹²Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and declared, “Long live the king!”

⁴⁸During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it.

⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.

⁶For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.

⁷God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁵⁶When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

¹³But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

¹³There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

¹⁴Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s palace.

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹⁹until his prediction came true and the word of the Lord proved him right.

²So Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to use as a vegetable garden, since it is next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place—or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver.”

³⁰When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

⁸But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

¹⁴I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.

¹⁸And the Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.

¹¹There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. Your own father, the king,

¹⁸This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

⁸But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:

⁹“O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation.

²⁸It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

³³Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

²⁵At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

¹⁶“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

²¹He made him master of his household, ruler over all his substance,

²²to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

²⁹Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

⁸Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.

⁴Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned.

⁵From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The Lord’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field.

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

⁶Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

³Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

²I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

³How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.

³For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

⁷The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

²⁹Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

¹⁰So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

²The king removed the signet ring he had recovered from Haman and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over the estate of Haman.

¹⁶But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁵Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

⁸Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

²⁶“Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them.

³³Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

³⁰“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

²²to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

⁷But among all the Israelites, not even a dog will snarl at man or beast.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

²⁰Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

¹⁷The young men of On and Pi-beseth will fall by the sword, and those cities will go into captivity.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

²⁸One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

¹Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

¹⁸Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

¹⁹And the king spoke with them, and among all the young men he found no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

²¹When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.

²This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

¹²Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him,

¹⁶May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, the people of its cities like the grass of the field.

³⁴Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

³⁵Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities.

²¹and Joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other.

²⁷He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

⁵Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.

¹²Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.

⁵For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.

²²As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

⁵And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

²⁰Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

⁵For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.

⁷Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

¹¹You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

³⁰but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

¹⁷His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹³And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him.

¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

²²Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.

²³He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.

⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

¹“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.

²“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.”

¹⁷He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles and placed his neck in irons,

³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

²⁰Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

²⁵But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,

³⁰but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

¹¹Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.

¹⁶He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.

¹¹And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’

³⁰but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

⁶After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the east wind.

⁷And the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream.

²⁷Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.

⁵While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

¹This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

²“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

¹⁹And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

⁴⁰You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.”

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

⁶Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

²⁶From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

¹⁴Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s palace.

¹⁵When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”

¹⁷And at the end of seventy years, the Lord will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

³Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.

³⁵For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

⁵⁶When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁴the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.

¹When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

⁵So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

²⁸Otherwise, those in the land from which You brought us out will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’

²⁰As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.