Genesis to Revelation Bible Reading Plan

Genesis 40-42

Chapter 40
Joseph Interprets a Dream
1 Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
2 Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.
4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
6 When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected.
7 He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”
8 Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me;
10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.
11 “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;
13 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.
14 “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.
15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head;
17 and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;
19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”
20 Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;
22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Chapter 41
Pharaoh’s Dream
1 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.
2 And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass.
3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
4 The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
5 He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.
6 Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.
7 The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8 Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of my own offenses.
10 “Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker.
11 “We had a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12 “Now a Hebrew youth was with us there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related them to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream.
13 “And just as he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my office, but he hanged him.”
Joseph Interprets
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
17 So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;
18 and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.
19 “Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt;
20 and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.
21 “Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.
22 “I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk;
23 and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;
24 and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
26 “The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.
27 “The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.
28 “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;
30 and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.
31 “So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.
32 “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.
33 “Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 “Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.
35 “Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them guard it.
36 “Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”
37 Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt
38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?”
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are.
40 “You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.”
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.
43 He had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.
46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
47 During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly.
48 So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields.
49 Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.
The Sons of Joseph
50 Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”
52 He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
53 When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end,
54 and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.”
56 When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Chapter 42
Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt
1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.”
3 Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.”
5 So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
7 When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.
9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.”
10 Then they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 “We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”
12 Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land!”
13 But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”
14 Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies;
15 by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!
16 “Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”
17 So he put them all together in prison for three days.
18 Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God:
19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households,
20 and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so.
21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen?Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”
23 They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.
24 He turned away from them and wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there.
27 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
28 Then he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
Simeon Is Held Hostage
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,
30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 “But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
32 ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
33 “The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go.
34 ‘But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”
35 Now it came about as they were emptying 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 dismayed.
36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.”
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you.”
38 But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”