Joseph was Jacob and Rachel’s son. Sold into Egypt by his brothers, he later managed the country’s grain and reunited with his family during a famine. At his birth, Rachel said God had taken away her disgrace. At seventeen, Joseph tended flocks with his brothers and brought a bad report about them to Jacob. His father loved him more than the other sons and gave him a robe of many colors. His brothers hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Joseph’s two dreams made his brothers hate him more. In the first, their bundles of grain bowed to his bundle. In the second, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed to him. His brothers asked whether he would rule over them. Jacob also rebuked him over the second dream but kept the matter in mind.
Jacob sent Joseph to see whether his brothers and the flocks were well at Shechem. Learning that they had moved to Dothan, Joseph went there. His brothers saw him from a distance and plotted to kill him. Reuben urged them not to shed blood but to throw him into a pit, intending to rescue him later and return him to Jacob. They stripped off Joseph’s robe and threw him into an empty pit.
While the brothers ate, an Ishmaelite caravan traveling to Egypt came into view. Judah proposed selling Joseph instead of killing him. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver and taken to Egypt. Reuben returned to find the pit empty and tore his clothes. The brothers dipped Joseph’s robe in goat’s blood and sent it to Jacob. Their father believed a wild animal had killed Joseph, mourned for many days, and refused comfort. In Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and captain of the guard.
The LORD was with Joseph and made his work prosper, so Potiphar entrusted his household and possessions to him. Potiphar’s wife repeatedly asked Joseph to sleep with her. He refused to betray his master’s trust and sin against God. One day she caught his garment, and he fled outside, leaving it behind. She displayed the garment and falsely claimed that he had come in to sleep with her. Potiphar put Joseph in the prison where the king’s prisoners were held. The LORD was with him there too, and the keeper placed the prisoners and their work in his care.
Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker were also imprisoned there. They each dreamed on the same night and were troubled because they could not interpret their dreams. Joseph said interpretations belonged to God and listened to them. He explained that the cupbearer would be restored to office in three days, while the baker would be executed in three days. Both things happened as he had said. Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him and speak to Pharaoh so that he could leave prison, but the cupbearer forgot him.
Two years later, Pharaoh dreamed of seven thin cows swallowing seven fat cows and seven thin ears of grain swallowing seven good ears. When the wise men could not interpret the dreams, the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Joseph was brought from prison, shaved, changed his clothes, and appeared before the king. He said the answer did not come from his own ability: God would give Pharaoh an answer of peace. Both dreams meant that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of severe famine. Joseph advised appointing a wise leader and officials to store grain during the plentiful years.
Pharaoh asked his servants whether they could find anyone like Joseph, a man with the Spirit of God, and put him in charge of Egypt. The king gave him a signet ring, fine linen, a gold chain, and his second chariot. Pharaoh said that only the throne would make him greater than Joseph. Joseph was thirty. He married Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, and had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, before the famine. He stored great quantities of grain during the plentiful years. When the famine began, people came to him to buy food.
The famine also reached Canaan, so Jacob sent his sons to Egypt, keeping Benjamin at home. When they bowed before Joseph, he recognized them, but they did not recognize him. He accused them of spying and held them for three days. Then he said one brother must remain while the others took grain home and brought their youngest brother back to prove their account. The brothers spoke of their guilt for refusing to listen when their brother had begged them in distress. Joseph was using an interpreter, so they did not know he understood. He turned away and wept, then returned and had Simeon bound.
Joseph ordered grain packed in their sacks and each man’s payment returned. On the journey, one brother found his money, and they were afraid. At home they discovered the rest of the money as they emptied their sacks, frightening Jacob too. Jacob grieved over Joseph and Simeon and refused to send Benjamin. But when the grain ran out, Judah said they could not buy more unless Benjamin came. He took responsibility for bringing him home. Jacob sent Benjamin with gifts and double the money.
On the second visit, Joseph saw Benjamin and told his steward to take the brothers to his house and prepare a meal. Fearing they would be seized over the returned money, the brothers explained what had happened. The steward said their payment had been received and told them not to be afraid. He brought Simeon to them. Joseph asked about their father and saw Benjamin. He went to his room to weep, washed his face, and returned to the meal. The brothers were seated in order of age, and Benjamin received a portion five times larger than the others.
Before they left the next morning, Joseph told his steward to put their money in their sacks and his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Once they had left the city, he sent the steward after them to accuse them over the cup. It was found in Benjamin’s sack. The brothers tore their clothes and all returned. Joseph said only the man found with the cup would remain as a slave; the others could return home. Judah pleaded that losing Benjamin would kill their father and asked to stay as a slave in his place.
Joseph could no longer control himself and sent everyone else away. He wept loudly and told his brothers who he was. They were too terrified to answer. Joseph told them not to grieve over selling him, saying that God had sent him ahead to preserve life. Two years of famine had passed and five remained, so they were to bring their father and households to live in Goshen. He embraced Benjamin and wept, then kissed and wept over his other brothers. After that, they spoke with him.
Pharaoh also welcomed the family’s move to Egypt, and Joseph sent wagons and provisions. Jacob initially did not believe Joseph was alive, but seeing the wagons revived him. At Beersheba he offered sacrifices, and God told him not to fear going down to Egypt. Joseph met him in Goshen, embraced him, and wept for a long time. The family settled there, and Joseph supplied them with food.
As the famine grew severe, Egypt’s people spent their money and then exchanged livestock for food. The following year they said only their bodies and land remained and asked Joseph to buy them and their land. Joseph bought the land for Pharaoh, except the priests’ land, because Pharaoh provided for them. He gave the people seed and required a fifth of each harvest for Pharaoh. The rest was for seed and food for their households.
When Jacob became ill, Joseph visited with Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob claimed the two grandsons as his own sons, like Reuben and Simeon. Joseph positioned the firstborn, Manasseh, near Jacob’s right hand and Ephraim near his left. Jacob crossed his hands and placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. Joseph tried to move it, but Jacob refused, saying he knew. Manasseh would become a great people, but Ephraim would become greater.
Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years and died at one hundred forty-seven. Joseph had his father embalmed and obtained Pharaoh’s permission to travel to Canaan for the burial. His brothers and Egyptian officials accompanied him. Jacob’s sons followed his instructions and buried him in the cave of Machpelah before returning to Egypt.
After their father’s death, the brothers feared revenge and sent Joseph a message asking forgiveness. Joseph wept. They also came and bowed before him. He told them not to fear and asked whether he was in God’s place. They had intended evil, he explained, but God had intended it for good to save many lives. He promised to provide for them and their children.
Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation, and the children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, were born on his knees. Before dying, he said God would bring the Israelites to the promised land and made them swear to carry his bones up from Egypt. Joseph died at one hundred ten. He was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.