January 13
Genesis 37:23 —
40:23
23 So
it came about that as soon as Joseph came to his brothers, they went stripping
Joseph of his long garment, even the long striped garment that was upon him;
24 after
which they took him and pitched him into the waterpit. At the time the pit was
empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then
they sat down to eat bread. When they raised their eyes and took a look, why,
here was a caravan of Ishmaelites
that was coming from Gilead,
and their camels were carrying labdanum and balsam and resinous bark, on their
way to take it down to Egypt.
26 At
this Judah said to his brothers: “What profit would there be in case we killed
our brother and did cover over his blood?
27 Come
and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,
and do not let our hand be upon him. After all, he is our brother, our flesh.”
So they listened to their brother.
28 Now
men, Midianite
merchants, went passing by. Hence they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the
waterpit and then sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites
for twenty silver pieces. Eventually these brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 Later
Reuben returned to the waterpit and here Joseph was not in the waterpit.
Consequently he ripped his garments apart.
30 When
he returned to his other brothers he exclaimed: “The child is gone! And I—where
am I really to go?”
31 However,
they took Joseph’s long garment and slaughtered a male goat and repeatedly
dipped the long garment in the blood.
32 After
that they sent the long striped garment and had it brought to their father and
said: “This is what we found. Examine, please, whether it is your son’s long
garment or not.”
33 And
he went examining it and exclaimed: “It is my son’s long garment! A vicious wild
beast must have devoured him! Joseph is surely torn to pieces!”
34 With
that Jacob ripped his mantles apart and put sackcloth upon his hips and carried
on mourning over his son for many days.
35 And
all his sons and all his daughters kept rising up to comfort him, but he kept
refusing to take comfort and saying: “For I shall go down mourning to my son
into Sheol!” And his father continued weeping for him.
36 However,
the Midianites
sold him into Egypt to Potiphar
a court official of Pharaoh, the chief of the bodyguard.
38
Now
in the meantime it came about that when Judah went down from his brothers he
pitched [his tent] near a man, an Adullamite,
and his name was Hirah.
2 And
there Judah got to see a daughter of a certain Canaanite,
and his name was Shua. So he took her and had relations with her.
3 And
she became pregnant. Later she bore a son and he called his name Er.
4 Again
she became pregnant. In time she bore a son and called his name Onan.
5 Yet
another time she went on to bear a son and then called his name Shelah. Now he
happened to be in Achzib at the time she bore him.
6 In
time Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 But
Er, Judah’s firstborn, proved to be bad in the eyes of Jehovah; hence Jehovah
put him to death.
8 In
view of that Judah said to Onan: “Have relations with your brother’s wife and
perform brother-in-law marriage with her and raise up offspring for your
brother.”
9 But
Onan knew that the offspring would not become his; and it occurred that when he
did have relations with his brother’s wife he wasted his semen on the earth so
as not to give offspring to his brother.
10 Now
what he did was bad in the eyes of Jehovah; hence he put him also to death.
11 So
Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law: “Dwell as a widow in the house of your
father until Shelah my son grows up.” For he said to himself: “He too may die
like his brothers.” Accordingly Tamar went and continued to dwell at her own
father’s house.
12 Thus
the days became many and the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah
kept the period of mourning. After that he went up to the shearers of his sheep,
he and Hirah his companion the Adullamite,
to Timnah.
13 Then
it was told to Tamar: “Here your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear
his sheep.”
14 With
that she removed the garments of her widowhood from her and covered herself with
a shawl and veiled herself and sat down at the entrance of Enaim,
which is along the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah had grown up and
yet she had not been given as a wife to him.
15 When
Judah caught sight of her, he at once took her for a harlot, because she had
covered her face.
16 So
he turned aside to her by the road and said: “Allow me, please, to have
relations with you.” For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
However, she said: “What will you give me that you may have relations with me?”
17 To
this he said: “I myself shall send a kid of the goats from the herd.” But she
said: “Will you give a security until you send it?”
18 And
he continued: “What is the security that I shall give you?” to which she said:
“Your seal ring and your cord and your rod that is in your hand.” Then he gave
them to her and had relations with her, so that she became pregnant by him.
19 After
that she got up and went and removed her shawl off her and clothed herself with
the garments of her widowhood.
20 And
Judah proceeded to send the kid of the goats by the hand of his companion the Adullamite
in order to get back the security from the hand of the woman, but he never found
her.
21 And
he went inquiring of the men of her place, saying: “Where is that temple
prostitute in Enaim
along the road?” But they kept saying: “No temple prostitute has ever been in
this place.”
22 Finally
he returned to Judah and said: “I never found her and, besides, the men of the
place said, ‘No temple prostitute has ever been in this place.’”
23 So
Judah said: “Let her take them for herself, in order that we may not fall into
contempt. At any rate, I have sent this kid, but you—you never found her.”
24 However,
about three months later it happened that it was told to Judah: “Tamar your
daughter-in-law has played the harlot, and here she is also pregnant by her
harlotry.” At that Judah said: “BRING her out and let her be burned.”
25 As
she was being brought out she herself sent to her father-in-law, saying: “By the
man to whom these belong I am pregnant.” And she added: “Examine, please, to
whom these belong, the seal ring and the cord and the rod.”
26 Then
Judah examined them and said: “She is more righteous than I am, for the reason
that I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he had no further intercourse
with her after that.
27 Now
it developed that in the time of her giving birth, why, here there were twins in
her belly.
28 Further,
it turned out that when she was giving birth one extended his hand, and the
midwife at once took and tied a scarlet piece about his hand, saying: “This one
came out first.”
29 Finally
it developed that as soon as he drew back his hand, why, here his brother came
out, so that she exclaimed: “What do you mean by this, that you have produced a
perineal rupture for yourself?” Hence his name was called Perez.
30 And
afterward his brother upon whose hand the scarlet piece was came out and his
name came to be called Zerah.
39
As for Joseph, he was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar,
a court official of Pharaoh, the chief of the bodyguard, an Egyptian, got to
buy him from the hand of the Ishmaelites
who had brought him down there.
2 But
Jehovah proved to be with Joseph, so that he turned out a successful man and
came to be over the house of his master, the Egyptian.
3 And
his master got to see that Jehovah was with him and that everything he was doing
Jehovah was making turn out successful in his hand.
4 And
Joseph kept finding favor in his eyes and waited upon him continually, so that
he appointed him over his house, and all that was his he gave into his hand.
5 And
it followed that from the time he appointed him over his house and in charge of
all that was his Jehovah kept blessing the house of the Egyptian due to Joseph,
and Jehovah’s blessing came to be upon all that he had in the house and in the
field.
6 Finally
he left everything that was his in Joseph’s hand; and he did not know what was
with him at all except the bread he was eating. Moreover, Joseph grew to be
beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.
7 Now
after these things it came about that the wife of his master began to raise her
eyes toward Joseph and say: “Lie down with me.”
8 But
he would refuse and would say to his master’s wife: “Here my master does not
know what is with me in the house, and everything he has he has given into my
hand.
9 There
is no one greater in this house than I am, and he has not withheld from me
anything at all except you, because you are his wife. So how could I commit this
great badness and actually sin against God?”
10 So
it turned out that as she spoke to Joseph day after day he never listened to her
to lie alongside her, to continue with her.
11 But
it happened that on this day as other days he went into the house to do his
business, and there was none of the men of the house there in the house.
12 Then
she grabbed hold of him by his garment, saying: “Lie down with me!” But he left
his garment in her hand and took to flight and went on outside.
13 So
it occurred that as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand
that he might flee outside,
14 she
began to cry out to the men of her house and to say to them: “Look! He brought
to us a man, a Hebrew, to make us a laughingstock. He came to me to lie down
with me, but I began to cry out at the top of my voice.
15 And
it followed that as soon as he heard that I raised my voice and began crying
out, he then left his garment beside me and took to flight and went on outside.”
16 After
that she kept his garment laid up beside her until his master came to his house.
17 Then
she spoke to him according to these words, saying: “The Hebrew servant whom you
brought to us came to me to make me a laughingstock.
18 But
it followed that as soon as I raised my voice and began to cry out, he then left
his garment beside me and went fleeing outside.”
19 The
result was that as soon as his master heard the words of his wife which she
spoke to him, saying: “Like this and this your servant did to me,” his anger
blazed.
20 So
Joseph’s master took him and gave him over to the prison house, the place where
the prisoners of the king were kept under arrest, and he continued there in the
prison house.
21 However,
Jehovah continued with Joseph and kept extending loving-kindness to him and
granting him to find favor in the eyes of the chief officer of the prison house.
22 So
the chief officer of the prison house gave over into Joseph’s hand all the
prisoners who were in the prison house; and everything that they were doing
there he proved to be the one having it done.
23 The
chief officer of the prison house was looking after absolutely nothing that was
in his hand, because Jehovah was with [Joseph] and what he was doing Jehovah was
making it turn out successful.
40
Now after these things it came about that the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and
the baker sinned against their lord the king of Egypt.
2 And
Pharaoh grew indignant at his two officers, at the chief of the cupbearers and
at the chief of the bakers.
3 So
he committed them to the jail of the house of the chief of the bodyguard, to the
prison house, the place where Joseph was a prisoner.
4 Then
the chief of the bodyguard assigned Joseph to be with them that he might wait
upon them; and they continued in jail for some days.
5 And
both of them proceeded to dream a dream, each one his own dream in the one
night, each one his dream with its own interpretation, the cupbearer and the
baker who belonged to the king of Egypt who were prisoners in the prison house.
6 When
Joseph came in to them in the morning and saw them, why, here they were looking
dejected.
7 And
he began to inquire of the officers of Pharaoh who were with him in the jail of
his master’s house, saying: “For what reason are YOUR faces gloomy today?”
8 At
this they said to him: “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter
with us.” So Joseph said to them: “Do not interpretations belong to God? Relate
it to me, please.”
9 And
the chief of the cupbearers went on to relate his dream to Joseph and to say to
him: “In my dream, why, here there was a vine before me.
10 And
on the vine there were three twigs, and it was apparently sprouting shoots. Its
blossoms pushed forth. Its clusters ripened their grapes.
11 And
Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I proceeded to take the grapes and squeeze
them out into Pharaoh’s cup. After that I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 Then
Joseph said to him: “This is its interpretation: The three twigs are three days.
13 In
three days from now Pharaoh will lift up your head and he will certainly return
you to your office; and you will certainly give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand,
according to the former custom when you acted as his cupbearer.
14 Nevertheless,
you must keep me in your remembrance as soon as it goes well with you, and you
must, please, perform loving-kindness with me and mention me to Pharaoh, and
you must get me out of this house.
15 For
I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done
nothing at all for which they should put me in the prison hole.”
16 When
the chief of the bakers saw that he had interpreted something good, he, in turn,
said to Joseph: “I too was in my dream, and here there were three baskets of
white bread upon my head,
17 and
in the topmost basket there were all sorts of eatables for Pharaoh, the product
of a baker, and there were fowls eating them out of the basket on top of my
head.”
18 Then
Joseph answered and said: “This is its interpretation: The three baskets are
three days.
19 In
three days from now Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you and will
certainly hang you upon a stake; and the fowls will certainly eat your flesh
from off you.”
20 Now
on the third day it turned out to be Pharaoh’s birthday, and he proceeded to
make a feast for all his servants and to lift up the head of the chief of the
cupbearers and the head of the chief of the bakers in the midst of his servants.
21 Accordingly
he returned the chief of the cupbearers to his post of cupbearer, and he
continued to give the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.
22 But
the chief of the bakers he hung up, just as Joseph had given them the
interpretation.
23 However,
the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph and went on forgetting him.