Jo’s Place

​ The Brothers Return to Egypt The famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan.  When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”  But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us,  ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’  If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food.  But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either.  Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ”  “Why were you so cruel to me?” Jacob moaned.  “Why did you tell him you had another brother?”  “The man kept asking us questions about our family,”  they replied.  “He asked,  ‘Is your father still alive?  Do you have another brother?’  So we answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”  Judah said to his father,  “Send the boy with me, and we will be on our way.  Otherwise we will all die of starvation—and not

​ Joseph tests his brothers Speaking among themselves, Joseph’s brothers said,  “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago.  We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen.  That’s why we’re in this trouble.”  “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked.  “But you wouldn’t listen.  And now we have to answer for his blood!”  Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter.  Now he turned away from them and began to weep.  When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again.  Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.  Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain  …but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack.  He also gave them supplies for their journey home.  So the brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain and headed for home.  But whe

​ Joseph’s Brothers go to Egypt When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another?  I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”  So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain.  But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him.  So Jacob’s sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.  Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came.  When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground.  Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.  “From the land of Canaan,” they replied.  “We have come to buy food.”  Although Joseph recognized his bro

Joseph is made governor of Egypt Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials.  So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?”  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are.  You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you.  Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”  Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”  Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger.  He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck.  Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command.  And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!”  So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no on

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison.  After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,  “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means.  But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”  “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied.  “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”  So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream.  “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.  Then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after.  I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt.  These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows.  But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before!  Then I woke up.  “In my dream I al

​ Pharaoh’s Dreams Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River.  In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.  Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin.  These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank.  Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows!  At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.  But he fell asleep again and had a second dream.  This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk.  Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind.  And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads!  Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.  The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams.  So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.  When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not

​ Joseph is Put in Prison Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her.  So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.  But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love.  And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.  Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison.  The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything.  The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.  Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master.  Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard.  They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.  While they were in prison,

Joseph in Potiphar’s House When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer.  Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.  The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.  Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.  This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant.  He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned.  From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake.  All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished.  So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned.  With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!  But, Joseph was a very handsome and

Judah and Tamar (Part 2) “How much will you pay to have sex with me?” Tamar asked.  “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah promised.  “But what will you give me to guarantee that you will send the goat?” she asked.  “What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied.  She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.”  So Judah gave them to her.  Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.  Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual.  Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up the things he had given her as his guarantee.  But Hirah couldn’t find her.  So he asked the men who lived there, “Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to Enaim?”  “We’ve never had a shrine prostitute here,” they replied.  So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her an