When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, Rachel; it's another boy."

and this is the story of Jacob's family. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, took care of the sheep and goats with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's concubines. He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.

When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner.

He said, "Listen to the dream I had.

"Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?" his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them.

He also told the dream to his father, and his father scolded him: "What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?"

One day when Joseph's brothers had gone to Shechem to take care of their father's flock,

His father told him, "Go and see if your brothers are safe and if the flock is all right; then come back and tell me." So his father sent him on his way from Hebron Valley. Joseph arrived at Shechem

"I am looking for my brothers, who are taking care of their flock," he answered. "Can you tell me where they are?"

They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him.

Come on now, let's kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams."

"Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don't hurt him." He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father.

Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry.

Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder?

and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there! What am I going to do?"

They took the robe to their father and said, "We found this. Does it belong to your son?"

Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time.

Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.

The LORD was with Joseph and made him successful. He lived in the house of his Egyptian master,

Potiphar was pleased with him and made him his personal servant; so he put him in charge of his house and everything he owned.

Potiphar turned over everything he had to the care of Joseph and did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Joseph was well-built and good-looking,

He refused and said to her, "Look, my master does not have to concern himself with anything in the house, because I am here. He has put me in charge of everything he has.

Although she asked Joseph day after day, he would not go to bed with her.

She caught him by his robe and said, "Come to bed with me." But he escaped and ran outside, leaving his robe in her hand.

she called to her house servants and said, "Look at this! This Hebrew that my husband brought to the house is insulting us. He came into my room and tried to rape me, but I screamed as loud as I could.

She kept his robe with her until Joseph's master came home.

But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me."

and had Joseph arrested and put in the prison where the king's prisoners were kept, and there he stayed.

He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison.

He was angry with these two officials

They spent a long time in prison, and the captain assigned Joseph as their servant.

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

They answered, "Each of us had a dream, and there is no one here to explain what the dreams mean." "It is God who gives the ability to interpret dreams," Joseph said. "Tell me your dreams."

with three branches on it. As soon as the leaves came out, the blossoms appeared, and the grapes ripened.

Joseph said, "This is what it means: the three branches are three days.

But please remember me when everything is going well for you, and please be kind enough to mention me to the king and help me get out of this prison.

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the wine steward's dream was favorable, he said to Joseph, "I had a dream too; I was carrying three breadbaskets on my head.

Joseph answered, "This is what it means: the three baskets are three days.

On his birthday three days later the king gave a banquet for all his officials; he released his wine steward and his chief baker and brought them before his officials.

but he executed the chief baker. It all happened just as Joseph had said.

He then presented his brothers to the king.

"We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen."

the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock."

and the king asked him, "How old are you?"

Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left.

Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.

As they bought grain, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace.

Joseph answered, "Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone."

The following year they came to him and said, "We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.

Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king's property.

The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on.

At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families."

So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.

Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old.

I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried." Joseph answered, "I will do as you say."

His enemies attack him fiercely And pursue him with their bows and arrows.

It is your father's God who helps you, The Almighty God who blesses you With blessings of rain from above And of deep waters from beneath the ground, Blessings of many cattle and children,

"Benjamin is like a vicious wolf. Morning and evening he kills and devours."

Then Joseph gave orders to embalm his father's body.

When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the king's officials, "Please take this message to the king:

The king answered, "Go and bury your father, as you promised you would."

His family, his brothers, and the rest of his father's family all went with him. Only their small children and their sheep, goats, and cattle stayed in the region of Goshen.

When they came to the threshing place at Atad east of the Jordan, they mourned loudly for a long time, and Joseph performed mourning ceremonies for seven days.

So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them;

After Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him for the funeral.

Shephupham, and Hupham.

These clans numbered 45,600 men.

About the tribe of Joseph he said: "May the LORD bless their land with rain And with water from under the earth.

May their ancient hills be covered with choice fruit.

Joseph has the strength of a bull, The horns of a wild ox. His horns are Manasseh's thousands And Ephraim's ten thousands. With them he gores the nations And pushes them to the ends of the earth."