MiketzAt the end

1Reading 1 Genesis 41:1–14Chapter page with footnotes →

The Dreams of Pharaoh

^41:1And it came to pass at the end of two years of days, that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. ²And behold, out of the Nile there came up seven cows, beautiful in appearance and fat of flesh, and they grazed in the reed-grass. ³And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, evil in appearance and thin of flesh, and they stood beside the cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴And the cows evil in appearance and thin of flesh ate up the seven cows beautiful in appearance and fat. And Pharaoh awoke. ⁵And he slept and dreamed a second time, and behold, seven ears of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. ⁶And behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them. ⁷And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

⁸And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none to interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹And the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Pharaoh, saying, "My sins I make mention of this day. ¹⁰Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me in custody in the house of the chief of the slaughterers, me and the chief of the bakers. ¹¹And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; each man according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed. ¹²And there was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the slaughterers; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he interpreted. ¹³And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was: me he restored to my office, and him he hanged."

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

¹⁴And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they hurried him out of the pit; and he shaved and changed his garments, and came in to Pharaoh.

2Reading 2 Genesis 41:15–38Chapter page with footnotes →

^41:15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is none to interpret it; and I have heard concerning you, saying, you hear a dream to interpret it."

¹⁶And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "Apart from me; God will answer the peace of Pharaoh."

¹⁷And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile. ¹⁸And behold, out of the Nile there came up seven cows, fat of flesh and beautiful in form, and they grazed in the reed-grass. ¹⁹And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very evil in form and lean of flesh; I have not seen the like of them in all the land of Egypt for badness. ²⁰And the lean and evil cows ate up the first seven fat cows. ²¹And they came into their belly, but it could not be known that they had come into their belly, and their appearance was evil as at the beginning. And I awoke.

²²And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good. ²³And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them. ²⁴And the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was none to declare it to me."

²⁵And Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one; what God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. ²⁷And the seven lean and evil cows coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears scorched by the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

²⁸That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh: what God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh. ²⁹Behold, seven years are coming of great plenty in all the land of Egypt. ³⁰And seven years of famine shall arise after them, and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land. ³¹And the plenty shall not be known in the land because of that famine afterward, for it shall be very heavy.

³²And concerning the doubling of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established from God, and God is hastening to do it.

³³And now let Pharaoh look out a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty. ³⁵And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up grain under the hand of Pharaoh, food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶And the food shall be for a store for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not be cut off by the famine."

Joseph Given Charge of Egypt

³⁷And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, in whom is the spirit of God?"

3Reading 3 Genesis 41:39–52Chapter page with footnotes →

^41:39And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "After God has made known to you all this, there is none discerning and wise like you. ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and at your mouth shall all my people order themselves; only in the throne will I be greater than you."

⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." ⁴²And Pharaoh removed his signet ring from upon his hand and put it upon the hand of Joseph, and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a chain of gold upon his neck. ⁴³And he made him ride in the second chariot which he had, and they called out before him, "Abrek!"; and he set him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

⁴⁵And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On for a woman. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

The Seven Years of Plenty

⁴⁶And Joseph was a son of thirty years when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and Joseph went out from before Pharaoh and passed through all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷And in the seven years of plenty the land produced by handfuls. ⁴⁸And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and put food in the cities; the food of the field of a city, which was around it, he put within it. ⁴⁹And Joseph heaped up grain like the sand of the sea, very much, ad(עד) he ceased to count, for it was without number.

⁵⁰And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore to him. ⁵¹And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house." ⁵²And the name of the second he called Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

4Reading 4 Genesis 41:53–42:18Chapter page with footnotes →

The Famine Begins

^41:53And the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said; and there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵And all the land of Egypt was famished, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all Egypt, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do."

⁵⁶And the famine was over all the face of the land, and Joseph opened all that was in them and sold to Egypt; and the famine was strong in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And all the earth came to Egypt to buy from Joseph, for the famine was strong in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

^42:1And Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"

²And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy for us from there, that we may live and not die."

³And the ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers, for he said, "Lest harm befall him."

⁵And the sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶And Joseph, he was the ruler over the land; he was the one selling to all the people of the land. And the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down to him, faces to the earth. ⁷And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he made himself a stranger to them and spoke harsh things with them, and said to them, "From where do you come?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."

⁸And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them, and said to them, "You are spies; to see the nakedness of the land you have come."

¹⁰And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹We are all sons of one man; we are honest; your servants are not spies."

¹²And he said to them, "No, but the nakedness of the land you have come to see."

¹³And they said, "Twelve are your servants, brothers we are, sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father this day, and the one is no more."

¹⁴And Joseph said to them, "That is what I spoke to you, saying, you are spies. ¹⁵By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from this place except when your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶Send one of you, and let him take your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether the truth is with you; and if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies."

¹⁷And he gathered them into custody for three days. ¹⁸And Joseph said to them on the third day, "This do, and live; I fear God.

5Reading 5 Genesis 42:19–43:15Chapter page with footnotes →

^42:19If you are honest, let one of your brothers be bound in your house of custody, and you, go, bring grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰And bring your youngest brother to me, that your words may be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.

²¹And they said, each man to his brother, "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we did not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us."

²²And Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the child? But you did not hear; and now, behold, his blood is required."

²³And they did not know that Joseph was hearing, for the interpreter was between them. ²⁴And he turned about from them and wept; and he returned to them and spoke to them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵And Joseph commanded, and they filled their vessels with grain, and to return their money, each man's to his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and he did so for them. ²⁶And they lifted their grain upon their donkeys and went from there.

²⁷And the one opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the lodging-place, and he saw his money, and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸And he said to his brothers, "My money has been returned, and also, behold, it is in my sack." And their heart went out, and they trembled, each man to his brother, saying, "What is this God has done to us?"

²⁹And they came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying: ³⁰"The man, the lord of the land, spoke harsh things with us, and took us as spies of the land.

³¹And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies. ³²Twelve we are, brothers, sons of our father; the one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses and go. ³⁴And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know that you are not spies but that you are honest; then I will give you your brother, and you shall trade in the land."

³⁵And it came to pass, as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, each man's bundle of money was in his sack; and they saw the bundles of their money, they and their father, and they were afraid.

³⁶And Jacob their father said to them, "Me you have bereaved: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you will take; upon me have all these come."

³⁷And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, "You may put to death my two sons if I do not bring him to you; give him into my hand, and I will bring him back to you."

³⁸And he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left; and if harm should befall him on the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol."

The Return to Egypt with Benjamin

^43:1And the famine was heavy in the land. ²And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Return, buy us a little food."

³And Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.' ⁴If you are sending our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; ⁵but if you are not sending him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

⁶And Israel said, "Why did you deal so ill with me, to tell the man you had still a brother?"

⁷And they said, "The man asked earnestly concerning us and concerning our kindred, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you a brother?' And we told him according to the mouth of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him to you and set him before you, then I will have sinned against you all the days. ¹⁰For if we had not lingered, surely now we would have returned this second time."

¹¹And Israel their father said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take of the choice produce of the land in your vessels, and carry down to the man a present — a little balm and a little honey, gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹²And take double money in your hand, and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry back in your hand; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³And take your brother, and arise, return to the man. ¹⁴And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

¹⁵And the men took this present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

6Reading 6 Genesis 43:16–29Chapter page with footnotes →

Joseph’s Hospitality to His Brothers

^43:16And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to him who was over his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter a slaughter and prepare, for the men shall eat with me at noon." ¹⁷And the man did as Joseph said, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and they said, "It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the beginning that we are being brought in, that he may roll himself upon us and fall upon us, and take us for servants, and our donkeys."

¹⁹And they came near to the man who was over Joseph's house, and spoke to him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down at the beginning to buy food; ²¹and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging-place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in its full weight; and we have brought it back in our hand. ²²And other money we have brought down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks."

²³And he said, "Peace to you, do not fear; your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money came to me." And he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet; and he gave fodder to their donkeys.

²⁵And they prepared the present, ad(עד) Joseph came at noon; for they heard that they would eat bread there. ²⁶And Joseph came into the house, and they brought to him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down to him to the earth.

²⁷And he asked them of their peace, and said, "Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"

²⁸And they said, "Your servant our father is well; he is still alive." And they bowed the head and bowed down.

²⁹And he lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son."

7Reading 7 Genesis 43:30–44:17Chapter page with footnotes →

^43:30And Joseph made haste, for his compassions were kindled toward his brother, and he sought to weep; and he came into the chamber and wept there. ³¹And he washed his face and came out, and restrained himself, and said, "Set on bread."

³²And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marveled, each man at his neighbor. ³⁴And he lifted portions from before him to them, but Benjamin's portion was five hands more than the portions of all of them. And they drank and were merry with him.

Benjamin and the Silver Cup

^44:1And he commanded him who was over his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they are able to carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack. ²And my goblet, the goblet of silver, you shall put in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and the money for his grain." And he did according to the word of Joseph which he had spoken.

³The morning was light, and the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. ⁴They had gone out of the city — they had not gone far — when Joseph said to him who was over his house, "Arise, pursue after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵Is not this the one in which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in what you have done.'"

⁶And he overtook them, and spoke to them these words.

⁷And they said to him, "Why does my lord speak according to these words? Far be it from your servants to do according to this thing. ⁸Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal from your lord's house silver or gold? ⁹With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and also we ourselves will be servants to my lord."

¹⁰And he said, "Now also, according to your words, so let it be: he with whom it is found shall be my servant, and you shall be blameless."

¹¹And they hastened, and each man took down his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹²And he searched — at the eldest he began, and at the youngest he finished — and the goblet was found in Benjamin's sack. ¹³And they tore their garments, and each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴And Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there; and they fell before him to the ground.

¹⁵And Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Did you not know that a man such as I would indeed divine?"

¹⁶And Judah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? And how shall we justify ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are servants to my lord, both we and he in whose hand the goblet was found."

¹⁷And he said, "Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the goblet was found, he shall be my servant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."

P1 Kings 3:15–4:1Chapter page with footnotes →

^3:15And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream; and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of my Lord, and offered up burnt-offerings, and made peace-offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon Judges Wisely

¹⁶Then there came two women, harlots, to the king, and they stood before him.

¹⁷And the one woman said, "Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I gave birth with her in the house. ¹⁸And it came to pass on the third day after my giving birth, that this woman also gave birth; and we were together, there was no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. ¹⁹And the son of this woman died in the night, because she lay upon it. ²⁰And she arose in the midst of the night, and took my son from beside me, while your handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. ²¹And I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and behold, it was dead; but I looked closely at it in the morning, and behold, it was not my son whom I had borne."

²²And the other woman said, "No, but the living is my son, and the dead is your son." And this one said, "No, but the dead is your son, and the living is my son." Thus they spoke before the king.

²³And the king said, "This one says, 'This is my son the living, and your son is the dead'; and that one says, 'No, but your son is the dead, and my son is the living.'"

²⁴And the king said, "Take for me a sword." And they brought the sword before the king. ²⁵And the king said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other."

²⁶And the woman whose son was the living one said to the king, for her compassions were kindled over her son, and she said, "Oh, my lord, give to her the living child, and by no means put it to death." But the other said, "Let it be neither mine nor yours; cut it."

²⁷And the king answered and said, "Give to her the living child, and by no means put it to death; she is its mother."

²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared before the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him, to do judgment.

Solomon’s Princes

^4:1And king Solomon was king over all Israel.

AActs 7:11–13Chapter page with footnotes →

^7:11Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ¹²But Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent our fathers there the first time. ¹³And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family was revealed to Pharaoh.