Study Desk

So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.

This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his officials.

Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph's finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, "Bow the knee!" So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot."

Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why are you staring at one another?"

But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "I am afraid that harm might befall him."

Now Joseph was the ruler of the land, who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. "Where have you come from?" he asked. "From the land of Canaan," they replied. "We are here to buy food."

Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, "You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable."

Then they said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us."

But Reuben replied: "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!"

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, return each man's silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

"My money has been returned!" he said to his brothers. "It is here in my sack." Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, "What is this that God has done to us?"

As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man's sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of money, they were dismayed.

Then Reuben said to his father, "You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him."

But Jacob replied, "My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow."