She left immediately, removed her veil, and put on her widow's clothes.

So he returned to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, 'There has been no cult prostitute here.'"

But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. She said, "How you have broken out of the womb!" So he was named Perez.

So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar appointed Joseph overseer of his household and put him in charge of everything he owned.

From the time Potiphar appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's household for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields.

So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care; he gave no thought to anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well built and good-looking.

Soon after these things, his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Have sex with me."

But he refused, saying to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care.

There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"

When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside,

she called for her household servants and said to them, "See, my husband brought in a Hebrew man to us to humiliate us. He tried to have sex with me, but I screamed loudly.

So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home.

When his master heard his wife say, "This is the way your slave treated me," he became furious.

Joseph's master took him and threw him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison.

The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph's care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing.

The warden did not concern himself with anything that was in Joseph's care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined.

Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream the same night. Each man's dream had its own meaning.

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

So he asked Pharaoh's officials, who were with him in custody in his master's house, "Why do you look so sad today?"

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: "In my dream, there was a vine in front of me.

Now Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh's hand."

In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you did before when you were cupbearer.

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable, he said to Joseph, "I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread on my head.

On the third day it was Pharaoh's birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He "lifted up" the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants.

He restored the chief cupbearer to his former position so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand,

In the morning he was troubled, so he called for all the diviner-priests of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

Then Pharaoh summoned Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh.

When they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up.

I also saw in my dream seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good.

The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning."

"So now Pharaoh should look for a wise and discerning man and give him authority over all the land of Egypt.

They should gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh's authority they should store up grain so the cities will have food, and they should preserve it.

So Pharaoh asked his officials, "Can we find a man like Joseph, one in whom the Spirit of God is present?"

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are!

"See here," Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I place you in authority over all the land of Egypt."

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph's. He clothed him with fine linen clothes and put a gold chain around his neck.

Pharaoh had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, and they cried out before him, "Kneel down!" So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

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

Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, "Certainly God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's house."

He then said, "Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us so that we may live and not die."

So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "What if some accident happens to him?"

So Israel's sons came to buy grain among the other travelers, for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, "Where do you come from?" They answered, "From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food."

Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, "You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!"

"No," he insisted, "but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable."

One of you must go and get your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison. In this way your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!"

On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do as I say and you will live, for I fear God.

They said to one other, "Surely we're being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!"

Reuben said to them, "Didn't I say to you, 'Don't sin against the boy,' but you wouldn't listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!"

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out.

So they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

When one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.

But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.'"

When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man's bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid.

But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

But if you will not send him, we won't go down there because the man said to us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

They replied, "The man questioned us thoroughly about ourselves and our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' So we answered him in this way. How could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man -- a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

May the sovereign God grant you mercy before the man so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them."

So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, "Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon."

The man did just as Joseph said; he brought the men into Joseph's house.

But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph's house. They said, "We are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks last time. He wants to capture us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys!"

So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph's household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money -- the full amount -- in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it.

"Everything is fine," the man in charge of Joseph's household told them. "Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

The servant in charge brought the men into Joseph's house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys.

They got their gifts ready for Joseph's arrival at noon, for they had heard that they were to have a meal there.

When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, "Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?" Then he said, "May God be gracious to you, my son."

Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother and was at the point of tears. So he went to his room and wept there.

They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting to do so.)

He instructed the servant who was over his household, "Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.

Then put my cup -- the silver cup -- in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the money for his grain." He did as Joseph instructed.

They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, "Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil?

They answered him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?

If one of us has it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves!"

So each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

Then the man searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack!

So Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph's house. He was still there, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.

Judah replied, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has exposed the sin of your servants! We are now my lord's slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found."

We said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

"Then you told your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him.'

But you said to your servants, 'If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.'

But we replied, 'We cannot go down there. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, for we won't be permitted to see the man's face if our youngest brother is not with us.'

"So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us -- his very life is bound up in his son's life.

"So now, please let your servant remain as my lord's slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers.

For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn't bear to see my father's pain."

Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, so he cried out, "Make everyone go out from my presence!" No one remained with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

He wept loudly; the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh's household heard about it.

Joseph said to his brothers, "Come closer to me," so they came near. Then he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you.

So tell my father about all my honor in Egypt and about everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!"

Now it was reported in the household of Pharaoh, "Joseph's brothers have arrived." It pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan!