This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.

His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him.

Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.

for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf."

His brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?" They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.

He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."

He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?"

Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." He said to him, "Here I am."

He said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?"

He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock."

The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

They said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer comes.

Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams."

Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him" -- that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;

and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh." His brothers listened to him.

Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.

Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

He returned to his brothers, and said, "The child is no more; and I, where will I go?"

They took Joseph's coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.

They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, "We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son's coat or not."

The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Yahweh. Yahweh killed him.

Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother."

Onan knew that the seed wouldn't be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.

The thing which he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he killed him also.

After many days, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite.

She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as a wife.

He turned to her by the way, and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he didn't know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"

He said, "I will send you a young goat from the flock." She said, "Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?"

She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he didn't find her.

Then he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?" They said, "There has been no prostitute here."

He returned to Judah, and said, "I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, 'There has been no prostitute here.'"

It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution." Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."

When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the man, whose these are, I am with child." She also said, "Please discern whose are these -- the signet, and the cords, and the staff."

It happened in the time of her travail, that behold, twins were in her womb.

When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, "This came out first."

Afterward his brother came out, that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.

Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

It happened from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Yahweh blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was on all that he had, in the house and in the field.

He left all that he had in Joseph's hand. He didn't concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.

But he refused, and said to his master's wife, "Behold, my master doesn't know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand.

About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.

she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, "Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice.

She spoke to him according to these words, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me,

It happened, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your servant did to me," that his wrath was kindled.

Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.

But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it.

The keeper of the prison didn't look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.

It happened after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days.

They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.

Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad.

They said to him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it." Joseph said to them, "Don't interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me."

The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me,

and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.

Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand."

Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.

Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cupbearer.

For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."

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

In the uppermost basket there was all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head."

Joseph answered, "This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days.

Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you."

It happened the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

He restored the chief cupbearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand;

but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Yet the chief cupbearer didn't remember Joseph, but forgot him.

It happened at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river.

Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.

Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river.

The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke.

Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt's magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today.

Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.

We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted.

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river:

and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass,

and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle,

and when they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.

The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one.

The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine.