Author: © Christian National Church of Christ

Jacob lived in the land of Goshen with his children and their families for seventeen years, but at last the time came for him to die. He became very sick, and a messenger came to tell Joseph that his father was getting worse and wouldn’t live very much longer.

So Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to visit his father. Jacob sat up in bed and talked with him, and told him how kind God had been to him all during his long life. And he told Joseph about the time when God had spoken to him in a dream as a young man, the dream about the stairway going up to heaven, with angels walking up and down it.

Joseph told his father that he had brought his two sons with him so that Jacob could bless them. Jacob said to bring them close to him. Then he put his arms around them and kissed them and asked God to help them. What a happy day that was for Jacob and Joseph and the boys!

“Then Israel called in all his other sons and blessed each one of them. He told them he was going to die, but that God would be with them and bring them back to the land of Canaan. He commanded his sons to take his body back and bury it in the same cave where his grandfather Abraham  was buried, and his grandmother Sarah, his father Isaac and mother Rebekah and his wife Leah.

When Jacob had finished all he had to say to his sons, he lay back on the bed and died. Joseph put his face down to his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. Then he commanded his servants to embalm his father. This meant to put spices and other and other things into his body to prepare for burial. All the Egyptians mourned for him. For seventy days.
Joseph and his brothers went up to Canaan to bury their father, and many of Pharaoh’s government officials and other wealthy men from the land of Egypt went with them.

After the funeral, Joseph’s brothers were afraid. They thought that now, with their father dead and unable to defend them, Joseph would surely punish them for all the bad things they had done to him.

They sent a message to him saying that before their father died, he had expressed the hope that Joseph would forgive them. When Joseph heard this he cried, for he knew they were afraid of him. His brothers now came and fell down before him and said, “Don’t kill us; we will be your slaves.” But he told them not to be afraid of him, for though they wanted to hurt him by selling him as a slave, yet Good had turn the harm into good by putting him in Egypt where he could save many people from starving and death from the famine. And he spoke kindly to them and comforted them.

Joseph was in Egypt all the rest of his life, and lived to see the birth of his great-grandchildren. But after many years he sent for his brothers and told them that the time had come for him to die.

He asked that his bones be taken back to Canaan when God took the nation of Israel back there again. This didn’t happen for four hundred years, but when Moses’ led the people of Israel back to the Promised Land of Canaan, he took along Joseph’s bones just as Joseph had requested.

So, Joseph died when he was 110 years old. His body was embalmed and put into the coffin in Egypt.

Questions:

Whom did Joseph and his two son’s go to visit?

Where did Jacob want to be buried?

What did Josephs brothers think would happen to them after the funeral? Why?

Where did Joseph want his bones to be buried?

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Sometime later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So, he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So, I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these? ” They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,

the God who has been my shepherd

all my life to this day,

the Angel who has delivered me from all harm

—may he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name

and the names of my father’s Abraham and Isaac,

and may they increase greatly

on the earth.”

Genesis 48:1-16

(People asked me how can I get to know the bible. I have been putting these stories on here so that people wil learn the bible: Their choice. Here is a verse or you can read the whole chapter.

Genesis: 47:25— “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”

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The famine was dreadful everywhere. No one had enough to eat. The people of Egypt had used up all of their grain, and now their gardens and fields didn’t give them anymore food, for nothing would grow.

They came to Joseph to buy the corn he had stored away during those seven wonderful years when everything grew so well. But soon all their money was gone. Although there was plenty of food for sale, they did not have any money to buy it.

Then Joseph told them to bring their cattle, for Pharaoh would give them food if they would give him their animals.

But after awhile all their cattle were gone, too, all sold to Pharaoh in exchange for food. Now the people had nothing left but their land and themselves. They said they would give their land to Pharaoh and be his servants if he would give them more food. So, Joseph traded them food for land, until all the land of Egypt belonged to Pharaoh.

At last the seven years of famine ended, and Joseph gave the people seed to plant. For he knew that now the corn would grow again.

He told them that since they had sold all their land to Pharaoh, it wasn’t theirs any longer, but Pharaoh would let them use it if they would give him a fifth of all the food, they raised on it. The people were glad to do whatever Joseph said, for they were thankful to him for saving them from starving. So from then on they gave twenty percent of all their crops to the government of taxes.

Questions:

Why didn’t the people have enough to eat?

Where did Joseph get so much corn to sell?

How did the people buy corn when they ran out of money?

After the famine, why did the Egyptians still give part of their crops to Pharaoh?

{And take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you will eat the fat of the land.’ “Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ‘Do not concern yourselves with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” Genesis 45:18-20}

When Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come, he was very glad.

He told Joseph to tell them to return for their father and their wives and children and bring them all to Egypt where there was plenty to eat.

“Take some of my wagons for your wives and little ones to ride in,” he said. “Don’t bother to bring any of your furniture and other things, for I will give you everything you need.”

‘Then Joseph gave new clothes to each of them, giving Benjamin more than any of the others! And he sent his father twenty donkey-loads of food and other good things. Then at last he let his brothers start home again to get his father and their families.

When they finally arrived home, what joy there was!

“Joseph is alive, “they shouted. “He is the governor over all the land of Egypt!”

It seemed too wonderful to be true, and Jacob did not believe them at first: but when he saw Pharaoh’s wagons that he had sent, he finally realized that his sons were telling the truth.

“It is proof enough, “he said at last.

“Joseph is Alive! I will go and see him now before I die.”

So Jacob and his children and their families all left their homes in Canaan and started off to the land of Egypt. They stopped briefly at Beer-Sheba, where grandfather Isaac had built and altar many years before and had sacrificed to God.

That night God spoke to Jacob and said, “Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for while you are there, I will make your family grow into millions of people.”

God told Jacob that He would take care of him in Egypt, and that when the time came for him to die, Joseph would be by his side.

So, Jacob and his sons and their families left Beer-Sheba and went on to Egypt. They took their cattle with them and all of their belongings.

Jacob sent Judah ahead to tell Joseph that his father was on the way.

When Joseph heard this, he jumped into his chariot and raced out to meet his father. He and his father wept for joy when they finally saw each other again after all those years apart.

Israel, that was Jacobs brother another name, Remember? Said to Joseph. “Now I can die in peace, for I have seen you again. To think, that you are still alive!” He could scarcely believe it.

“Then Joseph invited some of his brothers to come with him to meet Pharaoh and to tell him that they had arrived with their flocks and herds. When Pharaoh asked them what kind of work they did, they told him they were cattlemen just as their grandfathers had been. Joseph told them to say this because it was the truth, and also because Joseph wanted Pharaoh to send them to live in Goshen, which was the best part of the land of Egypt for raising cattle. So, Pharaoh gave them permission to go there.

Then Joseph took his father to meet Pharaoh and to bless him.

Questions:

How did Pharaoh show his friendship for Joseph and his family?

Describe the reunion of Joseph and Jacob.

What kind of work did Joseph’s brothers do?

What was the name of the part of Egypt where Jacob and his sons lived?

Joseph told one of his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain and to put back their money in the top of the sacks, just as he had before.

“And,” Joseph said, “Put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest boy, Benjamin.” So that is what the servant did.

In the morning, as soon as it was light, the men got on their donkeys and started happily back to Canaan.

But they were hardly out of the city when Joseph told his servant to chase after them and stop them why they had stolen his silver cup? So the servant hurried and caught up with them.

They were very much surprised and wondered what the servant was talking about when he asked them about the cup.

“God forbid that we should do such a thing as to steal the Governor’s cup,” they said.

They reminded the servant that that they had proved their honesty by bringing back the money they found in their sacks before, and they certainly wouldn’t steal the silver cup.

“If any of us stole it, we ourselves will kill him.” They said, “And all the rest of us will go back and be slaves.”

The servant said that only the one who had stolen the cup would be a slave; the rest of them could go on home.

Then they all took down their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them so the servant could look. He began with the sack of the oldest, but the cup wasn’t there. He went on down the line, but none of them had the cup. Then he came to Benjamin. And there was the cup, right at the top of Benjamin’s sack.

Now the poor brothers didn’t know what to do. They tore their clothes in sorrow and finally loaded up their donkeys and went back to the city with Benjamin and the servant.

When they saw Joseph, they all fell to the ground before him. Joseph pretended that he thought that Benjamin had stolen his cup and said they should of known that he would find out about it. Judah stood up and spoke to Joseph for all of them.

“Oh, what shall we say to my lord?” he asked.  “God has found out our wickedness; we are all your slaves.”

But Joseph said that only the one who had stolen the cup would be his slave; the rest of them could go home to their father.

Judah pleaded with Joseph. He reminded him about the first time they had come to Egypt for food, and how Joseph had asked them whether they had a father and a brother at home. And they had told him yes, their father was an old man now, and their brother was still very young. They had told him that their father dearly loved his youngest son, for he was all he had left from his wife Rachel, who was dead.

But Joseph had said that they must bring their younger brother to Egypt with them the next time they came. They said then that the boy could not leave his father, for if he did, his father would die. But Joseph had told them that is they didn’t bring their brother; they could never come back.

Judah explained to Joseph explained to Joseph that when they went home, they had told their father what he had said. And when their father wanted them to go back to Egypt to buy more food, they had told him. We can’t, unless Benjamin goes with us, for the man told us not to come back without him.” Then their father told them that if they took Benjamin, he would die of sorrow.

So, now Judah said, if they went home without Benjamin, their father would die of shock and sorrow. Then Judah begged Joseph to let him stay and be a slave instead of Benjamin, and to let Benjamin go home to his father.

Joseph couldn’t stand it any longer. He ordered all of his servants to leave the room, and Joseph was left alone with his brothers. Then he began to cry, his brothers watch in surprise.

Finally, when he could speak, he told them, “I am Joseph! Oh, tell me more about my father!”

His brothers were too surprised and frightened to say anything. Then Joseph called them over to him.

“I am your brother Joseph!” he said again.

Then at last they realized what he was saying, and what excitement there was as they all hugged and kissed each or!

Joseph told them to stop being sad for what they had done to him, because God had turned it all into good. Joseph loved his brothers and didn’t want them to be unhappy and afraid, and that is why he told them this.

He explained to them that the famine would last another five years, for God had said that there would be no crops for all that time.

“Hurry back to my father,” he told them, “and tell him that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler over all of Egypt. Come down to me, and you will live in the best part of the land. Bring your children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have, and I will take care of you.” Tell my father how great I am in Egypt, and describe all you have seen. Hurry home and bring my father here.”

Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and cried again, for he was so glad to see him. And Benjamin cried too, and so did all the brothers.

Questions:

Why did Joseph tell his servant to hide a silver cup in Benjamins sack?

What did Joseph offer to do, if Joseph would let Benjamin go home?

Did Joseph forgive his brothers for doing wrong to him years ago?

Why?

Genesis 45:1-5

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

After many hard days of travel Joseph’s brothers finally returned home and told their father what had happened.

“The Governor of Egypt spoke roughly to us,” they said, “and thought we were spies.  “Oh no,’ we told him. ‘we aren’t spies. We are honest men. We are twelve brothers, though one is dead, and the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.

Well I can find out easily enough whether you are telling me the truth, the governor said. “Leave one of your brothers here and take food for your families, and go get your youngest brother and bring him to me. Then I will know that you aren’t spies.

When they went out to unload their donkeys and empty the grain out of their sacks, can you imagine their surprise when each of them found his money at the top of the grain! When Jacob saw the money, he was afraid.

“You have already robbed me of two children.” He said, “for Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone. And now you want Benjamin too.

Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons’ if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you! I will take care of him.”

But Jacob said Benjamin couldn’t go. Joseph was already dead; and if anything happened to Benjamin, it would be too much to bear.

The famine became worse and worse. Soon the grain brought from Egypt was almost gone and Jacob said to his sons, “Go back to Egypt again, and buy us a little more food.

But Judah told his father they couldn’t go unless Benjamin was with them: for the governor had told them, “You must not return without your brother.

“But why did you tell him you had another brother.  Jacob cried out.

“The man asked us,” They replied.

“He said, is your father still living? “Have you another brother? How could we have known he would say that? You must bring your brother here?

Then Judah told his father he would take care of Benjamin.

“I’ll see that nothing happens to him.” Judah said, “and if I don’t bring him home safely back again, then I will Bear the blame forever. If we had not stayed home so long, we could have gone to Egypt and been back by now.”

{When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, “The man who is LORD over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’ “Then the man who is LORD over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.'” Genesis 42:29-34}

Finally their father agreed. He told his son’s to take a present to the Governor.

“Take some honey, spices and myrrh, and nuts, and almonds. Take extra money with you, along with the money that came back in your sacks before; perhaps it was a mistake. And take your brother, and go.”

Then Jacob prayed for his sons and begged God to make the Governor kind to them; for if his children were taken away from him, he would die with sorrow.

The brothers took the presents, and the money, and their brother Benjamin and went back to Egypt. Soon Joseph saw them standing before him again.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his servants, “Take these men home to my house and get dinner ready for them, for they are going to eatwith me.”

Joseph’s brothers were frightened when they saw where the servant was taking them. They thought Joseph was going to keep them as his slaves and never let them go home again. They thought it was because of the money they found in their sacks.

They went to Joseph’s servant and told him all that had happened: that when they were going home to Canaan, they had opened their sacks and found their money there. But they hadn’t stole it, and now they had brought it back again.

Joseph’s servant told them not to worry, there was nothing to fear. He brought their brother Simeon to them, the one who had been left as a prisoner while they went home for Benjamin.

The servant gave them water to wash their feet and hay for their donkeys. Then they got out the present their father had sent to the Governor, to give it to him when he came home at noon, for now they knew they were toeat there.

When Joseph arrived, they brought his present to him and bowed low before him.

He spoke kindly to them and said, “Is your father well, the old man you told me about? Is he still living?

They answered, “Yes, he is in good health, he is still alive.” And they bowed to him again.

Then Joseph saw his brother Benjamin and said, “Is this your youngest brother you told me about? May God be good to you, my son.”

Then Joseph hurried away to find a place where he could be alone. He went into his bedroom and started crying because he was so happy at seeing his little brother again. But then he washed his face, and when he came out again he kept back the tears so that his brothersdidn’t know what he had been doing!

Then they all sat down to eat. Joseph ate by himself at one table, and his brothers were at another table; for Egyptians never ate with Hebrews; and everyone thought Joseph was an Egyptian!

Joseph seated the oldest brother at the head of the table, with the next oldest next to him, and so on down the line according to their ages. Who could have told him their ages, they wondered! But you and I know that no one had to tell him, for he knew it all the time!

Joseph served all the food from his table, and waiters took it over to the table where the brothers were. He gave Benjamin more than the others because he and Benjamin had the same mother, Rachel, who died when Benjamin was born. {All the other brothers had the same father, Jacob, but there were four different mothers.}

Questions:

What did Joseph’s brothers tell their father?

Why did they have to take Benjamin to Egypt?

Would their father let Benjamin go?

Why did Jacob send presents to the Governor?

Did he know it was Joseph?

For whom did Joseph tell his servants to prepare dinner?

Why were Joseph’s brothers frightened?

How do you know?

Do you know why he loved him best?

So, Pharaoh didn’t send Joseph back to jail any more, but made a great man of him instead. The king took off his own ring and put it on Joseph’s finger and dressed him in beautiful clothing and put a gold chain around his neck.

He gave him a chariot to ride in, with soldiers running along ahead of him shouting, “Bow down.” And all the people bowed low before him wherever he went. He was in charge of all the land of Egypt and was almost as great as the king. Everyone had to do whatever Joseph told him to do.

During the first seven years, when all the farms had such good crops, he went to all the farmers and made them give some of their corn to Pharaoh. Joseph took this grain and stored it in the nearby cities, keeping it safe until the seven years of famine came. Soon he had so much grain stored away that he stopped counting on it.

Then the seven years of good crops ended, and the seven years of poor crops began. Soon everyone began to be hungry because there was so little to eat. When all their food was gone, the people came to Pharaoh to ask for something to eat.

“Joseph is in charge,” Pharaoh said, “Go to him and he will tell you what to do.”

Then Joseph opened up the buildings where the grain was kept and sold it to the people.

Joseph’s brothers were still living in the land of Canaan when the famine came. Soon their grain was gone, and they needed food for their father and for their families’. They looked at each other blankly, not knowing what to do.

Then their father said to them, “Don’t just stand around looking at each other! I hear there is grain in Egypt; go and buy some for us, so we won’t starve to death.”

So, Joseph’s ten brothers got on their donkeys and rode for many days until they came to Egypt. Joseph’s youngest brother, Benjamin, stayed with his father in Canaan, for his father was afraid to let him go. He was afraid something might happen to him just as it had to Joseph.

Since Joseph was the governor of Egypt, he was in charge of selling the grain to the people. But his brothers didn’t recognize him in his Egyptian robes. They came and bowed low before him, never imagining he was their brother! But Joseph knew them right away.

Do you remember Joseph’s dream that had made his brothers so angry? He had dreamed that his brother’s sheaves of grain bowed to his sheaf, and that the sun and moon and eleven stars had bowed to him. And now it had come true, here were his brothers bowing to him now!

Imagine Joseph’s surprise and joy to see his brothers again, even though they had been so cruel to him. But he pretended he didn’t know them and asked them at all. He spoke roughly to them and asked them, “Where you from?”

“From the land of Canaan,” they said. “We have come to buy food.”

Then Joseph said, “No, you are spies and have come here to see what trouble we are in, so that you can bring and army and attack us.”

“Oh, no sir,” his brothers answered, “we have come to buy food. We are all one man’s sons. We are men who speak the truth. We are not spies.

Joseph pretended he didn’t believe them and said again that they were spies. They told Joseph more about themselves and why they had come. They said one of their brothers was with their father in the land of Canaan and one was dead.
Joseph still pretended not to believe them and said he would find out whether they where telling the truth or not. This was what he would do. He would send one of them back to Canaan to get their youngest brother they had told him about and bring him to Egypt. All the others must stay until he returned.

Then he put them in jail for three days.

On the third day he talked with them again. This time he said that only one of them must stay, and all the others could go home to take food to their families. One must stay so that Joseph would be sure the others would come back again and bring their youngest brother with them.

When his brothers heard this, they were very sad. They said God was punishing them for their sin of selling their brother as a slave long ago. Rueben (the one who had intended to take Joseph out of the well and bring him back to his father) said to his brothers, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the child? But you wouldn’t listen to me.”

Joseph listened to them talking to each other. They didn’t know he could speak their language and understand them, for he had talked to them only in Egyptian, and a servant had told them in their own language what he was saying to them. But of course, Joseph understood every word they said.

When he realized how sorry they were for what they had done to him, he had to go away and cry. Afterwards he came back again and talked to them some more, but he still pretended that he thought they were spies.

Then he took Simeon and tied him up while all the others watched, for Simeon was the one he chose to stay in Egypt while the others went home after Benjamin.

Then Joseph told his servants to fill his brother’s sacks with grain and to put in the tops of their sacks the money they had paid for the grain; but he didn’t tell his brothers that the money was there.

Finally, their donkeys were loaded, and all except Simeon started back home to Canaan. That night when they stopped to eat, they opened a sack to get some food. There was the money right at top of the sack! They were frightened, for they didn’t know how it got there.

Questions:

How great did Joseph become?

What did he do during the seven good years?

Why did Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt?

Did they recognize Joseph?

Was Joseph happy to see his brothers?

What did he pretend he thought they were doing in Egypt?

Why did Joseph keep Simeon in jail?

What did Joseph tell his servants to do with the brothers’ money?

The men who brought Joseph took him to Egypt and sold him to a man named Potiphar, who was an Egyptian army officer. Joseph became his slave and lived in his house.

The Lord helped Joseph to work hard. His master was pleased with him and put him in charge of all his other servants. God blessed Potiphar because Joseph was in his home.

But after awhile Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to do something very wrong. Joseph said no, and that made her angry. She decided to get even with him, so she told her husband a lie. She said that Joseph had tried to hurt her. Her husband believed her and put Joseph in jail.

But the Lord was kind to Joseph and made the man in charge of the prison feel friendly to him. He put him in charge of all the other prisoners. Joseph took the full responsibility of taking care of them. And the Lord helped Joseph do everything just the way it should be done.

One day Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, became angry with two of his officers; one of them was a baker, and the other was the man who brought him wine whenever he wanted a drink. Pharaoh put them both in jail where Joseph was.

One night both of these men had dreams. When Joseph came in to see them the next morning, they looked sad.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Why so sad this morning?”

“We had a strange dream’s last night,” they told him, “and there is no one to tell us what the dreams mean.”

“Tell me your dreams,” Joseph said, “and I’ll ask God what they mean.”

First the man in charge of the king’s wine told Joseph his dream. He had dreamed about the grapevine with three branches. As he was looking at it, buds appeared on the branches and became bunches of ripe grapes. He was holding king Pharaoh’s wine cup in his hand, so he took the grapes and squeezed out the juice from them into the cup. Then he gave the cup of juice to pharaoh to drink.

God told Joseph what the dream meant. Joseph told the man that the three branches he had in his dream meant three days; in three days Pharaoh would let him out of jail and give him back his job.

“When you get out, don’t forget about me!” Joseph said. “Ask the king to let me out, too.”

Then Joseph told him how he had been sold by his brother’s and brought to Egypt. He said he had done nothing wrong and shouldn’t be in jail.

When the chief baker heard what a nice meaning the first mans dream had, he told Joseph his dream, too. He said he was carrying three baskets on his head, one above the other. In the highest basket were all kinds of food for Pharaoh, and the birds flew down and ate it.

Then Joseph told him what his dream meant. The three baskets meant three days. Within three days, king Pharaoh   would kill him and hang him on a tree, and the birds would eat him!

Both dreams came true just as Joseph said. Three days later was Pharaohs birthday, so he had a big party for all of his officers. He sent a messenger to the jail to bring back to the palace the man who was in charge of his wine, to work as he had before. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph said.

I’m sorry to say that the officer in charge of the wine forgot all about Joseph and didn’t bother to tell Pharaoh about him or try to get him out of jail.

Two years later King Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing beside the Nile River in Egypt and saw seven cows coming up out of the water. They were fat and healthy, and they went out into the meadow to eat grass. Then seven more cows came up out of the river, the cows were thin and scrawny, and they ate the fat and healthy cows! Just then King Pharaoh woke up.

Soon he went back to sleep and had another dream. This time he thought he saw seven ears of corn growing on one stalk. They were plump ears, well filled with grain. But afterwards seven other ears of corn grew on the stalk. These were thin and withered, and they ate up the seven good ears! Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was all a dream.

The dreams bothered him so much that he sent for all the wise men of Egypt and told them his dreams, but they couldn’t tell the king what his dreams meant.

Then the man in charge of the king’s wine remembered the young man in jail who had told him and the chief baker what their dreams meant. He remembered that the dreams came true just as Joseph had said.

So, the king sent for Joseph. He quickly shaved and put on other clothes and was brought to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one can tell me what it means; but I’m told that you can.”

Joseph said he could not do it, but that God would. Then Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams: the one about the seven thin cows who ate seven thin cows who ate the seven fat ones and still looked so thin and starved afterwards; and the dream about the shriveled-up ears of corn eating the fat ears of corn.

Joseph told him that both dreams meant the same thing; God was telling Pharaoh what was going to happen in the future. The seven fat cows and the seven good ears of corn meant seven years of wonderful crops, when everyone’s gardens would grow; and the seven thin cows and the seven withered ears of corn meant seven years nothing would grow. First there would be seven good years in Egypt. The corn would grow tall, and there would be plenty to eat. But afterwards there would be plenty to eat. But afterwards there would be seven years of poor crops when people would be hungry, for nothing would grow in their gardens.

Joseph told Pharaoh to put some one in charge of making the people of Egypt save up corn during the seven good years. Then during the hungry years, the people would have enough food. The king thought this was a good idea so he put Joseph in charge!

Questions:

Was Joseph a good worker?

Why did Potiphar put him in Jail?

What did the king’s cupbearer dream?

What did the king’s baker dream?

What did Joseph say the dreams meant?

Was he right?

What were King Pharaohs two dreams?

How did he know?

What job did Pharaoh give to Joseph?

One of Jacob’s twelve son’s was named Joseph. He was the youngest in the family, except for Benjamin.

When Joseph was seventeen years old, he went out into the fields one day to help his ten older brothers who were taking care of the sheep and the goats. But while he was there he saw his brothers do something they should not have done. That night when he got home, he told his father. This was a good thing to do, for then his father could talk to his brothers about it, so that they would not do it again. But of course his brothers were angry with him for telling on them.

Joseph was his father’s favorite son, so his father gave him a present of a beautiful coat. But this made his brothers jealous. From then on they couldn’t seem to find one good thing to say about him!

One night Joseph had a strange dream, and the next morning he told his family about it.

“In my dream,” He said, “all of us were out in the field tying bundles of grain stalks. Then your bundles stood around mine and bowed to it!”

This dream made his brothers even angrier. They thought Joseph was saying that they should bow to him as though he was their king.

“Do you think you are better than we are?” they demanded.

Then Joseph had another dream. This time he dreamed that the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars all bowed to him. His eleven brothers knew that he was talking about them when he talked about the eleven stars bowing to him; and the sun and moon must mean their father and mother.

This made them even angrier than ever.

When he told his father about the dream, his father scolded him.

“Do you think your mother and brothers and I are going to bow to you? He asked. “Don’t be foolish!

Soon after this his brothers took their fathers flocks to Shechem to find pastures for them there. Shechem was a long way off. It took several days to walk there with the sheep.

Not long afterwards Jacob said to Joseph, “Go and find your brothers and see how they are getting along  and how the sheep are.”  So Joseph went to find them.

But his brothers weren’t at Shechem. He was wandering around the fields looking for them when he met a man who told him, “Your are at Dothan. I heard them say they was going there.” So Joseph went on to Dothan.

When his brothers saw him coming, they began talking to each other about killing him.

“Here comes that dreamer,” they said,. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into the well, and will say some wild animal has eaten him. Then will see what happens to his dreams!”

When Joseph’s brother Reuben heard them talking like that, he didn’t like it at all. He wanted to save Joseph, so he persuaded his brothers to put Joseph into the well without hurting him. Reuben planned to come back after the others had gone to take Joseph out and get him home to his father again.

Joseph came, and they grabbed him and took away his beautiful coat and put him into a well that did not have any water in it.

Then they sat down to eat their lunches. Just then they saw some men coming along on camels: these men were taking things to the country of Egypt to sell. When Joseph’s brother Judah saw them, he said, “Lets sell Joseph to them! We’ll get rid of him and get some money too.”

The other brothers thought this was a good idea, so they pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants put him on a camel and took him far away to the land of Egypt.

Reuben had not been there when Joseph was sold. When he came back to the well to get Joseph out and send him home, he was very sad.

“Joseph is gone,” he exclaimed.

“Oh, what shall I do?

The brothers killed a young goat and dripped Joseph’s coat in the blood.

They brought the coat to their father and told him they had found it on the ground.

“Is it Joseph’s coat? They asked.

“Jacob knew it was and began to cry. “Yes, “He said, “It is Joseph’s coat; a wild animal must have eaten him.

“Joseph is dead.”

Then Jacob tore his clothing and dressed himself in sackcloth. Sackcloth is a dark, scratchy kind of cloth that people used to wear to show their sadness. Jacob said he would mourn for his boy all the rest of his life.

Questions:

What did Jacob give Joseph to wear?

What did Joseph dream about?

What did Josephs brothers do to him? Why?

What did they tell their father had happened?

After Esau had gone, Jacob went on to a place called Succoth. Here he stopped and rested his cattle before he went on to the land of Canaan.

Now God spoke to Jacob again. He told him to go to the city of Bethel and to build an altar there. Bethel was the place where Jacob had dreamed many years before about the stairs reaching to heaven with angels going up and down on it. In that dream God had promised to be with him wherever he went and to bring him back safely, and now God had done this.

Although it was more than twenty years since he had gone away, the Lord had taken care of him all that time, and at last he was safely home in his own country again. That is why God told him to go back now to Bethel where the promise had been given him and to build an altar there and worship the Lord.

So Jacob said to Rachel and Leah and to his sons, “Lets go to Bethel and build and altar there to God.”

He told them how kind the Lord had been to him many years before when he was in trouble, when he was running away from his brother Esau, and how the Lord had been with him ever since and had taken care of him.

On the way to Bethel they passed through cities where people might have robbed or killed them, But God made the people afraid, and they didn’t try to harm Jacob and his family in any way.

They arrived safely at Bethel and built an altar there and sacrificed to God to show Him their thanks.

Then God spoke to Jacob, blessed him and told him again, “Your name isn’t Jacob anymore, but Israel.” (Remember, Israel means “a prince with God”; this new name showed how much God loved him.)

God told him again that He would give all the land of Canaan to him and his children and his children’s  children, that they would become a great nation, and that some of them would be kings.

Then Jacob set up a great pile of stones at Bethel, so that everyone would always remember that this was the place where God had spoken to him.

Afterwards, Jacob and those with him started off to Bethlehem. Before they arrived, Rachel had another baby, and they named him Benjamin. But Rachel died soon afterwards, and they buried her besides the road. Jacob was very sad, for he loved Rachel very much. He piled stones over her grave to show where she was buried, and the stones stayed there for hundreds of years.

Finally Jacob came to Hebron where his father lived. Yes, Isaac, his father, was still alive. Though it had been so long since he had become old and blind, God had kept him alive until Jacob came home again.

But Isaac died soon afterwards and his sons, Jacob and Esau, buried him in the cave where Abraham and Sarah where buried. He was 180 years old at the time of his death.

Then Esau took his wives, his son’s and his daughters, his cattle, and moved everything he owned to the land of Edom. For he and Jacob had so many cattle that there was not enough food for all of them to live together in the same part of the country.

Questions:

Why did God tell Jacob to go to Bethel?

What was the name of Rachels baby?

Did God keep Isaac alive until Jacob came home?

That night Jacob got up, awakened his family, and sent them across the river while he stayed behind alone.

Then a Man came and wrestled with him until dawn. Jacob was strong and kept on wrestling until the Man touched Jacob’s thigh. Just by that touch, Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint, and he became lamb.

The Man said, “Let me go, for dawn has come.”

But Jacob replied, “I won’t let you go until You bless me.”

“What is your name?” the Man asked.

So Jacob told him. (In their language Jacob’s name means “tricky” or “unfair”)

The man said, “I am giving you another name. You are no longer Jacob, but Israel.” (Israel means “a prince of God.”)

Who was this Man? He was the same person who had talked with Abraham about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah: this Man was the Lord. The Lord was glad that Jacob wanted God’s blessing so much that he kept on asking for it all night; for Jacob refused to quit wrestling with God until God had given him a blessing.

Then Jacob said to the Man, “Now tell me Your name.”

But the Lord answered, “Do not ask!” And the Lord blessed Jacob there.

Jacob was afraid something dreadful would happen to him because he had seen God and talked to Him. But God blessed him instead. Then Jacob (or Israel, as we can call him now) named that place Peniel, which means “the face of God.” For  he said, I have seen God face to face.”

The sun was rising as he limped back across the stream. He limped for the rest of his life because the Lord had touched him. Probably the Lord did this to make him always remember that God had blessed him.

When Jacob saw his brother Esau coming with four hundred men, he divided his wives and their children into groups. If Esau attacked, perhaps some of them could run away and escape, and not all be killed. Then Jacob went on ahead by himself to meet his brother.

He bowed low before him seven times. Esau was pleased at Jacob’s humility and ran to meet him. He put his arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, as men still do in that country when they meet friends. Then they both started crying.

God had promised Jacob to be with him and keep him from harm, and now we have seen how God kept His promise. First, He hadn’t let Laban hurt Jacob or even speak roughly to him; then, He made that angry brother Esau, who had wanted to kill him, feel so good towards him that he cried!

Then Esau asked, “Who are these women and children?”

“They are all mine,” Jacob replied. Then the slave-wives and Leah and Rachel came with their children, and the children me their Uncle Esau for the first time.

Esau asked Jacob “Why did you give me all of those sheep and goats?”

“They are a present for you,” Jacob replied.

“No, you shouldn’t do that,” Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep them.” For Esau had plenty of flocks and herds of his own.

But Jacob said “Please accept my present,” and he begged him until Esau finally did.

Esau suggested to Jacob that they travel together as they returned home, but Jacob was afraid to. He told Esau to go on ahead while he followed more slowly.

“Some of the children are too little to go very far at a time.” He explained, “and the flocks and herds cannot be driven too fast or they will get sick and die.”

Esau agreed and offered to leave some of his own men with Jacob to help him and to protect him from robbers; but Jacob said he didn’t need them. Finally Esau went back home.

Questions:

What did Jacob and the Man do until dawn?

Who was the man?

What happened when the Man touched Jacobs hip?

What was Jacob’s new name?

What does it mean?

What did Jacob and Esau do when they met each other?