dren, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.1 And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, “Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf." And his brethren said to him, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?" And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me.” And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, "What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.

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And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, "Are not thy brethren feeding the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them." And he said to them, "Here am I." And he said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field:

1. A long and richly embroidered tunic, such as was worn only by the sons of princes.

and the man asked him, saying, "What seekest thou?" And he said, "I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock." And the man said, "They are departed hence; for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan." And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil beast hath devoured him:' and we shall see what will become of his dreams." And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let us not take his life." And Reuben said unto them, "Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father." And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

:

And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites1 was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, "What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh." And his brethren hearkened unto him. And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmael

1. Descendants of Ishmael and forefathers of the Arabs.

ites for twenty pieces of silver.1 And they brought Joseph into Egypt.

And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, "The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?" And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, "This have we found: know now whether it is thy son's coat or not?" And he knew it and said, "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt tora in pieces." And Jacob rent his garments, and put sack... cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, "For I will go down to Sheol' to my son mourning." And his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

[Potiphar made Joseph a family servant, and the young Israelite performed his duties so well that he was taken notice of by his master, who finally made him overseer of his house. This position he filled so ably that Potiphar placed him in charge of all his possessions. Shortly after this advancement Joseph was accused of a crime of which he was innocent and thrown into prison by his master. But the keeper of the prison soon discovered that Joseph was a man of extraordinary ability and made him overseer of all the other prisoners.]

1. A little over eleven dollars.

2. Or Hades; the place of departed spirits.

XIX

JOSEPH INTERPRETS THE DREAMS OF HIS FELLOW PRISONERS

(Genesis xl: 1-23)

And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh' was wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he ministered unto them; and they continued a season in ward. And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and saw them, and, behold, they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in ward in his master's house, saying, "Wherefore look ye so sad today?" And they said unto him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it." And Joseph said unto them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? tell it me, I pray you."

And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: and 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

1. The common title of a race of kings who successively ruled Egypt. This Pharaoh was one of the Hyksôs kings.

hand." And Joseph said unto him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head,1 and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews:2 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 unto Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of baked food for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head." And Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets are three days; within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee." And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: but he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

1. Set thee at liberty.

2. Hebrews: "The members of that branch of the Semitic family of mankind descended, according to tradition, from Heber, the greatgrandson of Shem, in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the Israelites; the Jews." [Cent. Dict.] "Israelite" was the sacred or religious name; "Hebrew" the common name.