Joseph Got Thrown Into Prison [Pothiphar's Wife Lied] ... And He Interpreted His First Two Dreams In Prison

So, his brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites, and they in return sold Joseph to Potiphar ... Pharaoh's right hand man.

But The Lord was with Joseph and made him a prosperous man ... while he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

Potiphar saw that The Lord was with Joseph and that everything that Joseph touched, turned into gold for him.

So Joseph found grace in his master's eyes ... and Potiphar made Joseph the overseer of his house, and all that he had put into his hand ... and The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake.  And the blessing of The Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

Potiphar trusted Joseph completely, because Joseph was a goodly person and well favoured.

But when Potiphar's wife saw the handsome Joseph, she immediately wanted him, and she tried her best to seduce him.  When she grasped his robe, he tore loose from her grip and ran like hell.

She then called the guard and cried that Joseph was trying to rape her.

He was thrown into prison ... but God made everybody in the prison like him, even the keeper of the prison found grace in God's eyes.

While Joseph was in prison, the baker and the butler of the king of Egypt offended their king ... and Pharaoh's wrath was against his two head officers, the chief of the butlers, and the chief of the bakers.

So he threw them both in prison ... the same prison where Joseph was.

And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them ... and they continued a season in ward.

Then, one night they both dreamed a personal dream.

When they woke up the next morning, Joseph could see that they both were very sad, and he asked them what was going on.

They told him about their dreams, and that they couldn't understand what it meant, and that they were worried.

He then urged them to tell their dreams to him, because only The Lord could answer them to the meaning of the dreams.

The chief butler then told his dream to Joseph: 'In my dream, behold, a vine was before me.  And in the vine were three branches, and it was as though it budded, and her 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 in Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.'

And Joseph said unto him: 'This is the interpretation of it:  The three branched are three days.  Yet, within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, restore thee unto thy place ... and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

But think on me when it shall be well with 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, 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, I had three white baskets on my head.  And the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats 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.  Yet, within 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 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 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 interpreted to them.


Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgave him.



Source: Genesis 40

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Joseph Got Sold By His Jealous Brothers

The Twelve Tribes of Israel [Jacob] were as follows:

The sons of Israel and Leah ... Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun,
The sons of Israel and Zilpah, Leah's handmaid ... Gad and Asher,
The sons of Israel and Rachel ... Joseph and Bejamin,
The sons of Israel and Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid ... Dan and Naphtali.

Esau had five sons that was bared to him in the land of Canaan ... Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam and Korah.

Esau later left Canaan and moved on to Mount Seir, because the land could no longer bear to feed the number of cattle that Esau and his brother

Israel had together.

As time passed, Israel's son Joseph grew into a fine young man that made his father proud.

When Joseph was 17 he took care of the flocks, together with his brothers, the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah. 

He told his father everything that they did ... and they got very angry at him for putting them in a bad light in Israel's eyes.

Israel loved Joseph the most and he lovingly made a coat of many colors for Joseph, which Joseph proudly wore wherever he went ... he loved his coat that his father made especially for him.

When his brothers saw that Israel loved Joseph more than anything else, they started to hate Joseph even more.

Then Joseph dreamed a dream ... and told it to his brothers.

He told them his dream: 'For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright ... and behold, your sheaves stood round about, making abeisance to my sheaf.

His brothers didn't like this dream at all. They asked him what he meant ... that they will have to bow before him?

So they took the story to their father, Israel ... and Joseph told the dream again to his father and brothers.

His father rebuked Joseph and said to him: 'What is this dream that thou hast dreamed?  Shall I and thy mother and thy brothers indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?'

And his brother envied him, but his father observed what was said, and he was thinking about the dream.

Still fuming, Joseph's brother went to Shechem to feed their father's flock.

After a few days Israel called Joseph, confirming with him that his brothers was at Shechem to feed the flock. He then asked Joseph to go to his brothers and the flock to see how things are going ... and then he must get back to Israel to report.

So Joseph immediately started his journey from the safety of Hebron to Shechem.

When he got to Shechem, he started looking for his brothers and the flock, but he couldn't find them.  He eventually came upon a lone man and asked him if he had seen his brothers.

The man confirmed that he had ... they went on further to Dothan, where there is more feed for the animals.

Joseph went to Dothan and he found them there.

When his brothers saw him coming from afar, they were fed up with him and decided to kill him and throw him in the first pit they could find ... they wanted to get rid of the pest in their lives ... they would then tell Israel that some wild animal had killed Joseph and eaten him. 

They snickered and wandered what would then become of his dreams.

Luckily Reuben overheard this conspiracy and stopped them from killing Joseph.

He said to them: 'Let us not kill him.  Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him.' ... that he might rid Joseph out of their hands, to come back for him later and take Joseph back to his father. They then throw Joseph in a pit

So when Joseph reached them, they grabbed him and took of his coat of many colors.  They then cast him in the pit ... but the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

They then satisfied sat down to eat a little something, and when they looked up, they saw a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels, bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

And Judah said to his brothers: 'What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?  Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.' ... and his brothers accepted his proposal.

So they got Joseph out of the pit ... and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmeelites and they took Joseph with them to Eqypt.

When Reuben later returned to get Joseph out of the pit, to take him back to his father, he found that Joseph was missing. He demanded from his brothers to tell him where Joseph was, but they covered up what they did by dipping Joseph's coat of colors in lamb's blood and brought it back to their father.  They told him that it was all that they have found.

Israel confirmed that it was the coat of many colors that he made for Joseph and said a wild beast must have killed his beloved son. 

Israel was beyond himself with grieve ... he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins ... and mourned for his son for a very long time.

All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him ... but he was beyond comfort.

He told them that he would go to his grave mourning for his lost child.

And Joseph was sold, in Egypt, to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.



Source: Genesis 37

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Jacob's Daughter Dinah Got Ravaged By Shechem ... And Her Brothers Revenged Her

So, while Esau was on his way back to Seir, Jacob decided to set up house in a place called Succoth.

Then one day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit other young girls of the land.

Shechem, the son of Hamor which was the prince of that particular country, saw her walking.  So he grabbed her and deflowered her ... and took her with him.

He started to learn to know her and he fell in love with her.

So he went to his father, Hamor, and said to him: 'Get me this damsel to wife.'

Jacob has heard, in the meantime, that his daughter was raped, but he held his peace, because his sons was still out with the cattle in the field.

Hamor went to Jacob to talk about the situation ... and at that time Jacob's sons was back from the field.

When they heard the story of what happened to Dinah they were vivid with anger for what Shechem did to the daughter of Jacob.

Hamor then said to Jacob and his sons: 'My son Shechem likes the daughter of your house very much.  Give her to him as a wife and then we can become family and share everything we have.  We can then marry into each other's families.  You can even choose a piece of ground as your own.'

He furthermore told them that he would pay any price they want. He even promised them gifts beyond their imagination ... they must just give Dinah to Shechem to be his wife.

And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully ... because he had defiled Dina, their sister ... and said: 'We cannot do this thing ... to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised ... for that were reproach unto us.

But in this will we consent unto you ... if you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised ... then we will give our daughters unto you, and we will dwell with you and we will become one people.

If you don't do it, we will take our daughters and move on.'

So they had an accord.

Shechem and Hamor went back to the city and told the men of the city what has been arranged.

All the men then lined up to be circumcised ... the women of the Israelites were beautiful and well bred.

They were drowing in pain for the next three days ... and this was the time that Jacob's 2 sons Simeon and Levi made their move.

They took their swords and went into the city boldy ... they killed every man in the city, including Hamor and his son Shechem.

They then found their sister, Dinah, and took her back to her father, Jacob.

Jacob was not happy about the way his 2 sons handled the situation ... he was worried that the Canaanites and the Perizzites would come for revenge ... and Jacob and his would be totally outmanned.

But Simeon and Levi stood by what they did ... they answered their father: 'He should not have treated our sister as a harlot.'

When Jacob was alone, God said to him: 'Pack up and go to Beth-el and stay there.  Build an altar there for Me, because I am the God that met with you when you were running away from your brother.

Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.

And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.'

So everybody gave all the strange gods and all their earrings to Jacob, and he hid it under the oak which was by Shechem.

And while they journeyed to Beth-el, God terrosised the cities that they passed, and the people kept clear from the Israelites.

Eventually Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Beth-el ... he and all the people that were with him.

He built there an altar and called the place El-beth-el.

And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him, saying unto him: 'Thy name shall not be called Jacob anymore ... but Israel shall be thy name.'

It came to pass that Rebekah became pregnant again ... but she died during labour ... Israel [Jacob] called his son Benjamin.

At last Israel [Jacob] reached his father, Isaac, in Mamre ... and Isaac was 140 years old by this time.

Not long after that Isaac gave up the ghost and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Genesis 34-35

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Jacob Met With Esau For The First Time After Stealing His Birthright, 20 Years Back

Laban came into sight of Jacob in the mount Gilead.  Laban decided to confront Jacob the next day.  So they camped for the night.

That night God came to Laban in a dream and said to him: 'Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.'

So Laban did take heed and when he met with Jacob the next morning, they sorted their differences in a calm and reasonable way ... and after friendly farewells Laban and Jacob parted for the first time after Jacob had come to Laban to work and live with him, 20 years earlier.

Jacob was well on his way to Canaan, when he caught sight of angels of The Lord.  When he saw them he said: 'This is God's host', and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

When he found that he was getting close to Esau, he sent messengers before him to Esau, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

He then commanded them, saying: 'You shall speak with my lord Esau.  Say to him that I, his servant Jacob, has been with Laban until now.  Tell him about my wealth, and that I humbly try to find grace in his eyes.'

The messengers went, but returned with disturbing news.  They informed Jacob that while they were on their way to Esau, they had met with Esau.  Esau was on his way to Jacob and he had 400 men with him.

Jacob was stressed out of his mind.  He was not sure if Esau was carrying a grudge because Jacob stole his blessing 20 years ago, or if he was out for revenge.

He divided everything he had ... animals and people ... into 2 groups, thinking that if Esau were to kill one group, the other group had a chance to get away and survive.

He then prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of his brother, Esau.

He saw that the day was gone, and decided to wait until the next morning, to plan his next move.

The next morning he put together a gift for Esau out of his stock ... 200 she goats and 20 he goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milch camels with their colts, 40 kine, 10 bulls, 20 she donkeys and 10 horses.

He then instructed his slaves to take the animals to meet Esau before he would reach Jacob. He said to them to tell Esau ... upon his probable question of who they were and where they came from ... that they must say to him: 'We are the servants of Jacob, your servant. This is a gift to you from him ... and he is travelling behind us.'

Jacob then knew that there is nothing more that he could do to keep him and his save.  He will know by the expression on Esau's face what his reaction was on Jacob's gift.

So the slaves got prepared for their journey and they left right away to meet with Esau.

That night Jacob was so worried that he couldn't sleep.  He rose during the night and moved his caravan over the ford Jabbok to the other side for more safety.

Eventually he was standing alone on the bank, when he was attacked by a man.  They wrestled through the night until morning broke.  When the man saw that he couldn't overcome Jacob, he touched Jacob in the hollow of his thigh and Jacob's leg was suddenly handicapped, while he wrestled with the man.

Jacob was getting the overhand and the man finally asked Jacob to let him go.

Jacob told the man that he will only let him go if the man was to bless him.

The man then asked: 'What is your name?'  Jacob answered: 'Jacob'.  And the man said to Jacob: 'You will no longer be called Jacob.  You will be called Israel.'

Jacob blessed and called the place Peniel ... for he had seen God face to face, in the form of a man, and lived to talk about it.

Just when they past Peniel, the sun came up ... and Jacob saw Esau on the horizon, coming towards them.

 When the 2 brothers were within reach at last, Jacob bowed 7 times before Esau.  Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him and fell on his neck ... and kissed him ... and they wept.

Jacob then introduced his family to Esau and had to insist that Esau took the gift that Jacob sent him ... Esau was a very wealthy man himself, but he at last accept the gift from his brother.

They then started the journey to Edom ... Esau and his men hastily departed first, while Jacob decided on a more relaxed travel pace with the small children, women and baby animals.

So, while Esau was on his way back to Seir, Jacob decided to set up house in a place called Succoth.

He later built an altar in Shalem, a city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram ... and called it El-elohe-Israel.



Genesis 32-33

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Jacob planned to move on ... and Laban tried to cheat him

So Jacob cornered Laban and asked him to set him free, because Jacob wanted to go back to Canaan with everything he had.  He wanted his own place.


Laban didn't like the sound of that, because Laban knew that he was living under God's goodwill as long as Jacob was with him.

So he tried to convince Jacob to stay.  He offered Jacob any wage that Jacob wanted.  Jacob replied that he knew how well God had taken care of Laban and how rich Laban had gotten, but he, Jacob was on his way.  He then made a deal with Laban.

He said to Laban: 'I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and the speckled among the goats ... and they will be my wage. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face ... every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep ... that shall be counted stolen by me.'

Laban agreed to the deal. But he immediately went and removed every single animal that had speckles, or spots or are brown, and put them under the care of his sons, about 3 day's ride from where Jacob was taking care of the other animals.

When Jacob realized what game Laban was playing, he took rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree ... and pilled white streaks in them, and made the colored rods appear white.  He then set the rods in the gutters in the watering troughs ... so when the flock came to drink they absorb what was in their water.

When the flocks conceived later, they brought forth offspring ringstreaked, speckled and spotted.  He kept his flock apart from Laban, and whenever he spotted good cattle in Laban's camp, he would feed them his muti, and they would bare him speckled and spotted cattle.

And he increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and men servants.

Laban's son's got very jealous of Jacob ... Jacob overheard them and he then noticed that Laban too wasn't as friendly as he used to be.

Jacob knew that the time had come for him to move on ... fast!


And then The Lord visited Jacob and said to him: 'Return to the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.'

So Jacob called his wives and told them the whole story of how their father, Laban, kept cheating him, Jacob ... and that Laban and his sons were treating him with jealousy and rudeness.  He also told them that The Lord spoke to him and what He had said to Jacob.

Leah and Rachel immediately sided with their husband and said to him to do what God told him to do.

So he packed all his stuff ... and he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting which he had gotten in Padan-aram ... for to go to Isaac, his father in the land of Canaan.

He left quietly and quickly, without telling Laban.

When Laban found out that Jacob had left 3 days earlier, he took his brothers and pursued Jacob ... he caught up with Jacob in 7 days.



Source: Genesis Chapter 31

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