Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land ^(A)where his father was a ^[a]stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to his father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. Also he ^(D)made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^(E)hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ^7 (F)There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, ^(G)the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and ^(H)your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹ And ^(I)his brothers envied him, but his father ^(J)kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^(K)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^(L)Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^(M)Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ^(N)Dothan.

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^(O)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this ^[b]dreamer is coming! ^20 (P)Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹ But ^(Q)Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^(R)stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^25 (S)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(T)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(U)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(V)conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(W)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(X)our brother and ^(Y)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then ^(Z)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(AA)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(AB)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^(AC)tore his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^(AD)is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹ So they took ^(AE)Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^(AF)wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob ^(AG)tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^(AH)mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(AI)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(AJ)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶ Now ^(AK)the ^[c]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38 It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and ^(AL)visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ² And Judah ^(AM)saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(AN)Shua, and he married her and went in to her. ³ So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^(AO)Er. ⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^(AP)Onan. ⁵ And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name ^(AQ)Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

⁶ Then Judah ^(AR)took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was ^(AS)Tamar. ⁷ But ^(AT)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, ^(AU)and the Lord killed him. ⁸ And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^(AV)your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the heir would not be ^(AW)his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. ¹⁰ And the thing which he did ^[d]displeased the Lord; therefore He killed ^(AX)him also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ^(AY)“Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt ^(AZ)in her father’s house.

¹² Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah ^(BA)was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up ^(BB)to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and ^(BC)sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw ^(BD)that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷ And he said, ^(BE)“I will send a young goat from the flock.”

So she said, ^(BF)“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”

¹⁸ Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”

So she said, ^(BG)“Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ So she arose and went away, and ^(BH)laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. ²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was ^[e]openly by the roadside?”

And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”

²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”

²³ Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

²⁴ And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has ^(BI)played the harlot; furthermore she is ^[f]with child by harlotry.”

So Judah said, “Bring her out ^(BJ)and let her be burned!”

²⁵ When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, ^(BK)“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”

²⁶ So Judah ^(BL)acknowledged them and said, ^(BM)“She has been more righteous than I, because ^(BN)I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he ^(BO)never knew her again.

²⁷ Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸ And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called ^(BP)Perez.^{[g] 30} Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called ^(BQ)Zerah.

Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken ^(BR)down to Egypt. And ^(BS)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^(BT)bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ^2 (BU)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(BV)made all he did ^[h]to prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(BW)found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him ^(BX)overseer of his house, and all that he had he put ^[i]under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that ^(BY)the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s ^[j]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the ^[k]bread which he ate.

Now Joseph ^(BZ)was handsome in form and appearance.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife ^[l]cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ^(CA)“Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. ^(CB)How then can I do this great wickedness, and ^(CC)sin against God?”

¹⁰ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he ^(CD)did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹ But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹² that she ^(CE)caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³ And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a ^(CF)Hebrew to ^[m]mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(CG)spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸ so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his ^(CH)anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and ^(CI)put him into the ^(CJ)prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He ^(CK)gave^[n] him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison ^(CL)committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under ^[o]Joseph’s authority, because ^(CM)the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The Prisoners’ Dreams

40 It came to pass after these things that the ^(CN)butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(CO)angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. ^3 (CP)So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. ⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

⁵ Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, ^(CQ)had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. ⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were ^[p]sad. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, ^(CR)“Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, ^(CS)“We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

So Joseph said to them, ^(CT)“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² And Joseph said to him, ^(CU)“This is the interpretation of it: The three branches ^(CV)are three days. ¹³ Now within three days Pharaoh will ^(CW)lift up your head and restore you to your ^[q]place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. ¹⁴ But ^(CX)remember me when it is well with you, and ^(CY)please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed I was ^(CZ)stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; ^(DA)and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three ^[r]white baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ So Joseph answered and said, ^(DB)“This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. ^19 (DC)Within three days Pharaoh will lift ^[s]off your head from you and ^(DD)hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

²⁰ Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s ^(DE)birthday, that he ^(DF)made a feast for all his servants; and he ^(DG)lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ Then he ^(DH)restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and ^(DI)he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But he ^(DJ)hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but ^(DK)forgot him.

Judgment on Israel

⁶ Thus says the Lord:

Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

⁶ Therefore do ^(A)according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

⁷ “But show kindness to the sons of ^(B)Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who ^(C)eat at your table, for so ^(D)they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

⁸ “And see, you have with you ^(E)Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But ^(F)he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and ^(G)I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, ^(H)do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but ^(I)bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”

Death of David^(J)

¹⁰ So ^(K)David ^[a]rested with his fathers, and was buried in ^(L)the City of David. ¹¹ The period that David ^(M)reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. ^12 (N)Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was ^(O)firmly established.

Solomon Executes Adonijah

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, ^(P)“Do you come peaceably?”

And he said, “Peaceably.” ¹⁴ Moreover he said, “I have something to say to you.”

And she said, “Say it.”

¹⁵ Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was ^(Q)mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for ^(R)it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I ask one petition of you; do not ^[b]deny me.”

And she said to him, “Say it.”

¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me ^(S)Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

¹⁸ So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.”

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and ^(T)bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; ^(U)so she sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not ^[c]refuse me.”

And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

²² And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my ^(V)older brother—for him, and for ^(W)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, ^(X)“May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! ²⁴ Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a ^[d]house for me, as He ^(Y)promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

²⁵ So King Solomon sent by the hand of ^(Z)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(AA)Anathoth, to your own fields, for ^[e]you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, ^(AB)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might ^(AC)fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

²⁸ Then news came to Joab, for Joab ^(AD)had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and ^(AE)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, ^(AF)strike him down.” ³⁰ So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ^(AG)‘Come out!’ ”

And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

³¹ Then the king said to him, ^(AH)“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, ^(AI)that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. ³² So the Lord ^(AJ)will return his ^[f]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous ^(AK)and better than he, and killed them with the sword—^(AL)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and ^(AM)Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. ³³ Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and ^(AN)upon the head of his descendants forever. ^(AO)But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”

³⁴ So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put ^(AP)Zadok the priest in the place of ^(AQ)Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Then the king sent and called for ^(AR)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. ³⁷ For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross ^(AS)the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; ^(AT)your ^[g]blood shall be on your own head.”

³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to ^(AU)Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” ⁴⁰ So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. ⁴¹ And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. ⁴² Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, ^(AV)all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will ^(AW)return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and ^(AX)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the ^(AY)kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon Requests Wisdom^(AZ)

3 Now ^(BA)Solomon made ^[h]a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her ^(BB)to the City of David until he had finished building his ^(BC)own house, and ^(BD)the house of the Lord, and ^(BE)the wall all around Jerusalem. ^2 (BF)Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. ³ And Solomon ^(BG)loved the Lord, ^(BH)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

⁴ Now ^(BI)the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(BJ)for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (BK)At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(BL)in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

^6 (BM)And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he ^(BN)walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You ^(BO)have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a ^(BP)little child; I do not know how ^(BQ)to go out or come in. ⁸ And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You ^(BR)have chosen, a great people, ^(BS)too numerous to be numbered or counted.