אֶ֫רֶץ

These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:

When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was the father of the Edomites.

Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan.

He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”

After them, seven other cows—sickly, ugly, and thin—came up. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt!

Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,

…but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

The abundance in the land will not be remembered, since the famine that follows it will be so severe.

Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”

Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.”

He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”

Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

During the seven years of abundance, the land brought forth bountifully.

During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it.

And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

When the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end,

…the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.

When extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’

Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

But bring your youngest brother back 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.’”

Now the famine was still severe in the land.