Joseph, Son of Israel
(Part 2)

By Beverly Webecke

1 Joseph had been sold as a slave to an Egyptian named Potiphar. Because Joseph was honest and hardworking, Potiphar appointed him overseer of all that he, Potiphar, had. (See Gen. 37:36; Gen. 39:1–6.)

2 But Potiphar’s wicked wife told lies about Joseph. Potiphar believed his wife and threw Joseph into prison for a long time. (See Gen. 39:7–20.)

3 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, started to have strange dreams. No one knew what the dreams meant. Finally someone said that there was a man in prison—Joseph—who could interpret dreams. Joseph was brought to see Pharaoh. (See Gen. 41:1–14.)

4 Joseph told Pharaoh that his dreams meant that there would be seven years with plenty of food that would be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh believed that the Spirit of God was with Joseph, and put him in charge of collecting and storing food for the famine. (See Gen. 41:15–41.)

5 After the years of plenty, there was a famine, but the people of Egypt survived because of the food that Joseph had stored. People from other lands also came to buy the food. (See Gen. 41:47–49, 53–57.)

6 Israel’s family was hungry too. He sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt to buy food. When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he disguised himself so that they did not recognize him. When they bowed down to Joseph, his dreams of the grain and the stars came true. (See Gen. 42:1–9.)

7 Joseph pretended to think that his brothers were spies. He kept Simeon as a hostage so that the others would bring Benjamin to Egypt. Before the nine brothers left, Joseph had all of the money that they had paid for food hidden inside their sacks of corn. (See Gen. 42:9–26.)

8 When Israel’s family had eaten all the food that had been brought from Egypt, the nine brothers returned to Egypt with Benjamin. Joseph invited them to dinner at his house. He cried when he saw Benjamin. (See Gen. 43:1–30.)

9 Finally, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and after they saw that Joseph was not angry with them, they cried and kissed each other. Later all of Israel’s family came to live in Egypt. (See Gen. 44–46:7.)

Illustrated by Jerry Harston