Week BY Week with Joseph

June 4

Joseph was one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Jacob loved him very much, and made him a colorful robe His brothers were jealous; they wanted colorful robes too , and to get special presents from their father as Joseph had received Joseph had a dream, and in it, he and his brother were bundling grain. The bundles his brothers were making bowed down to his bundles. Later he had another dream, and in it, the sun and the moon and the stars were bowing down to him. His father asked. “Does this mean our family will bow down to you one day?” When the brothers heard that they were even more angry They threw Joseph into a hole in the ground, too deep to climb out by himself

June 11

Along came some men who were going to a faraway city in the country of Egypt to sell things. Joseph’s brothers sold their own brother Joseph to the men. When they went home, they lied to their father and told them that a wild animal had killed Joseph. When the men got to the city, they sent Joseph to jail, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong Joseph was very sad, but he trusted God to help him He started to make friends with some of the other people in the jail, and with the soldiers that guarded them.

June 18

One man who had been in jail worked for the king, called Pharaoh. He told Joseph about a strange dream that he had about tasting drinks His job had been to make sure there was nothing in the Pharaoh’s food or drink that would make him sick Joseph told him what the dream meant. He said that the man would be out of jail soon and go back to work for the king. “Don’t forget about me, ” said Joseph. But the man did forget, and so Joseph stayed in jail.

June 25

Now it was Pharoah the king who was having strange dreams In one dream seven fat cows got very skinny and sick In another dream, Pharoah saw seven healthy corn plants, but then suddenly they dried up and there was no corn. Pharoah asked everyone what his dreams meant, but no one could tell him. Then the man who had been in jail with Joseph remembered that Joseph was good at telling what dreams meant. Pharaoh sent for Joseph to come to his palace.

Joseph told Pharoah what the dreams meant He said that for seven years there would be plenty of food. Cows would be healthy, and corn would grow. But after that, Joseph said, there would be no rain, and so the cows would get skinny and die, and the corn would dry up and there would be no food. Pharoah was so impressed that he put Joseph in charge of saving food for the bad times that were coming.

July 2

July 9

Joseph helped the people of Egypt save some of their food each year. After seven years of saving, they had a lot of corn and grain. And sure enough, it started to get very dry, and no rain came. Pretty soon the cows died because they didn’t have any food And because there was no rain, the corn the farmers planted all died as young plants But the people of Egypt had stored up food, so they had enough for these hard times.

July 16

But back at home, Joseph’s father and brothers didn’t have enough food. So Joseph’s father, Jacob, sent eleven of his twelve sons, the same brothers that had sold Joseph years before, to Egypt to ask to buy food The sons bowed down to Joseph and begged him to help them It was just like Joseph’s dream from long ago – remember when the bundles of grain bowed down to Joseph? And remember how jealous his brothers were, because they thought Joseph was bragging about how great he was? Joseph knew right away who his brothers were, but the brothers did not recognize Joseph. Joseph said that the brother named Simeon had to stay in Egypt and that the other brothers were to go home and bring back their youngest brother Benjamin Then Joseph sold them some grain and they went home When they got home, and opened their sacks, they found not only the grain, but the money that they had paid to Joseph.

July 23

When the brothers got home, they had enough food for a while, but then they ran out. Their father, Jacob, said that they should go back to Egypt and ask to buy more grain, and get their brother Simeon and bring him home The brothers told their father that Joseph had told them that they would need to bring the youngest brother, Benjamin, back with them. Their father Jacob cried and cried. He said, “That man in Egypt has already kept my son Simeon, if I send my youngest, Benjamin, he might keep him too! I could never let you take Benjamin!” The brothers convinced their father that if they wanted food, they would have to take their youngest brother, Benjamin. Their father Jacob said, “Take some gifts of honey, pistachio nuts and almonds, and take the money that he returned to you last time Maybe he is angry about the money and the gifts will make him feel better.”

July 30

So the brothers set out once again for Egypt with the gifts of honey, pistachio nuts and almonds, and the money from last time, and took more money for this time to pay for the grain. Joseph greeted the brothers who said how sorry they were that somehow the money for payment from last time was found in their sacks when they got home Joseph told them not to worry, that God must have given them a treasure, because he had received payment for the grain. Then the brothers gave Joseph the presents they had brought. Joseph asked the brothers if their father (and also his father) was still alive, and heard that he was. When he saw his youngest brother Benjamin, he was so sad that he quickly left the room and told the brothers he would see them later in the day.

August 6

Joseph’s brothers, still in Egypt, went to have lunch with their brother Joseph, but they still did not know who he was Joseph told his men to fill up the sacks with grain so that they would have it to take home. But Joseph also told his men to hide a silver cup in one of the sacks, one that the youngest brother Benjamin was carrying. The brothers set out for home, but soon, Joseph’s men came after them and wanted to search the sacks. They pulled out the silver cup, and they were very angry. They wanted to know why Benjamin had stolen it! Hadn’t Joseph been good to the brothers and sent them on with full sacks of grain? Why, then, would they steal? Joseph’s men made Benjamin, the youngest brother, return with them because they thought he had stolen the silver cup. All the other brothers were forced to return to Joseph as well.

August 13

When the brothers got back to Egypt with Joseph’s men, Joseph pretended to be very angry The brothers were very upset too They said that if they went home without Benjamin their father would be so sad that he might die They explained that long ago they had a brother named Joseph, and that he had been killed by wild beasts. With that brother dead and Benjamin kept in Egypt, it would be too sad for their father. Joseph couldn’t keep the secret any longer. He told his brothers that he was the one they had sold long ago, the one they had lied to their father about, saying he had died. Everyone hugged and cried, they were so happy to be reunited Joseph asked them to go and get their father and bring him to live in Egypt, and to move the whole family to be near him.

August 20

When the Pharaoh, the king, heard that the men buying grain were actually Joseph’s brothers, he gave them fine clothes and gifts for their father at home. The Pharaoh told them to bring their father and their families to Egypt to be near Joseph, and he promised them the finest land and the healthiest animals for their farms So the brothers went home with the good news for their father Jacob that his son Joseph had not been killed by wild animals, but in fact was alive. And more, he was the Pharoah’s important man in charge of the grain and the Pharaoh’s household. Jacob was so happy to hear that his son was alive and had done well for himself in life. So the sons loaded up their father Jacob, all their wives and children, and everything they had and started out for Egypt Jacob had a dream, and in the dream God told him not to be afraid of going to Egypt. “I will be with you, “God said, “and you will soon see your long-lost son Joseph, the one you thought had been killed.

August 27

September 3

When they were close to the land of Egypt, they saw Joseph riding out on a donkey to meet them Joseph and their father were reunited after many years, and they hugged and hugged Joseph told the family that the Pharoah would ask them what their jobs were in their old country. He told them to say that they were shepherds. Joseph brought his big family to his home and went and told the Pharaoh that his family had arrived. He took five of his brothers with him.

Pharoah asked the brothers about their jobs and they told him they were shepherds Pharoah told Joseph to give some of the very best land in Egypt to his brothers so that they might settle their sheep where there was rich, green grass. He also called for Joseph’s father, and when he met him, he asked how old he was. Jacob said that he was 130 years old. Jacob said a prayer of thanks to the Pharoah for his kindness to his family, and settled into their new land, where there was plenty of grain, and plenty of