וישב

Jacob settled in Canaan. Joseph, age seventeen, helped his brothers with the flocks and sometimes brought their bad behavior to his father. Israel (another name for Jacob) loved Joseph most and gave him a ketonet passim, an ornamented tunic that set him apart from the others. The brothers hated Joseph and could not speak kindly to him.

Joseph told them two dreams: in one, their sheaves bowed to his; in another, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed to him. His brothers grew angrier, though Jacob kept the matter in mind.

Later Jacob sent Joseph from the valley of Hebron to check on his brothers near Shechem. A man found Joseph wandering and directed him to Dothan. When the brothers saw Joseph coming, they plotted to kill him. Reuben urged them not to shed blood, so they stripped Joseph’s tunic and threw him into an empty pit. Then they saw Ishmaelites traveling to Egypt with camels carrying gum, balm, and ladanum. Judah suggested selling Joseph instead. They sold him for twenty pieces of silver. The brothers dipped the tunic in goat’s blood, and Jacob mourned deeply.

Around that time Judah left his brothers and stayed near an Adullamite named Hirah. Judah married the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and they had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah found a wife for Er named Tamar, but Er was displeasing to God and died.

After that, Tamar remained in Judah’s family, but things did not go the way Judah expected, and there was a painful, confusing struggle about what would happen next. In time, Judah realized he had been unfair to Tamar, and he admitted it.

Tamar later gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah.

Meanwhile, Joseph was taken to Egypt. There he was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Joseph was far from home, and everything around him was new, new language, new rules, and new people. But Joseph kept working hard, and soon he was noticed for being capable and trustworthy.

In Egypt, Potiphar bought Joseph, and God was with him. Joseph succeeded in his work, so Potiphar put him in charge of the whole household, and the house was blessed because of Joseph.

Potiphar’s wife tried to tempt Joseph, but he refused, saying it would be a sin before God. One day she grabbed his garment when no one else was inside. Joseph ran out, leaving the garment behind. She lied and accused him, and Potiphar put Joseph in the prison where the king’s prisoners were kept. Even there, God showed Joseph kindness, and the chief jailer trusted him with responsibility.

Later Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker were imprisoned there. They each had a troubling dream, and Joseph said, “Surely God can interpret.” He explained that in three days the cupbearer would be restored, but the baker would be put to death. On Pharaoh’s birthday it happened just as Joseph said.

Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him, since he had been taken from the land of the Hebrews, but the cupbearer forgot.