Once upon a time there was a boy named Josef. Joseph had many brothers, but his father, whose name was Jacob, was especially fond of Joseph. Jacob made Joseph a colorful coat. The coat was quite nice and eye-catching. Joseph’s brothers were jealous because they wanted such a coat too.
One night, Josef had a strange dream. In his dream, sheaves of grains, which symbolized his brothers, bowed down to his sheaf. When he told this to his brothers, they became even more jealous. “Do you really mean to say that we should bow down to you?” they asked angrily. Joseph had another dream in which the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. He also told his family that.
One day, when Joseph’s brothers were out in the field, Jacob sent Joseph to them. The brothers saw Joseph coming from afar and became angry. “Let’s catch Joseph and sell him!” they decided. They took off his colorful coat and threw him into a pit. Later, they pulled it out and sold it to merchants in a distant land, Egypt. The brothers pretended that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast.
In Egypt, Joseph lived as a servant to a man named Potiphar. He worked very hard, and God was with him, so that everything he did went well. Potiphar liked Joseph and soon confided everything to him.
But one day something bad happened. Potiphar’s wife wrongly accused Joseph of doing something wrong, and Joseph was imprisoned. But God was with Joseph there too. Joseph helped others by explaining their dreams, and soon Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, came to the attention of him. Pharaoh had two strange dreams and called Joseph to explain them. Joseph told him that the dreams meant that a great famine would soon come in Egypt.
Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph the most important man after him. Josef was supposed to make sure that there was enough food for everyone. So Joseph did all he could to prepare Egypt for famine.
Later, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food because there was nothing left to eat in their country. They did not recognize Joseph, but Joseph recognized them immediately. After a while, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and even though they had treated him badly, he forgave them, and they all rejoiced together.
Joseph told his brothers that God had turned all the evil that had happened into something good. Thanks to Josef’s help, many people had enough to eat.
Message of history
Even though bad things happen sometimes, God can make something good out of them if we trust Him. God helps us to forgive others and to have a good heart.
Bible passage
The story of Joseph and his brothers spans several chapters in Genesis, especially chapters 37 to 50.
Genesis 37 (Excerpts)
“And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. This is the story of Jacob’s lineage. When Joseph was 17 years old, he tended the flock with his brothers, as a boy with the sons of Bilhas and Silpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought her father a bad rumor about her. And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was born to him in his old age; and he made him a colorful tunic. So when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak to him in a friendly way. And Joseph had a dream, which he told to his brothers; Then they hated him even more. And he said to them, “Listen to what a dream I have: Behold, we bound sheaves in the field; then my sheaf stood up and stood there, and your sheaves stood around and bowed down to my sheaf. Then his brothers said to him, “Will you be king over us, will you rule over us?” And they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of his speeches. And he had another dream, which he told to his brothers, saying, “Behold, I have had another dream: behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars bowed before me.” And when he told this to his father and brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had?” Shall we come, I, and thy mother, and thy brothers, to prostrate ourselves before thee?” (Genesis 37:1-10)
Genesis 45 (excerpt)
“Then Joseph could no longer control himself in front of all who stood around him, and he cried: ‘Let every one of me go out!’ And there was no one standing by him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians heard it, including Pharaoh’s house. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” And his brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified at his face. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come here to me.” And they came up. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you have sold into Egypt. And now do not grieve or reproach yourselves for having sold me here; for it is for the sake of your life that God has sent me before you. For the famine has already been in the land for two years, and there will be no ploughing and harvesting for another five years. God has sent me before you to leave you on earth and to keep you alive for a great salvation. And now, it is not you who have sent me here, but God; and he has made me the father of Pharaoh, and the lord of all his house, and the ruler of all Egypt. So go quickly up to my father and say to him: ‘Then your son Joseph has told you: ‘God has made me lord over all Egypt; Come down to me quickly, and do not delay!'” (Genesis 45:1-9)
These passages summarize the most significant events in the history of Joseph and his brothers, from the favoritism of the father to the sale to Egypt and the reconciliation with his brothers.
