Jacob (now Israel) and Rachel had a son named Joseph. Because Joseph was the son of his favorite wife, he was Israel’s favorite son and his brothers were jealous. Joseph had dreams about his brothers bowing down to him and that made his brothers more angry. They decided to get rid of Joseph. Instead of killing him they decided to throw him in a pit in the wilderness. As they were about to throw him in the pit some Ishmaelite merchants came by. Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites as a slave.

Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s army. The Lord was with Joseph and soon Potiphar saw that Joseph was a good man. He put him in charge of his household. Potiphar’s wife tried to tempt Joseph, but Joseph refused. She accused Joseph of attacking her and Joseph was put in prison.

While in prison Pharaoh’s baker and butler had dreams and wondered what they meant. Joseph had a gift from God to interpret dreams. He correctly interpreted the dreams of the baker and the butler. Later when Pharaoh had a dream to be interpreted the butler remembered Joseph.

Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, telling him that there would be seven years of plenty in Egypt and then seven years of famine. Pharaoh saw that Joseph was wise and put him in charge of preparing Egypt for the coming famine. Because Joseph was faithful, the Lord blessed him through his trials. Joseph was able to help Egypt and his family be prepared for the famine.