This is meant to be a fun reading (with some commentary) for all ages through Scripture. Please do not take this as a substitute for reading through the Bible on your own.
Previously, Israel spoiled the first son of his favorite wife, Joseph. One way he did this was through a coat that was either technicolor, many colored, or simply long-sleeved. Either way, it was an expensive gift that spoiled Joseph and made him a little brat.
His brothers were so angry with Joseph that they sold him into slavery. They took Joseph's coat and made it look like an animal ate him to prevent their father from learning the truth.
As a slave in Egypt, God looked after Joseph, and all his work prospered. He even got a new coat, though not as fancy as his old one. However, his master's wife, who is given no name in the Scriptures, took notice of him. She asks Joseph to do something wrong. She keeps insisting, to the point that Joseph has to flee the room, leaving his coat behind.
She knows she has done wrong, but wants to hide it. She claims Joseph was the one in the wrong, and that he ran out after she screamed, using his left-behind coat as proof of his presence. The result is Potiphar has Joseph, his slave, arrested.
Yet even in this darkness, God did not forget Joseph. He continued to do good work, even in prison. The result was the head jailer gave Joseph a lot of responsibilities and treated him well.
God also helped Joseph develop his gift for dreams, specifically the interpretation of them. There were two prisoners of the Pharaoh there with Joseph, the cupbearer and the baker. Joseph interpreted both dreams, stating the cupbearer's dream as a sign he would return to his former role. Joseph also asks the cupbearer to remember him when he returns and try to help Joseph find his own freedom.
In three days time, the Pharaoh's birthday in fact, all happens as Joseph interpreted. Yet the cupbearer forgot about Joseph and his message, and so Joseph remained in jail.
We fast forward now to two years later. At this point in time, Pharaoh begins to have some troubling dreams. In them, there were 7 fattened cows grazing. Suddenly, these cows were approached by 7 other cows, very thin to the point of starvation. These new cows ate the 7 fattened cows. After this, Pharaoh woke up.
Afterwards, Pharaoh had another dream. This time it involved stalks of grain, yet the result was the same: 7 full and health grains were devoured by 7 thin stalks of grain. Pharaoh is troubled, and all Egypt with him. He calls all those in his service who might have an answer, yet no one can tell him what his dreams mean.
At this moment, the royal cupbearer finally remembers Joseph, and he tells Pharaoh about him and how they met in prison. Pharaoh immediately calls Joseph to him.
Now Joseph in the presence of Pharaoh is quick to say his gift of interpretation is not his own, but comes from God. Thus he can only know the truth if God has revealed that truth to him. So Pharaoh tells Joseph his dreams, and Joseph provides the interpretation. Egypt is getting ready to have 7 years of prosperity in all the fields of the land. There will be food aplenty in this time. Then these 7 years will be followed by 7 other years of famine. Joseph, in this interpretation, advises storing up the extra grain in these next 7 years so that there will be plenty of food in the 7 years of famine to follow.
Pharaoh is so pleased that he not only goes along with Joseph's plan, he also sets Joseph at the head to enact it. He gives Joseph so much authority over the land of Egypt that only Pharaoh himself outranks Joseph. Joseph then, at just 30 years of age, prepares Egypt, in its time of plenty, for the famine that is coming ahead.
The famine doesn't just impact Egypt, though. The famine spreads to the other lands as well. Joseph sells the stored grain to those who come to him, making Egypt more prosperous than it was before.
One of the lands impacted by the famine is Joseph's own home. Israel, once again referred to by his old name Jacob, on hearing of Egypt's storerooms, sends his sons to see if they can get some of this grain. That is, he sent all his sons except Benjamin, the last son of his wife Rachel, whom he loved. After Joseph's apparent demise, he does not want to lose his other favoured son.
When Israel's sons make it to Egypt, they have to go before the second-in-command first. Thus Joseph sees his brothers again. While he recognizes them, he is so changed by his time in Egypt that they do not recognize him. Joseph decides to treat his brothers as he would any stranger.
Joseph begins by asking his brothers who they are and where they have come from. They all bowed down very low, out of respect for his position and out of desire to receive the food he could offer them. Joseph then remembers his own past dream, and realizes this vision has now come to pass.
Joseph, understandably, is conflicted on seeing his brothers. He is, also understandably, not happy that they once sold him into slavery, even if he is now the second-in-command of Egypt. His first reaction is to claim that they are spies. Scared for their lives, the brothers reveal the truth: they are not spies but merely the sons of one man. They were once 12 brothers, the youngest remaining with their father and the other, in their words, being "no more".
Joseph claims he does not believe them and says that they must leave one of their brothers in Egypt while the rest go back to bring their youngest brother back with them in order that they will be believed.
While the Egyptians speak Egyptian, Joseph's family speaks Hebrew. Not realizing Joseph will understand them, they confer with each other in their own language. They say to one another that this is their penance for selling Joseph into slavery. Reuben then chastises them, saying he told them this would happen, though they did not listen. Surely Reuben's anger at what his brothers did to Joseph all those years ago is finally coming out. Joseph, on hearing this, experiences a lot of emotions, and turns to the side so he can cry without anyone seeing him.
Joseph then chooses Simeon out of his brothers, and ties him up as a hostage. However, he sends his brothers back with grain, and with the money they had bought to buy it in the first place. He also gives them supplies for their journey home. Again, Joseph is very conflicted on seeing his brothers, as we will continue to see in his actions.
On their way back, one of the brothers looks in their packs, and notices the money has been returned. There is a great fear that they will be viewed as thieves on their return to Egypt. The brothers even wonder what God is doing here.
When they return, the brothers tell their father all that has transpired, how Simeon has been kept captive and how they have been tasked with bringing Benjamin back to Egypt with them. Their father also sees the money still in their sacks and despairs. He fears that in losing Joseph, and now Simeon, he will lose Benjamin too. Reuben, however, makes an oath to bring back everyone alive. Israel then proposes that they bring extra money with them as well as some other presents. His hope is that this will appease the Egyptians.
When the brothers return to Egypt, Joseph, on seeing Benjamin, declares a feast for his guests. Yet his brothers are still fearful. They want to come clean in case the Egyptians have noticed they walked away with their payment. They tell Joseph what happened and that they brought the money back to make things right. Joseph lies and tells them he received their payment before. He claims it must be their God who added this money to their sacks.
Joseph then leads his brothers into a feast, and asks after their father Israel. Yet speaking with his brothers once again brings out such emotion in Joseph, so he goes away on his own to cry.
Once again the brothers get ready to leave and once again Joseph pulls a trick on them. He once again has his servants return their money to their sacks, but he also has them place his own precious cup in Benjamin's sack. As the brothers get ready to leave, Joseph storms out and demands to know why they have stolen his cup. The brothers claim this cannot be the case, and say they will give over any who has his precious cup. They then find it in Benjamin's bag.
The brothers are beside themselves, knowing what losing Benjamin will do to their father. Judah pleads with Joseph, asking that he be taken instead in order to spare their father. At this, Joseph can no longer keep his emotions in. He sends everyone else away and crying great tears reveals himself to his brothers, who are shocked.
Then Joseph forgives his brothers telling them not to fear any longer. Through they did wrong, he declares to his brothers that God used their action to help save lives by preparing for the famine. They all come together, crying and hugging, and Joseph asks that they bring their father down too. They return and tell their father that Joseph is, in fact, alive and thriving in Egypt. Israel returns with them, and Pharaoh, being ecstatic, provides for all of Joseph's family.