Joseph
Jacob had 12 sons and Joseph was his favorite. Jacob
gave Joseph a very special coat to show how much he loved him. This
made Joseph's brothers jealous.
One day Jacob sent Joseph to the field to check on his brothers. They
were still angry about his beautiful coat, so they threw Joseph into an
empty well.
Then they dipped his special coat in goat's blood and took it to their
father, Jacob. He thought Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. His
sons did not tell him they had sold Joseph to some traders going to
Egypt.
When Joseph was in Egypt, the king (called Pharaoh) had two dreams. He
dreamed about seven fat cows and seven skinny cows that came up out of
the river. The skinny cows ate the fat cows, but they were no bigger
than before.
Then he dreamed about seven full heads of grain on one stalk and seven
thin, scrawny heads of grain. The thin heads ate the full heads. No one
could explain the king's dream, but God helped Joseph to understand the
meaning of the dreams.
Joseph told the king, "There will be seven years of good crops. Then
there will be seven years of bad crops and hunger." Joseph told Pharaoh
that he should choose a wise person to oversee the people and save food
for the years of famine, or bad years when there would be no rain.
Pharaoh chose the wisest man he knew. He gave the job to Joseph!