16 did not know her. So he turned aside to her and said to her, Let me come in unto thee. For he did not know that she was 17 his daughter in law. And she said, What wilt thou give me if

thou come in unto me? To which he replied, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give 18 me a pledge, till thou send it? And he said, What pledge shall

I give thee? And she said, Thy ring and bracelet and the staff in thy hand. So he gave them to her, and went in unto her, and 19 she conceived by him. Then she arose and went away, and

took off her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judas sent the kid of the goats by the hands of his shep

herd the Odollamite to receive from the woman the pledge. 21 But he not finding her asked the men of the place, Where is

the harlot that was at Ainan by the way side? And they said, 22 There was not a harlot there. Thereupon he returned to Ju

das and said, I have not found her. And the men of the place 23 said there was not a harlot there. Then Judas said, Let her

keep them. But perhaps we may be laughed at. I indeed sent 24 the kid. Thou however hast not found her. Now after three months it was told Judas saying, Thamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot, and lo! she is with child by her whoredom. Whereupon Judas said, Bring her out and let her be 25 burned. And when she was brought out she sent to her father in law saying, By the man to whom these belong I am with child. Moreover she said, Examine, whose is this ring and 26 this bracelet and this staff? And Judas acknowledged them

and said, Thamar hath more justice on her side than I, because I did not give her to my son Selom. And he proceeded 27 no more to have knowledge of her. And when the time of 28 her delivery came she had twins. And when she was in child

birth, one put forth its hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread about its hand, saying, This will be the first 29 born. But when it had drawn back its hand, his brother im

mediately came forth. Whereupon she said, What! Hath there been a breach made for thee? So she called his name 30 Phares. And after this his brother came forth, on whose hand was the scarlet thread. So she called his name Zara.

XXXIX.

Now when Joseph was brought to Egypt, Petephres the chamberlain of Pharao, the captain of the guards,

an Egyptian, bought him at the hands of the Ismaelites, who had 2 brought him thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, so that he was a fortunate man and was in the same house with his 3 master the Egyptian. And his master perceived that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord prospered in his hands what4 ever he did. So Joseph found favour in the sight of his master; and he was pleased with him and set him over his household and committed all that he had to Joseph's charge. 5 And after he had made him overseer of his household, and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake; and there was a blessing of the Lord on 6 all his substance, in his house and in his field. So he left to Joseph's management all that he had, and knew not any thing he had save the bread which he ate.

7

Now Joseph was a comely person and of a very beautiful countenance, and after these things his master's wife cast her 8 eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me; but he refused and said to his master's wife, Seeing my lord, on account of his confidence in me, knoweth not any thing in his house, and 9 hath committed to my charge all that he hath and there is none in the family superior to me, nor any thing withheld from me, except thyself because thou art his wife; how then can I do this 10 wicked act and commit sin in the presence of God. And when

she had spoken to Joseph day after day and he hearkened not 11 to her to lie down with her to have commerce with her, it

came to pass that one day when Joseph went into the house to 12 transact his business and none of the domestics were within, 13 she took hold of his mantle saying, Lie with me. But he leav

ing his mantle in her hands fled and went out. And when she saw that he had left his mantle in her hands and had fled and 14 was gone, she called those who were in the house and spoke to them saying, See! He hath brought in amongst us a Hebrew slave to insult us. He came to me saying, Lie with me. 15 But I cried with a loud voice. And when he heard that I

raised my voice and cried aloud he left his mantle with me, 16 fled and went out. And she kept the garment by her till his 17 master came home and spoke to him in like terms saying, The

Hebrew slave whom thou hast brought in amongst us came in to me to insult me and said to me, Let me lie with thee.

18 But when he heard that I raised my voice and cried aloud; 19 leaving his mantle with me he fled and went out. When his

master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke saying, In this manner did thy slave treat me, he was greatly incensed. 20 So Joseph's master took and cast him into prison-into the 21 place where the king's prisoners were confined. But in the

prison the Lord was with Joseph, and continued his kindness and gave him favour in the sight of the principal keeper of the 22 prison. And the principal keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's care the prison and all the prisoners who were in the prison. And whatever was done there, he was the person 23 who caused it to be done. The principal keeper took no cognizance of any thing himself; for all things were committed to Joseph's management, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord prospered in his hands whatever he did.

XL.

Now after these things it happened that the chief butler of the king of Egypt and the chief baker offended their lord the 2 king of Egypt. And Pharao was incensed against his two offi3 cers, against the chief butler and against the chief baker and

sent them under a guard to prison-to the place to which Jo4 seph had been sent. And the keeper of the prison committed 5 them to Joseph and he attended them. And when they had been there some days in prison, they both had a dream, in the same night. And the appearance of the dream both of the chief butler and the chief baker, who belonged to the king of Egypt 6 and were in prison, was similar. And in the morning when 7 Joseph went in to them he saw that they were troubled. Whereupon he asked the officers of Pharao who were confined with him at his master's, saying, Why are your countenances sad 8 to day? And they said to him, We have had a dream and there is none to interpret it. And Joseph said, Is not the inter9 pretation thereof from God? Therefore tell me. So the chief butler told Joseph his dream and said, In my sleep there was a 10 vine before me, and on the vine three branches and one was

flourishing and had produced clusters, and the grapes of one 11 cluster were ripe. And I had in my hand the cup of Pharao. So I took the bunch and squeezed it into the cup and gave the 12 cup into Pharao's hand. Thereupon Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it. The three branches are three days.

13 Three days hence Pharao will take cognizance of thy administration and restore thee to thy office of cup bearer, and thou shalt give Pharao's cup into his hand according to thy former dignity, 14 when thou wast butler. But think of me by thy own case,

when it shall be well with thee; and do me the favour to men15 tion me to Pharao and release me from this prison. For I have been stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and here I have done nothing, yet they have thrown me into this dungeon. 16 And when the chief baker saw that he interpreted well he said to Joseph, I also had a dream, I thought I was carrying on my head three baskets of cakes, and in the uppermost basket, 17 pastry of all the sorts which Pharao eateth. And the birds of the air devoured those in the uppermost basket on my head. 18 And Joseph answered and said to him, This is the interpre

tation thereof. The three baskets are three days. Three days 19 hence Pharao will take off thy head and hang thee on a gibbet 20 and the birds of the air will devour thy flesh. Accordingly it fell out, that the third day was Pharao's birth day, and he made an entertainment for all his servants and took cognizance of the administration of the butler, and the administration of 21 the baker in the midst of his servants. And he restored the butler to his office, and he gave the cup into Pharao's hand. But the chief baker he hanged as Joseph had interpreted to 22 them. Yet the chief butler made no mention of Joseph, but passed him over in oblivion. XLI. But it happened that at the end of two years Pharao had 2 a dream. He thought he was standing by the river; and lo! there came up out of the river seven cows of a beautiful figure 3 and very fat; and they fed on the sedge. And seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and lean; 4 and they fed near the other cows on the bank of the river; and the seven ill favoured and lean cows devoured the seven cows which were of a beautiful figure and full of flesh. And Pharao awoke.

5

Again he dreamed a second time; and lo! seven ears of 6 corn sprang upon one stalk, choice and good: and lo! seven 7 ears thin and blasted sprang up after them. And the seven thin

and blasted ears devoured the seven ears which were choice 8 and full. And Pharao awoke; and it was a dream. And in the

morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent for all the interpreters of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof, and told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharao. 9 Upon this the chief butler spoke to Pharao, saying, I this day 10 acknowledge my fault. Pharao was angry with his servants,

and ordered us to be confined in the house of the captain of 11 the guards-both me and the chief baker. And both I and he had a dream the same night, each had a dream regarding him12 self. And there was there with us a youth, a Hebrew servant

of the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpret13 ed to us. And it fell out as he interpreted to us-I was restor14 ed to my office; but he was hanged. Upon this Pharao sent

for Joseph, and they brought him out of the prison. And when they had shaved him and changed his raiment, he came to 15 Pharao. And Pharao said to Joseph, I have had a dream and there is none who can interpret it. But I have heard people say of thee, that upon hearing dreams thou canst interpret 16 them. In reply to which, Joseph said to Pharao, Without God 17 no answer of peace can be given to Pharao. Then Pharao

spoke to Joseph saying, In my sleep I thought I was standing 18 near the edge of the river; and there came up as it were out

of the river, seven cows of a beautiful figure, and very fat; and 19 they fed on the sedge. And lo! seven other cows came up

after them, out of the river, ugly and ill favoured and lean of flesh; such that I never saw worse in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the seven ill favoured and lean cows devoured the first se21 ven cows which were choice and good. But though they devoured them, they gave no sign of fulness. Their appearance was as ugly as before.

22

Then I awoke and again went to sleep, and in my sleep I again saw as if seven ears of corn sprang up, on one stalk, full 23 and good; and adjoining them seven other ears sprang up, 24 thin and blasted. And the seven thin and blasted ears devour

ed the seven ears which were full and good. Now I have told the interpreters; but there is not one who can interpret this to 25 me. Then Joseph said to Pharao, The dream of Pharao is one. 26 God hath shewn Pharao what he is about to do. The seven

beautiful cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are 27 seven years. The dream of Pharao is one. The seven lean