The Story of Joseph of Egypt
Script by Peggy Belvin Gordon
Narrator: Jacob, the son of Isaac, had twelve sons. He loved all of them, but he loved Joseph the most because he was the son of his old age. Jacob made Joseph a “coat of many colors,” and Joseph’s brothers became jealous of Joseph. They were so jealous that they could not even talk nicely to Joseph. To make matters worse, Joseph had a dream and shared that dream with his brothers.
Joseph: Hey, all of you brothers of mine, I had a dream that I need to tell you about. I dreamed that we were all harvesting wheat, and all of the sudden, the bundle of sheaves that I had bound stood up by itself, and all of the sheaves that you bound bowed down to MY sheaves.
Brothers: You think YOU are going to rule over US? We don’t think so! We REALLY don’t like you now!
Narrator: A little time passes…
Joseph: Uh, hey Bros! Guess what? I had another dream. In this one, the sun and the moon and the ELEVEN stars bowed down to me.
Jacob: Joseph, do you mean that your mother and I and your brothers are going to bow down to the earth to you? Hmmm…..I’ll have to think about this.
Narrator: Joseph’s eleven brothers continued to hate Joseph. They left home to tend their flocks in a place called Shechem.
Jacob: Joseph, your brothers are in Shechem. I want you to go see if they are okay and if our flocks are okay. (After all, we don’t have cells phones or e-mail!)
Joseph: Well, I’m in Shechem, but I can’t find my brothers. I’ll ask that man if he’s seen them.
Man: I heard your brothers say that they are going to Dothan.
Narrator: So Joseph goes to Dothan, and his brothers see him approaching in the distance.
Brother #1: Well, would you look at that! Here comes the “dreamer!”
[All the brothers laugh]
Brother #2: I have an idea! Let’s kill Joseph and tell everyone that a wild beast did it.
Brother#3: Yea, THEN we’ll see what happens to his DREAMS!
Brother Rueben: Wait a minute. We can’t just kill our baby brother! How about we just throw him in a pit that’s in the wilderness over there? It doesn’t have any water in it, so he won’t last long. That way there is no blood on our hands, and no one will know where he is, so they can’t help him get back home to Father.
All brothers: Grumble, grumble. Murmur, Murmur. OK!
Brother #4: Here he comes! Grab him! Get that ridiculous coat off of him, too!
Narrator: So the brothers threw Joseph into the pit and then sat down to eat their dinner.
Brother #1: Look! There’s a caravan of Ishmaelites on its way to Egypt to sell spices. I have an idea! If we just leave Joseph in the pit, we won’t get any money. Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. After all, he IS our brother.
Narrator: Unfortunately for the brothers, while they were plotting their evil deeds, another group of men found Joseph in the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt. When Joseph’s brothers discovered that he was gone, they took Joseph’s coat and poured animal blood on it. They then took it to their father.
Jacob: Oh no! Joseph has been eaten by an evil beast!
Narrator: Jacob’s heart was broken. He mourned Joseph many, many days.
Brothers: [Comfort Jacob]
Jacob: I cannot be comforted. I will go to my grave mourning Joseph’s death.
Narrator: The Lord blessed Joseph greatly while he lived in Egypt. He became a favorite of Potiphar, who was the captain of the king’s guard. Joseph got to interpret the king’s dreams which were a warning that there would be seven years of famine after seven years of plenty. Joseph proposed a grain storage system that would save the Egyptians from starving during the famine. Many years had passed since Joseph had been sold in Egypt. Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn because they, too, were having a drought. Joseph was the governor over all of Egypt by this time. When the brothers arrived, they bowed down before Joseph (thus fulfilling the dreams that Joseph had). Joseph recognized his brothers, but does not let them know who he is. Joseph is in his 30s, and he was 17 when he was sold.
[Brothers bow down with your faces on the floor].
Joseph: You are spies. You want to see how bare Egypt is.
Brother #1: No, we are here to buy food. We are the sons of a man in Canaan. There are twelve of us brothers, but the youngest is in Canaan with our father, and one is “not.”
Joseph: You are going to have to prove that you are not spies. I will let just one of you go home and bring your youngest brother back. All of you will be cast in prison for now. We’ll just see if you’re telling the truth.
Narrator: After three days, Joseph told the brothers that all but one of them could go home with corn for their families, but if they didn’t bring their youngest brother back with them, they would be killed.
Brother #1: I know why we’re in this pickle! We are guilty of getting rid of Joseph even though he begged us not to throw him into the pit. That’s why we’re being punished now.
Brother Rueben: I told you not to cast him into the pit, but, NO, you wouldn’t listen to me. Now we’re paying for it, and it’s all your fault!
Narrator: Now Joseph had been talking to the brothers through an interpreter so they didn’t know that he could understand them. Joseph was so sad about being separated from his family for all those years and so happy to see them again, that he had to leave the room and weep. Finally, he went back into them and said:
Joseph: I am keeping this brother--Simeon. I’m going to tie him up.
Narrator: Joseph had his servants fill the brothers’ sacks with corn, put the money they had brought back in their sacks, and give them food for their journey. Somewhere along the way, they discovered their money in the sacks. They became afraid that Joseph would find out and think that they had stolen it. They thought it was God punishing them again. When they got home, they told their father everything that had happened and that Joseph expected them to take Benjamin back to Egypt with them, or they would all be killed. Jacob refused at first to let Benjamin go, but finally agreed.
The brothers took double the money with them to Egypt. When they got there, Joseph saw Benjamin with them. He told his servants to prepare a meal for them.
Brother #1: I’m think we need to tell someone about the money we found in our packs. I’m afraid that the governor will throw us into prison again. Let’s tell the steward.
Narrator: The steward told the brothers not to worry about it. He gave them water to clean themselves and fed their donkeys. They went in to lunch with Joseph and bowed down before him.
Joseph: How are you all? Is your father, the old man you told me about, still alive?
Brothers: Yes, he is.
Narrator: Joseph looked up and saw his brother, Benjamin.
Joseph: Is this your younger brother whom you told me about? God be gracious unto thee, my son.
Narrator: Joseph had to leave the room quickly because he was going to cry for joy. After he finished crying, he went back in and ate with his brothers. He gave Benjamin five times the amount of food everyone else got. Later on, the brothers started home with more corn. Joseph wanted them to come back, so he had a servant put his own silver cup in Benjamin’s pack. When the cup was discovered, the brothers went back to Egypt and explained what had happened to a servant. One of the brothers named Judah explained that they did not take the cup, and if Benjamin was going to get in trouble because it was in his pack, Judah would take the punishment for Benjamin because it would kill their father if they didn’t bring Benjamin home.
Read Genesis 45:1—28.
Bear testimony about the power of forgiveness, especially with our own families.