Stories | Plays | Bible Stories
Activities | Books to Buy

Joseph
(Based on Genesis 39-50)

by Nancy I. Sanders




From the time Joseph was a boy, God had a good plan for his life. Joseph’s father, Jacob, loved the boy very much. Jacob made a wonderful coat of many colors and gave it to Joseph to wear.

Joseph’s brothers were jealous. One day they caught Joseph and threw him into a pit. “Let’s kill him!” they cried.

“No,” one brother said. “Let’s sell him as a slave to these men riding toward us on camels. They will take him far away to Egypt.”

Joseph lived as a slave in Egypt, but God had a good plan for him! One day Pharaoh dreamed two dreams. Joseph told Pharaoh his dreams were part of God’s plan.

Joseph said, “In your dreams, God is telling you to fill your barns with food. Soon there won’t be any rain. No food will grow for seven years! God wants you to be prepared.”

At this news, Pharaoh made Joseph the most important man in Egypt, next to him. Joseph worked very, very hard. He filled Pharaoh’s barns with food, just as God planned.

It didn’t rain for a long time. No crops grew in the fields. No food grew anywhere! But there was food in Pharaoh’s barns. People came to Joseph to buy the food.

One day, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food, too. Joseph recognized them even though they didn’t know who he was. In his heart, Joseph forgave his brothers for what they had done.

When they were introduced to Joseph, his brothers said, “We’re sorry for the bad things we did to you. Please forgive us.”

“I have already forgiven you,” Joseph said. “God brought me here to Egypt to save many people’s lives. God turned the bad things into good, just as He planned!”


I’m glad God takes bad things and turns them into something good. Today I pray, “Dear God, Thank you for planning good things for me. Amen.”

I know that God had a good plan for Joseph. The Bible tells me that God has a good plan for me, too! Here’s a verse that tells me all about God’s plans. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11