Now Joseph brought a bad report
About his brothers whom he caught
Behaving badly and it seems
He made things worse with vivid dreams
In which his brothers all bowed down
And honoured him who wore a crown
Joseph’s father on him doted
Devoted, coated and promoted
The older boys were with the herd
The dreamer went to bring back word
But Joseph fell into their hands
They stripped and sold him to a band
Of slavers who were heading down
To Egypt. And the spangled gown
They ripped and dipped in bloody gore
And with their lies to Jacob bore
And Jacob’s heart was rent with grief
His sons could bring him no relief
The dreamer’s night-mare life was hard
Sold to the captain of the guard
Now Judah could not bear the guilt
So left the clan, his life rebuilt
A Canaanite became his bride
She had three sons and then she died
Now Judah’s life was such a mess
Of death and shame and deep distress
Two wicked sons died for their sins
Their widow mothered Judah’s twins
Meanwhile Joseph was enslaved
To Potiphar whose wife behaved
Seductively so Joseph fled
When she invited him to bed
The Lord God caused her plan to fail
But Potiphar threw Joe in jail
Two royal pris’ners strangely dreamt
And Joseph told them what it meant
When Pharaoh’s dreams disturbed his mind
The butler knew where help to find
The dream boy from his cell was hauled
At Pharaoh’s side he was installed
He steered the country through the drought
Of Joseph’s skill there was no doubt
In Canaan once again no rain
On Israel’s tribe inflicted pain
The old man called his wayward clan
To go find food, that was his plan
There’s grain in Egypt, go and buy
And bring some back before we die
Ten brothers left but Benji stayed
At home with Dad who watched and prayed
When Joseph saw his brothers kneel
Before him as they struck a deal
His dreams came true, like déjà vu
To test them out a plan he drew
He played the hard man and replied
They must be foreign spies who lied
And Simeon he sent to jail
Bring Benji and I’ll grant him bail
When Jacob heard of Simi’s plight
He held to Benji very tight
Then Judah stepped into the light
And played the man to put things right
When Benji came to Joseph’s place
The dream boy wept then washed his face
And Simi was released, set free
And joined his brothers for high tea
Then Joseph put them to the test
With Benji under house arrest
Then up to Joseph Judah came
And volunteered to take the blame
Let Benji go or Dad will cry
His heart will break and then he’ll die
Then Joseph’s heart could not contain
The years of grief and bitter pain
And sending all his servants out
He raised his voice with mighty shout
I am Joseph, whom you sold!
Their faces fell, their hearts froze cold
Then Joseph wept and sobbed and cried
Does father know that I survived?
The brothers squirmed with guilt inside
The dreamer could their fate decide
But Joseph drew his brothers near
And lavished gifts on Benji dear
Bring father down, the drought’s not done
Yet several years its course will run
And on the road don’t fret or fight
Salvation is the Lord’s delight
So Israel came with all his clan
To Egypt which was God’s good plan
And there they lived and grew and raised
Their children and their cattle grazed
But after Joseph closed his eyes
A new king rose who specialised
In cruel and barbaric pain
In time the Lord would save again
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