The Lord Prepares the Way through Joseph

Psalms 105:16-25

He called down famine on the land, broke off all their food supply,

but sent a man ahead of them -Yosef, who was sold as a slave.

They shackled his feet with chains, and they bound him in irons;

until the time when his word proved true, God's utterance kept testing him.

The king sent and had him released, the ruler of peoples set him free;

he made him lord of his household, in charge of all he owned,

correcting his officers as he saw fit and teaching his counselors wisdom.

Then Isra'el too came into Egypt, Ya'akov lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

There God made his people very fruitful, made them too numerous for their foes,

whose hearts he turned to hate his people, and treat his servants unfairly.