Genesis 37
1 And Jacob lived in the land where his father sojourned, in the land of Chanaan.
Jacob continued to live in the Canaan region where his father had lived previously.
2 And these are the generations of Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old, feeding the sheep of his father with his brethren, being young; with the sons of Balla, and with the sons of Zelpha, the wives of his father; and Joseph brought to Israel their father their evil reproach.
(This is/I will now tell you) what happened to Jacob’s family. When his son Joseph was 17 years old, he was taking care of the flocks of sheep and goats with some of his older brothers. They were sons of his father’s (concubines/female slaves that he had taken to be his secondary wives). Joseph sometimes told his father about bad things that his brothers were doing.
3 And Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was to him the son of old age; and he made for him a coat of many colors.
Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other children, because Joseph had been born when Jacob was an old man. Jacob made for Joseph a long pretty robe that had long sleeves.
4 And his brethren having seen that his father loved him more than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak anything peaceful to him.
When Joseph’s older brothers realized that their father loved him more than he loved any of them, they hated him. They never spoke kindly to him.
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and reported it to his brethren.
One night Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about the dream.
6 And he said to them, Hear this dream which I have dreamed.
He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had!
7 I thought you were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, and my sheaf stood up and was erected, and your sheaves turned round, and did obeisance to my sheaf.
In the dream, we were tying up bundles of wheat in the field. Suddenly my bundle stood up straight, and surprisingly, your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it!”
8 And his brethren said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us, or shall you indeed be lord over us? And they hated him still more for his dreams and for his words.
His brothers said to him, “Do you think that some day you will rule over us? Are you [saying that some day] you are going to be our king?” [RHQ] They hated him even more than before because of what he had told them about his dream.
9 And he dreamed another dream, and related it to his father, and to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream: as it were the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars did me reverence.
Later he had another dream, and again he told his older brothers about it. He said, “Listen to this! I had another dream. In this dream, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me!”
10 And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream which you have dreamed? shall indeed both I and your mother and your brethren come and bow before you to the earth?
He also told his father about it. His father rebuked him, saying “What are you suggesting by that dream [RHQ]? Do you think it means that your mother and I and your older brothers will some day bow down to the ground in front of you?” [RHQ]
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Joseph’s older brothers were furious/angry with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream meant.
12 And his brethren went to feed the sheep of their father to Sychem.
One day Joseph’s older brothers went to take care of their father’s sheep and goats that were eating grass near Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, Do not your brethren feed their flock in Sychem? Come, I will send you to them; and he said to him, Behold, I [am here].
Some time later, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are taking care of the sheep and goats near Shechem [RHQ]. I am going to send you there to see them.” Joseph replied, “Okay.”
14 And Israel said to him, Go and see if your brethren and the sheep are well, and bring me word; and he sent him out of the valley of Chebron, and he came to Sychem.
Jacob said, “Go and see if they are doing okay, and if the flocks are doing okay. Then come back and give me a report.” So Jacob sent Joseph from [the valley where they were living], the valley where Hebron is located, [to go north] to find his brothers. When Joseph arrived near Shechem [city],
15 And a man found him wandering in the field; and the man asked him, saying, What seek you?
while he was wandering around in the fields looking/searching for his brothers, a man saw him and asked him, “Whom are you looking/searching for?”
16 And he said, I am seeking my brethren; tell me where they feed [their flocks].
Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?”
17 And the man said to him, They have departed hence, for I heard them saying, Let us go to Dothaim; and Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothaim.
The man replied, “They are not here any more. I heard one of them saying, ‘Let’s take the sheep and goats and go to Dothan [town].’” So Joseph left there and went north, and found his older brothers near Dothan.
18 And they spied him from a distance before he drew near to them, and they wickedly took counsel to kill him.
But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him.
19 And each said to his brother, Behold, that dreamer comes.
They said to each other [things like], “Here comes that dreamer!”
20 Now then come, let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits; and we will say, An evil wild beast has devoured him; and we shall see what his dreams will be.
and “Hey, let’s kill him, and then throw his body into one of the pits/cisterns. Then we will tell people that a ferocious/wild animal attacked and killed him and ate him. And then we will (find out whether his dreams come true/make sure that his dreams do not come true)!”
21 And Ruben having heard it, rescued him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him.
Reuben heard what they were saying, so he tried to persuade them not to kill [MTY] Joseph. He said, “No, we should not kill him.
22 And Ruben said to them, Shed not blood; cast him into one of these pits in the wilderness, but do not lay [your] hands upon him; that he might rescue him out of their hands, and restore him to his father.
Do not even shed his blood! We can throw him into this pit/cistern in the desert, but we should not harm him [MTY].” He said that, and then left them, planning to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph came to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his many-coloured coat that was upon him.
So when Joseph arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves.
24 And they took him and cast him into the pit; and the pit was empty, it had not water.
Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat bread; and having lifted up their eyes they saw, and behold, Ismaelitish travellers came from Galaad, and their camels were heavily loaded with spices, and resin, and myrrh; and they went to bring them to Egypt.
After they sat down to eat some food, they looked up and saw a (caravan/group [of traders]), descendants of Ishmael, coming from the Gilead area. Their camels were loaded with bags of spices and nice-smelling resins. They were going down to Egypt to sell those things there.
26 And Judas said to his brethren, What profit is it if we kill our brother, and conceal his blood?
Judah said to his [older and younger] brothers, “If we kill our younger brother and hide his body, (what will we gain?/we will not gain anything!) [RHQ]
27 Come, let us sell him to these Ismaelites, but let not our hands be upon him, because he is our brother and our flesh; and his brethren listened.
So, instead of harming him, let’s sell him to these men who are descendants of Ishmael. Don’t forget, he is our own younger brother!” So they all agreed to do that.
28 And the men, the merchants of Madian, went by, and they drew and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ismaelites for twenty pieces of gold; and they brought Joseph down into Egypt.
When those traders from the Midian area came near, Joseph’s brothers pulled him up out of the pit/cistern. Then they sold him to the men from Midian for 20 pieces of silver. The traders then took Joseph to Egypt.
29 And Ruben returned to the pit, and sees not Joseph in the pit; and he tore his garments.
When Reuben returned to the pit/cistern, he saw that his younger brother was not there. He was so grieved that he tore his clothes.
30 And he returned to his brethren and said, The boy is not; and I, whither am I yet to go?
He went back to his [younger] brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]
31 And having taken the coat of Joseph, they killed a kid of the goats, and stained the coat with the blood.
[Joseph’s brothers did not dare to tell their father what they had done. So, they decided to invent a story about what had happened]. They got Joseph’s robe. Then they killed a goat and dipped the robe in the goat’s blood.
32 And they sent the coat of many colors; and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found; know if it be your son's coat or no. And he recognized it, and said, It is my son's coat, an evil wild beast has devoured him; a wild beast has carried off Joseph.
They took that pretty robe back to their father and said, “We found this robe! Look at it. Is it your son’s robe?”
He recognized it, and he said, “Yes, it is my son’s robe! Some ferocious/wild animal must have attacked and killed him! I am sure that the animal has torn Joseph to pieces!”
34 And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob was so grieved that he tore his clothes. He put on (sackcloth/clothes that people wear when they are mourning for someone who has died). He mourned/cried for his son for many days.
35 And all his sons and his daughters gathered themselves together, and came to comfort him; but he would not be comforted, saying, I will go down to my son mourning to Hades; and his father wept for him. (Sheol h7585)
All of his children came to try to comfort him, but he did not pay attention to what they said. He said, “No, I will still be mourning/crying when I die and go to be with my son.” So Joseph’s father continued to cry because of what had happened to his son. (Sheol h7585)
36 And the Madianites sold Joseph into Egypt; to Petephres, the eunuch of Pharao, captain of the guard.
In the meantime, the men/traders from Midian took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was one of the king’s officials. He was the captain of the soldiers who protected the king.
