Genesis 37
1 And Jacob dwells in the land of his father’s sojournings—in the land of Canaan.
Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.
2 These [are] the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, has been enjoying himself with his brothers among the flock (and he [is] a youth), with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and Joseph brings in an account of their evil to their father.
This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.
3 And Israel has loved Joseph more than any of his sons, for he [is] a son of his old age, and has made for him a long coat;
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic of many colours.
4 and his brothers see that their father has loved him more than any of his brothers, and they hate him, and have not been able to speak [to] him peaceably.
His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
5 And Joseph dreams a dream, and declares to his brothers, and they add still more to hate him.
Joseph dreamt a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
6 And he says to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamt:
7 that, behold, we are binding bundles in the midst of the field, and behold, my bundle has arisen, and has also stood up, and behold, your bundles are all around, and they bow themselves to my bundle.”
for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 And his brothers say to him, “Do you certainly reign over us? Do you certainly rule over us?” And they add still more to hate him, for his dreams, and for his words.
His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
9 And he dreams yet another dream, and recounts it to his brothers, and says, “Behold, I have dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars, are bowing themselves to me.”
He dreamt yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamt yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
10 And he recounts to his father, and to his brothers; and his father pushes against him, and says to him, “What [is] this dream which you have dreamed? Do we certainly come, I, and your mother, and your brothers—to bow ourselves to you, to the earth?”
He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamt? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?”
11 And his brothers are zealous against him, and his father has watched the matter.
His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
12 And his brothers go to feed the flock of their father in Shechem,
His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 and Israel says to Joseph, “Are your brothers not feeding in Shechem? Come, and I send you to them”; and he says to him, “Here I [am]”;
Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”
14 and he says to him, “Now go see the peace of your brothers, and the peace of the flock, and bring me back word”; and he sends him from the Valley of Hebron, and he comes to Shechem.
He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a man finds him, and behold, he is wandering in the field, and the man asks him, saying, “What do you seek?”
A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 And he says, “I am seeking my brothers, please declare to me where they are feeding.”
He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”
17 And the man says, “They have journeyed from this, for I have heard some saying, Let us go to Dothan,” and Joseph goes after his brothers, and finds them in Dothan.
The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
18 And they see him from afar, even before he draws near to them, and they conspire against him to put him to death.
They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19 And they say to one another, “Behold, this man of the dreams comes;
They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes.
20 and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast has devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.”
Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”
21 And Reuben hears, and delivers him out of their hand, and says, “Let us not strike the life”;
Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.”
22 and Reuben says to them, “Shed no blood; cast him into this pit which [is] in the wilderness, and do not put forth a hand on him,” in order to deliver him out of their hand, to bring him back to his father.
Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
23 And it comes to pass, when Joseph has come to his brothers, that they strip Joseph of his coat, the long coat which [is] on him,
When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him;
24 and take him and cast him into the pit, and the pit [is] empty, there is no water in it.
and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
25 And they sit down to eat bread, and they lift up their eyes, and look, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels carrying spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take [them] down to Egypt.
They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26 And Judah says to his brothers, “What gain when we slay our brother, and have concealed his blood?
Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Come, and we sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hands are not on him, for he [is] our brother—our flesh”; and his brothers listen.
Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him.
28 And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they bring Joseph into Egypt.
Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 And Reuben returns to the pit, and behold, Joseph is not in the pit, and he tears his garments,
Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30 and he returns to his brothers and says, “The boy is not, and I—to where am I going?”
He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?”
31 And they take the coat of Joseph, and slaughter a kid of the goats, and dip the coat in the blood,
They took Joseph’s tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood.
32 and send the long coat, and they bring [it] to their father, and say, “We have found this; please discern whether it [is] your son’s coat or not.”
They took the tunic of many colours, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s tunic or not.”
33 And he discerns it and says, “My son’s coat! An evil beast has devoured him; torn—Joseph is torn!”
He recognised it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.”
34 And Jacob tears his raiment, and puts sackcloth on his loins, and becomes a mourner for his son many days,
Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35 and all his sons and all his daughters rise to comfort him, and he refuses to comfort himself, and says, “For I go down to my son mourning, to Sheol,” and his father weeps for him. (Sheol h7585)
All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. (Sheol h7585)
36 And the Midianites have sold him to Egypt, to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, head of the executioners.
The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.
