Genesis 37
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.
Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, tended the flock with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report about them to their father.
These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he had been born to him in his old age. And he made a long ornamented robe for him.
Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him.
4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak a kind word to him.
And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.
6 He said to them, "Please listen to this dream I had:
And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7 And look, we were binding sheaves in the field, and look, my sheaf arose and also stood upright. And look, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf."
We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine.
8 Then his brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed rule over us?" So they hated him all the more for his dreams and for what he said.
And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever.
9 And he had another dream, and told it to his father and to his brothers, and said, "Look, I had yet another dream, and look, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."
Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me.
10 When he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you had? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come and bow down to the ground in front of you?"
And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?
11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the matter.
And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.
Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers pasturing the flock near Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I am ready."
And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 So he said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers and well with the flock, and report back to me." So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a man found him, and look, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
16 He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."
And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
17 The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan.
18 Now they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they plotted against him to kill him.
But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;
19 And they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming.
Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20 Come now, and let's kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we will say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we will see what will become of his dreams."
Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.
21 But Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let's not take his life."
But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
22 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 hands, to restore him to his father.
Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
23 It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his robe, the long ornamented robe that he was wearing.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
24 And they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the pit was empty. There was no water in it.)
And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And they looked up, and look, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
27 Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our flesh." And his brothers agreed.
Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.
28 So the Midianites merchants passed by, and they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the cistern, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt.
And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt.
29 And Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph wasn't in the cistern; and he tore his clothes.
Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone. Now, what am I to do?"
He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31 They took Joseph's robe and killed a male goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death,
32 And they sent the long ornamented robe and they brought it to their father, and said, "We found this. Please examine it to see whether it is your son's robe or not."
And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?
33 And he recognized it, and said, "It is my son's robe. A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces."
And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come to a cruel end.
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Indeed, I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning." And his father wept for him. (Sheol h7585)
And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him. (Sheol h7585)
36 Now the Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
