Genesis 37
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.
Jacob continued to live in the Canaan region where his father had lived previously.
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.
(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 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.
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 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.
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 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
One night Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about the dream.
6 He said to them, "Please listen to this dream I had:
He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had!
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."
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 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.
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 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."
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 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?"
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 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the matter.
Joseph’s older brothers were furious/angry with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream meant.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.
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, "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."
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 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.
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, and look, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
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 He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."
Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?”
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.
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 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 still far away, and they decided to kill him.
19 And they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming.
They said to each other [things like], “Here comes that 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."
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 But Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let's not take his life."
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 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 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 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 arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves.
24 And they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the pit was empty. There was no water in it.)
Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was 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.
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 Then Judah said to his brothers, "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, 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.
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 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.
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 Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph wasn't in the cistern; and he tore his clothes.
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 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone. Now, what am I to do?"
He went back to his [younger] brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]
31 They took Joseph's robe and killed a male goat and dipped the robe in 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 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."
They took that pretty robe back to their father and said, “We found this robe! Look at it. Is it your son’s robe?”
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."
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 Then Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth around his waist, 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 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)
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 Now the Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the 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.
