Genesis 37
1 Habitavit autem Jacob in terra Chanaan, in qua pater suus peregrinatus est.
Jacob settled down and lived in Canaan as his father had done.
2 Et hæ sunt generationes ejus: Joseph cum sedecim esset annorum, pascebat gregem cum fratribus suis adhuc puer: et erat cum filiis Balæ et Zelphæ uxorum patris sui: accusavitque fratres suos apud patrem crimine pessimo.
This is the story of Jacob and his family. Joseph was seventeen, and helped look after the flock with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph told his father about some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
3 Israël autem diligebat Joseph super omnes filios suos, eo quod in senectute genuisset eum: fecitque ei tunicam polymitam.
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him when he was already old. He made a colorful robe with long sleeves for Joseph.
4 Videntes autem fratres ejus quod a patre plus cunctis filiis amaretur, oderant eum, nec poterant ei quidquam pacifice loqui.
When his brothers noticed that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and had nothing good to say about him.
5 Accidit quoque ut visum somnium referret fratribus suis: quæ causa majoris odii seminarium fuit.
Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
6 Dixitque ad eos: Audite somnium meum quod vidi:
“Listen to this dream I had,” he told them.
7 putabam nos ligare manipulos in agro: et quasi consurgere manipulum meum, et stare, vestrosque manipulos circumstantes adorare manipulum meum.
“We were tying up bundles of grain out in the fields when all of a sudden my bundle stood up, and your bundles came over and bowed down to it.”
8 Responderunt fratres ejus: Numquid rex noster eris? aut subjiciemur ditioni tuæ? Hæc ergo causa somniorum atque sermonum, invidiæ et odii fomitem ministravit.
“Do you really think you're going to be our king?” they asked. “Do you honestly believe you're going to rule over us?” They hated him even more because of his dream and how he described it.
9 Aliud quoque vidit somnium, quod narrans fratribus, ait: Vidi per somnium, quasi solem, et lunam, et stellas undecim adorare me.
Then he had another dream told his brothers about it. “Listen, I had another dream,” he explained. “The sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down before me.”
10 Quod cum patri suo, et fratribus retulisset, increpavit eum pater suus, et dixit: Quid sibi vult hoc somnium quod vidisti? num ego et mater tua, et fratres tui adorabimus te super terram?
He also told his father as well as his brothers, and his father told him off, saying, “What's this dream that you've had? Are we—I and your mother and brothers—really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?”
11 Invidebant ei igitur fratres sui: pater vero rem tacitus considerabat.
Joseph's brothers became jealous of him, but his father puzzled over the meaning of the dream.
12 Cumque fratres illius in pascendis gregibus patris morarentur in Sichem,
One day Joseph's brothers took their father's flocks to graze near Shechem.
13 dixit ad eum Israël: Fratres tui pascunt oves in Sichimis: veni, mittam te ad eos. Quo respondente,
Israel told Joseph, “Your brothers are looking after the sheep near Shechem. Get ready because I want you to go and see them.” “I'll do it,” Joseph replied.
14 Præsto sum, ait ei: Vade, et vide si cuncta prospera sint erga fratres tuos, et pecora: et renuntia mihi quid agatur. Missus de valle Hebron, venit in Sichem:
So he told him, “Off you go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and come back and let me know.” So he sent him off. Joseph set out from the Hebron Valley,
15 invenitque eum vir errantem in agro, et interrogavit quid quæreret.
and arrived in Shechem. A man there found him wandering about in the field, so he asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 At ille respondit: Fratres meos quæro: indica mihi ubi pascant greges.
“I'm looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you please tell me where they're looking after the flock?”
17 Dixitque ei vir: Recesserunt de loco isto: audivi autem eos dicentes: Eamus in Dothain. Perrexit ergo Joseph post fratres suos, et invenit eos in Dothain.
“They've already left,” the man replied. “I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers and caught up with them at Dothan.
18 Qui cum vidissent eum procul, antequam accederet ad eos, cogitaverunt illum occidere:
But they saw him coming way off in the distance, and before he got to them, they made plans to kill him.
19 et mutuo loquebantur: Ecce somniator venit:
“Look, here comes the Lord of Dreams!” they said to each other.
20 venite, occidamus eum, et mittamus in cisternam veterem: dicemusque: Fera pessima devoravit eum: et tunc apparebit quid illi prosint somnia sua.
“Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We'll say that some wild animal has eaten him. Then we'll see what happens to his dreams!”
21 Audiens autem hoc Ruben, nitebatur liberare eum de manibus eorum, et dicebat:
When Reuben heard all this, he tried to save Joseph from them.
22 Non interficiatis animam ejus, nec effundatis sanguinem: sed projicite eum in cisternam hanc, quæ est in solitudine, manusque vestras servate innoxias: hoc autem dicebat, volens eripere eum de manibus eorum, et reddere patri suo.
“Let's not attack and kill him,” he suggested. “Don't murder him, just throw him into this pit here in the desert. You don't need to be guilty of violence.” Reuben said this so that he could come back later and rescue Joseph from them and take him home to his father.
23 Confestim igitur ut pervenit ad fratres suos, nudaverunt eum tunica talari et polymita:
So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off his robe—the colorful long-sleeved robe he was wearing—
24 miseruntque eum in cisternam veterem, quæ non habebat aquam.
grabbed him and threw him into a pit. (The pit was empty—it didn't have any water in it.)
25 Et sedentes ut comederent panem, viderunt Ismaëlitas viatores venire de Galaad, et camelos eorum portantes aromata, et resinam, et stacten in Ægyptum.
They were just sitting down to have a meal when they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic spices, balm, and myrrh to take to Egypt.
26 Dixit ergo Judas fratribus suis: Quid nobis prodest si occiderimus fratrem nostrum, et celaverimus sanguinem ipsius?
“What's the point of killing our brother?” Judah asked his brothers. “Then we'd have to cover up his death!
27 melius est ut venundetur Ismaëlitis, et manus nostræ non polluantur: frater enim et caro nostra est. Acquieverunt fratres sermonibus illius.
Instead, why don't we sell him to these Ishmaelites? We don't have to kill him. After all he's our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 Et prætereuntibus Madianitis negotiatoribus, extrahentes eum de cisterna, vendiderunt eum Ismaëlitis, viginti argenteis: qui duxerunt eum in Ægyptum.
So when the Ishmaelites (who were traders from Midian) came by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites took him to Egypt.
29 Reversusque Ruben ad cisternam, non invenit puerum:
When Reuben came back later and looked into the pit, Joseph was gone. He tore his clothes in grief.
30 et scissis vestibus pergens ad fratres suos, ait: Puer non comparet, et ego quo ibo?
He returned to his brothers. “The boy's gone!” he moaned. “What am I going to do now?”
31 Tulerunt autem tunicam ejus, et in sanguine hædi, quem occiderant, tinxerunt:
They slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in the blood.
32 mittentes qui ferrent ad patrem, et dicerent: Hanc invenimus: vide utrum tunica filii tui sit, an non.
Then they sent the colorful robe to their father with the message, “We found this. Please examine it and see if it's your son's robe or not.”
33 Quam cum agnovisset pater, ait: Tunica filii mei est: fera pessima comedit eum, bestia devoravit Joseph.
His father recognized it right away and said, “This is my son's robe! Some wild animal must have eaten him. Poor Joseph has been ripped to pieces, no doubt about it!”
34 Scissisque vestibus, indutus est cilicio, lugens filium suum multo tempore.
Jacob tore his clothes in grief and dressed in sackcloth. He mourned the death of his son for a long time.
35 Congregatis autem cunctis liberis ejus ut lenirent dolorem patris, noluit consolationem accipere, sed ait: Descendam ad filium meum lugens in infernum. Et illo perseverante in fletu, (Sheol h7585)
All his sons and daughters tried to console him, but he rejected their attempts. “No,” he said, “I will go down into my grave mourning for my son.” So Joseph's father went on weeping for him. (Sheol h7585)
36 Madianitæ vendiderunt Joseph in Ægypto Putiphari eunucho Pharaonis, magistro militum.
In the meantime the Ishmaelites had arrived in Egypt and had sold Joseph to Potiphar. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh's officers, the captain of the guard.
