Genesis 37
1 And Jacob lived in the land where his father sojourned, in the land of Chanaan.
Jacob settled down and lived in Canaan as his father had done.
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 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 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 colours.
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 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 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 And Joseph dreamt a dream, and reported it to his brethren.
Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
6 And he said to them, Hear this dream which I have dreamt.
“Listen to this dream I had,” he told them.
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.
“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 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.
“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 And he dreamt another dream, and related it to his father, and to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamt another dream: as it were the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars did me reverence.
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 And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream which you have dreamt? shall indeed both I and your mother and your brethren come and bow before you to the earth?
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 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Joseph's brothers became jealous of him, but his father puzzled over the meaning of the dream.
12 And his brethren went to feed the sheep of their father to Sychem.
One day Joseph's brothers took their father's flocks to graze 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].
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 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.
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 And a man found him wandering in the field; and the man asked him, saying, What seek you?
and arrived in Shechem. A man there found him wandering about in the field, so he asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 And he said, I am seeking my brethren; tell me where they feed [their flocks].
“I'm looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you please tell me where they're looking after the flock?”
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.
“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 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 coming way off in the distance, and before he got to them, they made plans to kill him.
19 And each said to his brother, Behold, that dreamer comes.
“Look, here comes the Lord of Dreams!” they said to each other.
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.
“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 And Ruben having heard it, rescued him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him.
When Reuben heard all this, he tried to save Joseph from them.
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.
“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 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, his brothers ripped off his robe—the colorful long-sleeved robe he was wearing—
24 And they took him and cast him into the pit; and the pit was empty, it had not water.
grabbed him and threw him into a pit. (The pit was empty—it didn't have any 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.
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 And Judas said to his brethren, What profit is it if we kill our brother, and conceal his blood?
“What's the point of killing our brother?” Judah asked his brothers. “Then we'd have to cover up his death!
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.
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 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.
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 And Ruben returned to the pit, and sees not Joseph in the pit; and he tore his garments.
When Reuben came back later and looked into the pit, Joseph was gone. He tore his clothes in grief.
30 And he returned to his brethren and said, The boy is not; and I, whither am I yet to go?
He returned to his brothers. “The boy's gone!” he moaned. “What am I going to do now?”
31 And having taken the coat of Joseph, they killed a kid of the goats, and stained the coat with the blood.
They slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in the blood.
32 And they sent the coat of many colours; 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 recognised it, and said, It is my son's coat, an evil wild beast has devoured him; a wild beast has carried off Joseph.
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.”
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 And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob tore his clothes in grief and dressed in sackcloth. He mourned the death of his son for a long time.
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 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 And the Madianites sold Joseph into Egypt; to Petephres, the eunuch of Pharao, captain of the guard.
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.
