Genesis 37
1 And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father 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, fed the flock with his brethren; and he was doing service with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them.
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 And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was son of his old age; and he made him a vest of many colours.
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 And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, and they hated him, and could not greet him with friendliness.
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 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and told [it] to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.
6 And he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream, which I have dreamt:
And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the fields, and lo, my sheaf rose up, and remained standing; and behold, your sheaves came round about 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 And his brethren said to him, Wilt thou indeed be a king over us? wilt thou indeed rule over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words.
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 dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamt another dream, and behold, 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 And he told [it] to his father and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream which thou hast dreamt? Shall we indeed come, I and thy mother and thy brethren, to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
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 And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying.
And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock at Shechem.
Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed [the flock] at Shechem? Come, that I may send thee to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
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 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see after the welfare of thy brethren, and after the welfare of the flock; and bring me word again. And he sent him out of the vale of Hebron; and he came towards 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 behold, he was wandering in the country; and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
16 And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed [their flocks].
And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
17 And the man said, They have removed from this; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them at 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 And when they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to put him to death.
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 one to another, Behold, there comes that dreamer!
Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20 And now come and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast has devoured him; and we will see what becomes 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 And Reuben heard [it], and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
22 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood: cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness; but lay no hand upon him — in order that he might deliver him out of their hand, to bring him to his father again.
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 And it came to pass when Joseph came to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his vest, the vest of many colours, which he had on;
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
24 and they took him and cast him into the pit; 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 And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead; and their camels bore tragacanth, and balsam, and ladanum — going to carry [it] 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 And Judah said to his brethren, What profit is it that we kill our brother and secrete 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 us sell him to the Ishmaelites; but let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened [to him].
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 And Midianitish men, merchants, passed by; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver-pieces; 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 pit, and behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he rent his garments,
Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
30 and returned to his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, where shall I go?
He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31 And they took Joseph's vest, and slaughtered a buck of the goats, and dipped the vest 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 vest of many colours and had it carried to their father, and said, This have we found: discern now whether it is thy son's vest 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 discerned it, and said, [It is] my son's vest! an evil beast has devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in 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 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, 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 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said, For I will go down to my son into Sheol mourning. Thus 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 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Potiphar, a chamberlain of Pharaoh, the captain of the life-guard.
And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
