Genesis 37
1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojourning, in the land of Canaan.
Jacob settled down and lived in Canaan as his father had done.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers; and he was as a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil reports of them unto his father.
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 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors.
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 when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto 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 dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers: and they hated him yet the more.
Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed.
“Listen to this dream I had,” he told them.
7 And, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also remained standing upright; and, behold, your sheaves placed themselves round about, and made 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 brothers said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the 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 dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers; and he said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to 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 And he told it to his father, and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall we indeed come, I and thy mother, and thy brothers, to bow down ourselves to thee 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 brothers envied him; but his father noted the matter [in his mind].
Joseph's brothers became jealous of him, but his father puzzled over the meaning of the dream.
12 And his brothers went to feed their father's flocks in Shechem.
One day Joseph's brothers took their father's flocks to graze near Shechem.
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brothers feed [the flocks] in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
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 he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brothers, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him from the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
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 certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering astray in the field; and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
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 seek my brothers; tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding 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, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
“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 when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay 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 they said one to another, Behold, here comes this man of dreams.
“Look, here comes the Lord of Dreams!” they said to each other.
20 And now, come and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
“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 when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hand; and he said, Let us not put him to death.
When Reuben heard all this, he tried to save Joseph from them.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Do not shed blood; but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hand upon him; —in order that he might deliver him out of their hand, to bring him back again 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 was come unto his brothers, that they stript Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on 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; there was no water in it.
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 they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead; and their camels were bearing spicery, and balm, and lotus, going to carry it down 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 Judah said unto his brothers, What profit will it be if we slay 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, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let our hand not be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers hearkened to him.
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 when the Midianitish men, merchants, passed by, they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph 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 when Reuben returned unto the pit, and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes.
When Reuben came back later and looked into the pit, Joseph was gone. He tore his clothes in grief.
30 And he returned unto his brothers, and said, The child is not there; and I, whither shall I go?
He returned to his brothers. “The boy's gone!” he moaned. “What am I going to do now?”
31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;
They slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in the blood.
32 And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: acknowledge, we pray thee, whether it be thy son's coat or not.
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 And he recognized it, and said, it is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is surely torn in pieces.
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 rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon 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 all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I must go down unto my son, mourning, into the grave; thus 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 Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guards.
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.
