Genesis 37
1 And Jacob dwelt in the land in which his father was a stranger, 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, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought to his father their bad report.
(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 was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
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 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably 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 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
One night Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about the dream.
6 And he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had!
7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood around, and made obeisance 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 And his brethren 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.
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 dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance 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 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
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 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Joseph’s older brothers were furious/angry with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream meant.
12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in 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, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
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 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him from the vale 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 certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
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 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?”
17 And the man said, They have departed from here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, 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 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to slay him.
But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him.
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer is coming.
They said to each other [things like], “Here comes that dreamer!”
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall 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 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him from their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
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 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might deliver him from their hands, to bring him back 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 And it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
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 cast him into a pit: and 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 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going 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 And Judah said to his brethren, What profit is it if we slay 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 us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother our flesh. And his brethren were content.
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 Then there passed by Midianites merchants; and they drew and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into 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 pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; 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 And he returned to his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, where shall I go?
He went back to his [younger] brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]
31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat 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 coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it is thy son’s coat 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 knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in 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 And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, 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 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave to my son mourning. Thus 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 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and 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.
