Chapter 37
1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan .
2 This is the history of the generations of Jacob . Joseph , being seventeen years old , was feeding the flock with his brothers . He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah , his father ’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father .
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children , because he was the son of his old age , and he made him a tunic of many colours .
4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him , and couldn’t speak peaceably to him .
5 Joseph dreamt a dream , and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more .
6 He said to them , " Please hear this dream which I have dreamt:
7 for behold , we were binding sheaves in the field , and behold , my sheaf arose and also stood upright ; and behold , your sheaves came around , and bowed down to my sheaf."
8 His brothers asked him , " Will you indeed reign over us ? Will you indeed have dominion over us ?" They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words .
9 He dreamt yet another dream , and told it to his brothers, and said, " Behold , I have dreamt yet another dream : and behold , the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me ."
10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him , and said to him , " What is this dream that you have dreamt? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you ?"
11 His brothers envied him , but his father kept this saying in mind.
12 His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem .
13 Israel said to Joseph , "Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem ? Come , and I will send you to them ." He said to him , " Here I am."
14 He said to him , " Go now , see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock ; and bring me word again ." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron , and he came to Shechem .
15 A certain man found him , and behold , he was wandering in the field . The man asked him , " What are you looking for ?"
16 He said, " I am looking for my brothers. Tell me , please , where they are feeding the flock."
17 The man said , " They have left here , for I heard them say, ‘ Let ’s go to Dothan .’" Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan .
18 They saw him afar off , and before he came near to them , they conspired against him to kill him .
19 They said to one another, " Behold , this dreamer comes.
20 Come now therefore , and let ’s kill him , and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘ An evil animal has devoured him .’ We will see what will become of his dreams ."
21 Reuben heard it , and delivered him out of their hand , and said , " Let ’s not take his life ."
22 Reuben said to them , " Shed no blood . Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness , but lay no hand on him "— that he might deliver him out of their hand , to restore him to his father.
23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic , the tunic of many colours that was on him ;
24 and they took him , and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty . There was no water in it .
25 They sat down to eat bread , and they lifted up their eyes and looked , and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead , with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh , going to carry it down to Egypt .
26 Judah said to his brothers, " What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood ?
27 Come , and let ’s sell him to the Ishmaelites , and not let our hand be on him ; for he is our brother, our flesh ." His brothers listened to him .
28 Midianites who were merchants passed by , and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver . The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt .
29 Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30 He returned to his brothers, and said, " The child is no more ; and I, where will I go ?"
31 They took Joseph ’s tunic , and killed a male goat , and dipped the tunic in the blood .
32 They took the tunic of many colours , and they brought it to their father , and said, " We have found this . Examine it , now , and see if it is your son ’s tunic or not ."
33 He recognised it , and said, " It is my son ’s tunic . An evil animal has devoured him . Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces ."
34 Jacob tore his clothes , and put sackcloth on his waist , and mourned for his son many days .
35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him , but he refused to be comforted . He said, " For I will go down to Sheol to my son , mourning ." His father wept for him .
36 The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar , an officer of Pharaoh ’s, the captain of the guard .