Genesis 37–50

37And Jacob dwelt in the land ^†wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. ^2*These are ^athe generations of Jacob. Joseph, being ^bseventeen 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 unto his father ^ctheir evil report. ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^dthe son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many ^||colours. ⁴And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. ⁵And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. ⁶And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷For, ^ebehold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and ^fmade obeisance to my sheaf. ⁸And 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. ⁹And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it 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. ¹⁰And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and ^gthy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? ¹¹And ^hhis brethren envied him; but his father ⁱobserved the saying.

¹²And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in ^kShechem. ¹³And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. ¹⁴And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, ^†see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of ^lHebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? ¹⁶And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. ¹⁷And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in ^mDothan. ¹⁸And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. ¹⁹And they said one to another, Behold, this ^†dreamer cometh. ²⁰Come 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. ²¹And ⁿReuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. ²²And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; ^othat he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. ²³And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many ^||colours that was on him; ²⁴And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. ²⁵And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of ^pIshmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing ^qspicery and ^rbalm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and ^sconceal his blood? ²⁷Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and ^tlet not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and ^uour flesh. And his brethren ^†were content. ²⁸Then there passed by ^wMidianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, ^xand sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty ^ypieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^zrent his clothes. ³⁰And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child ^ais not; and I, whither shall I go? ³¹And they took ^bJoseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; ³²And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: ^cknow now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. ³³And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an ^devil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. ³⁴And Jacob ^erent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters ^frose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For ^gI will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶And ^hthe Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an ^†officer of Pharaoh’s, and ^†||captain of the guard.

38And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and ^aturned in to a certain ^bAdullamite, whose name was Hirah. ²And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was ^cShuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. ³And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. ⁴And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name ^dOnan. ⁵And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at ^eChezib, when she bare him. ⁶And Judah ^ftook a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. ⁷And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; ^gand the Lord slew him. ⁸And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto ^hthy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. ⁹And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. ¹⁰And the thing which he did ^†displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also. ¹¹Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, ⁱRemain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt ^kin her father’s house. ¹²And ^†in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah ^lwas comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to ^mTimnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to ^mTimnath to shear his sheep. ¹⁴And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in ^†an open place, which is by the way to ^mTimnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. ¹⁶And he ⁿturned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? ¹⁷And he said, I will send thee ^†a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? ¹⁸And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, ^oThy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹And she arose, and went away, and laid by ^pher vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not. ²¹Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was ^||openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place. ²²And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. ²³And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we ^†be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. ²⁴And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and ^qlet her be burnt. ²⁵When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, ^rDiscern, I pray thee, whose are these, ^sthe signet, and bracelets, and staff. ²⁶And Judah ^racknowledged them, and said, ^tShe hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. ²⁷And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, ^utwins were in her womb. ²⁸And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a ^xscarlet thread, saying, This came out first. ²⁹And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, ^||How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called ^||Pharez. ³⁰And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called ^yZarah.

39And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and ^aPotiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the ^bIshmeelites, which had brought him down thither. ²And ^cthe Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord ^dmade all that he did to prosper in his hand. ⁴And Joseph ^efound grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. ⁵And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house ^ffor Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was…