Joseph Sold Into Slavery by his Brothers

12 Now his brothers went to pasture the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 Then he said to him, “Go now, see ⌊if it goes well for your brothers and for the flock⌋,f then return word to me.” And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and behold, heg was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, “What do you seek?” 16 And he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing.” 17 And the man said, “They have moved on from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 And each said to his brothers, “Look, this master of dreams is coming. 20 Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become.” 21 And Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hand and said, “We must not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father. 23 And it happened that as Joseph came to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his robe, the robe with long sleeves,h that was upon him. 24 And they took him and threw him into the pit (the pit was empty; there was no water in it). 25 Then they sat down to eat some food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying aromatic gum and balm and spices ⌊on the way⌋i to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And theyj drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt. 29 Then Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ⌊is gone⌋!k Now I, ⌊what can I do⌋?”l 31 Then they took the robe of Joseph and slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 Then they sent the robe with long sleevesm and they brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it. Is it the robe of your son or not?” 33 And he recognized it and said, “The robe of my son! A wild animal has devoured him! Joseph is surely torn to pieces!” 34 And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters tried to console him, but he refused to be consoled. And he said, “No, I shall go down to my son, to Sheol, mourning.” And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, a commander of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38 And it happened that at that time Judah went down from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite there whose name was Shua. And he took her and went in to her. 3 And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again and bore a son, and he called his name Onan. 5 And once again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And hea was in Chezib when she bore him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be for him, so whenever he went in to the wife of his brother he would waste it on the groundb so as not to give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so he killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Stay a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up,” for ⌊he feared he would also die⌋c like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father. 12 ⌊And in the course of time⌋d the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was consoled he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah. 13 And it was told to Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she removed the clothes of her widowhood and covered herself with the veil and disguised herself. And she sat at the entrance to Eynayim, which is on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah was grown but she had not been given to him as a wife. 15 And Judah saw her and reckoned her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give to me that you may come in to me?” 17 And he said, “I will send a kid from the goats of the flock.” And she said, “Only if you give a pledge until you send it.” 18 And he said, “What is the pledge that I must give to you?” And she said, “your seal, your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” And he gave them to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him. 19 And she arose and left, and she removed her veil from herself and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid from the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the hand of the woman, but he could not find her. 21 So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is that cult prostitute that was at Eynayim by the roadside?” And they said, “There is no cult prostitute here.” 22 Then he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her. Morever, the men of the place said, ‘There is no cult prostitute here.’ ” 23 And Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be ⌊laughed at⌋.e Behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her.” 24 And ⌊about three months later⌋f it was told to Judah, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution.” And Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned.” 25 She was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, “By the man to whom these belong I have conceived.” And she said, “Now discerng to whom these belong: the seal and cord and the staff.” 26 Then Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not knowh her again. 27 And it happened that at the time she gave birth that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it happened that at her labor one child put out a hand. And the midwife took it and tied a crimson thread on his hand saying, “This one came out first.” 29 Then his hand drew back and, behold, his brother came out, and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” And she called his name Perez. 30 And afterward his brother who had the crimson thread on his hand came out. And his name was called Zerah.

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, commander of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 And his master observed that Yahweh was with him, and everything that was in his hand to do Yahweh made successful. 4 And Joseph found favor in his eyes and he served him. Then he appointed hima over his house and all that he owned he put into his hand. 5 And it happened that from the time he appointed him over his house and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph. And the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. 6 And he left all that he had in the hand of Joseph, and ⌊he did not worry about anything⌋b except the food that he ate. Now Joseph was ⌊well built and handsome⌋.c 7 And it happened that after these things his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master ⌊does not worry about⌋d what is in the house, and everything he owns he has put in my hand. 9 He has no greater authority in this house than me, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, since you are his wife. Now how could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And it happened that as she spoke to Joseph ⌊day after day⌋,e he did not heed her to lie beside her or to be with her. 11 ⌊But one particular day⌋f he came into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house were there in the house, 12 she seized him by his garment and said, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and he went outside. 13 And it happened that when she saw that he left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her house and said to them, “Look! Heg brought a Hebrew man to us to mock us! He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And when he heard me, that I raised my voice and called out, he left his garment beside me and fled, and he went outside.” 16 Then she put his garment beside her until his master came to his house. 17 Then she spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave that you brought to us came …