Genesis 37–50

CHAPTER 37

The Generations of Jacob

¹Now Jacob lived in ^athe land ¹where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.

²These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, when ^aseventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with ^bthe sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an ^cevil report about them to their father.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was ^athe son of his old age; and he made him a ^1bvaricolored tunic.

⁴And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they ^ahated him and could not speak to him in peace.

Joseph’s Dreams

⁵Then Joseph ^1ahad a dream, and he told it to his brothers; so they hated him even more.

⁶And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have ¹had:

⁷Indeed, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf rose up and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and ^abowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸Then his brothers said to him, “^aAre you really going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹Then he ¹had still another dream and recounted it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have ²had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

¹⁰And he recounted it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have ¹had? Shall I and your mother and ^ayour brothers really come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

^11aAnd his brothers were jealous of him, but his father ^bkept the saying in mind.

¹²Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.

¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in ^aShechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “¹I will go.”

¹⁴Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of ^aHebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “¹What are you seeking?”

¹⁶And he said, “I am seeking my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.”

¹⁷Then the man said, “They have journeyed from here; for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to ^aDothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹⁸And they saw him from a distance, and before he came close to them, they ^aplotted against him to put him to death.

¹⁹Then they said to one another, “¹Here comes this dreamer!

²⁰“So now, come and let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits; and ^awe will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹But ^aReuben heard this and delivered him out of their hands and said, “Let us not strike down his life.”

²²Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not put forth your hands against him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands to return him to his father.

²³Now it happened, when Joseph ¹reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his ²tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;

²⁴and they took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

²⁵And they sat down to eat ¹a meal. Then they lifted up their eyes and saw, and behold, a caravan of ^aIshmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^2baromatic gum and ^3cbalm and ⁴myrrh, going to bring them down to Egypt.

²⁶And Judah said to his brothers, “What gain is it that we kill our brother and ^acover up his blood?

²⁷“^aCome and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened.

²⁸Then some ^aMidianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit and ^bsold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for ¹twenty shekels of silver. Thus ^cthey brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹Then Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he ^atore his garments.

³⁰Then he returned to his brothers and said, “^aThe boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?”

³¹So ^athey took Joseph’s tunic and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;

³²and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please recognize it—whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

³³And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. ^aA wild beast has devoured him; ^bJoseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

³⁴So Jacob ^atore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will ^ago down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

³⁶Meanwhile, the ¹Midianites ^asold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

CHAPTER 38

Judah and Tamar

¹Now it happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain ^aAdullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^aShua; and he took her and went in to her.

³So she conceived and bore a son, and he named him ^aEr.

⁴Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she named him ^aOnan.

⁵And she bore still another son, and she named him ^aShelah; and it was at Chezib ¹that she bore him.

⁶Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

⁷But ^aEr, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so Yahweh put him to death.

⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “^aGo in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a seed for your brother.”

⁹And Onan knew that the ^aseed would not be his; and it happened that when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted it on the ground in order not to give seed to his brother.

¹⁰But what he did was displeasing in the sight of Yahweh; so He ^aput him to death also.

¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^aLive as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ¹thought, “I am afraid lest he also die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹²And ¹after a considerable time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Then Judah was comforted, and he went up to his sheepshearers at ^aTimnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³Then it was told to Tamar, “¹Behold, your father-in-law is going up to ^aTimnah to shear his sheep.”

¹⁴So she removed her widow’s garments from herself and ^acovered herself with a ¹veil and wrapped herself. And she sat at the entrance of ²Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and ^bshe had not been given to him as a wife.

¹⁵Then Judah saw her, and he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.

¹⁶So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here now, 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 me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷He said, therefore, “I will send you a ¹young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?”

¹⁸Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^aYour signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹Then she arose and went. And she removed her ¹veil from herself and put on her widow’s garments.

²⁰Then Judah sent the ¹young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.

²¹So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”

²²So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”

²³Then Judah said, “Let her ¹keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. Behold, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴Now it happened about three months later that it was told to Judah saying, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and ^alet her be burned!”

²⁵It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.” And she said, “^aPlease recognize this and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?”

²⁶And Judah recognized them and said, “^aShe is more righteous than I, inasmuch as ^bI did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not ¹know her again.

²⁷Now it happened at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^atwins in her womb.

²⁸And it happened, while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

²⁹And then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. So she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named ^1aPerez.

³⁰Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named ^1aZerah.

CHAPTER 39

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

¹Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ¹from the ^aIshmaelites, who had brought him down there.

^2aAnd Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a ¹successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

³Now his master ^asaw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh ^bcaused all that he did to succeed in his hand.

⁴So Joseph ^afound favor in his sight and ¹attended on him; and he appointed him overseer over his house, and ^ball that he owned he gave in his hand.

⁵Now it…