Genesis 37–50

Chapter 37

Joseph’s Dream

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

²These are the records of 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 a ^cbad 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.

⁴His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they ^ahated him and could not speak to him ¹on friendly terms.

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

⁶He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have ¹had;

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

⁸Then his brothers said to him, “^aAre you actually 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.

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

¹⁰He related 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 actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

^11aHis 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.

¹³Israel 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.

¹⁵A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “¹What are you looking for?”

¹⁶He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.”

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

The Plot against Joseph

¹⁸¹When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they ^aplotted against him to put him to death.

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

²⁰“Now then, come and let us kill him and throw 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 rescued him out of their hands and said, “Let us not ¹take his life.”

²²Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.

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

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

²⁵Then they sat down to eat ¹a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of ^aIshmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^2baromatic gum and ^3cbalm and ⁴myrrh, ⁵on their way to bring them down to Egypt.

²⁶Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to 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 to him.

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

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

³⁰He 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 ¹examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

³³Then he ¹examined 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

¹And it came about at that time, that Judah ¹departed from his brothers and ²visited a certain ^aAdullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²Judah 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 named him ^aOnan.

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

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

⁷But ^aEr, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life.

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 ¹offspring for your brother.”

⁹Onan knew that the ^1aoffspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he ²wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother.

¹⁰But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He ^atook his life also.

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

¹²Now ¹after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when ²the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at ^aTimnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

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

¹⁴So she ¹removed her widow’s garments and ^acovered herself with a ²veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of ³Enaim, 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.

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

¹⁶So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “¹Here 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?”

¹⁸He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^aYour seal 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 departed, and ¹removed her ²veil and put on her widow’s garments.

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

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

²³Then Judah said, “Let her ¹keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. ²After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, “¹Your 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 examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?”

²⁶Judah 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 ¹have relations with her again.

²⁷It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^atwins in her womb.

²⁸Moreover, it took place 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.”

²⁹But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then 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’s Success in Egypt

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

^2aThe Lord 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 the Lord was with him and how the Lord ^bcaused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

⁴So Joseph ^afound favor in his sight and ¹became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^ball that he owned he put in his ²charge.

⁵It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that…