Joseph was a young man. He was 17 years old. He was taking care of the flocks with some of his brothers. They were the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought their father a bad report about them.

³Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. Joseph had been born to him when he was old. Israel made him a beautiful robe.

⁴Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. So they hated Joseph. They couldn’t even speak one kind word to him.

⁵Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had. ⁷We were tying up bundles of grain out in the field. Suddenly my bundle rose and stood up straight. Your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it.”

⁸His brothers said to him, “Do you plan to be king over us? Will you really rule over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream. They didn’t like what he had said.

⁹Then Joseph had another dream. He told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said. “I had another dream. This time the sun and moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me.”

¹⁰He told his father as well as his brothers. Then his father objected. He said, “What about this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers really do that? Will we really come and bow down to the ground in front of you?”

¹¹His brothers were jealous of him. But his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

¹²Joseph’s brothers had gone to take care of their father’s flocks near Shechem. ¹³Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are taking care of the flocks near Shechem. Come. I’m going to send you to them.”

“All right,” Joseph replied.

¹⁴So Israel said to him, “Go to your brothers. See how they are doing. Also see how the flocks are doing. Then come back and tell me.” So he sent him away from the Hebron Valley.

Joseph arrived at Shechem. ¹⁵A man found him wandering around in the fields. He asked Joseph, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their flocks?”

¹⁷“They’ve moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ”

So Joseph went to look for his brothers. He found them near Dothan. ¹⁸But they saw him a long way off. Before he reached them, they made plans to kill him.

¹⁹“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another. ²⁰“Come. Let’s kill him. Let’s throw him into one of these empty wells. Let’s say that a wild animal ate him up. Then we’ll see whether his dreams will come true.”

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