Genesis 37–38

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37Now Jacob dwelt in the land ^awhere his father was a ¹stranger, in the land of Canaan. ²This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^ba bad report of them to his father.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^cthe son of his old age. Also he ^dmade him a tunic of many colors. ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^ehated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ^7fThere we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, ^gthe sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and ^hyour brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹And ⁱhis brothers envied him, but his father ^jkept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹²Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^kShechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^lHebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^mPlease tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ⁿDothan.

¹⁸Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^othey conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹Then they said to one another, “Look, this ²dreamer is coming! ^20pCome therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹But ^qReuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^rstripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^25sAnd they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^tIshmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^ubalm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^vconceal his blood? ²⁷Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^wlet not our hand be upon him, for he is ^xour brother and ^your flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸Then ^zMidianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^aand sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^btwenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^ctore his clothes. ³⁰And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^dis no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹So they took ^eJoseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³²Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^fwild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴Then Jacob ^gtore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^hmourned for his son many days. ³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters ⁱarose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^jI shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶Now ^kthe ³Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and ^avisited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ²And Judah ^bsaw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^cShua, and he married her and went in to her. ³So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^dEr. ⁴She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^eOnan. ⁵And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name ^fShelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

⁶Then Judah ^gtook a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was ^hTamar. ⁷But ⁱEr, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, ^jand the Lord killed him. ⁸And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^kyour brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” ⁹But Onan knew that the heir would not be ^lhis; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. ¹⁰And the thing which he did ¹displeased the Lord; therefore He killed ^mhim also.

¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ⁿ“Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt ^oin her father’s house.

¹²Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah ^pwas comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up ^qto Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and ^rsat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw ^sthat Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. ¹⁶Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷And he said, ^t“I will send a young goat from the flock.”

So she said, ^u“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”

¹⁸Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”

So she said, ^v“Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹So she arose and went away, and ^wlaid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. ²¹Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was ²openly by the roadside?”

And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”

²²So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”

²³Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

²⁴And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has ^xplayed the harlot; furthermore she is ³with child by harlotry.”

So Judah said, “Bring her out ^yand let her be burned!”

²⁵When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, ^z“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”

²⁶So Judah ^aacknowledged them and said, ^b“She has been more righteous than I, because ^cI did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he ^dnever knew her again.

²⁷Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called ^ePerez. ⁴³⁰Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called ^fZerah.