Genesis 37:1–36

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.