Genesis 37–50

¹And Jacob dwelleth in the land of his father’s sojournings—in the land of Canaan. ²These are births of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, hath been enjoying himself with his brethren among the flock, (and he is a youth,) with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and Joseph bringeth in an account of their evil unto their father. ³And Israel hath loved Joseph more than any of his sons, for he is a son of his old age, and hath made for him a long coat; ⁴and his brethren see that their father hath loved him more than any of his brethren, and they hate him, and have not been able to speak to him peaceably.

⁵And Joseph dreameth a dream, and declareth to his brethren, and they add still more to hate him. ⁶And he saith unto them, ‘Hear ye, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷that, lo, we are binding bundles in the midst of the field, and lo, my bundle hath arisen, and hath also stood up, and lo, your bundles are round about, and bow themselves to my bundle.’ ⁸And his brethren say to him, ‘Dost thou certainly reign over us? dost thou certainly rule over us?’ and they add still more to hate him, for his dreams, and for his words. ⁹And he dreameth yet another dream, and recounteth it to his brethren, and saith, ‘Lo, I have dreamed a dream again, and lo, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars, are bowing themselves to me.’ ¹⁰And he recounteth unto his father, and unto his brethren; and his father pusheth against him, and saith to him, ‘What is this dream which thou hast dreamt? do we certainly come—I, and thy mother, and thy brethren—to bow ourselves to thee, to the earth?’ ¹¹and his brethren are zealous against him, and his father hath watched the matter.

¹²And his brethren go to feed the flock of their father in Shechem, ¹³and Israel saith unto Joseph, ‘Are not thy brethren feeding in Shechem? come, and I send thee unto them;’ and he saith to him, ‘Here am I;’ ¹⁴and he saith to him, ‘Go, I pray thee, see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock, and bring me back word;’ and he sendeth him from the valley of Hebron, and he cometh to Shechem. ¹⁵And a man findeth him, and lo, he is wandering in the field, and the man asketh him, saying, ‘What seekest thou?’ ¹⁶and he saith, ‘My brethren I am seeking, declare to me, I pray thee, where they are feeding?’ ¹⁷And the man saith, ‘They have journeyed from this, for I have heard some saying, Let us go to Dothan,’ and Joseph goeth after his brethren, and findeth them in Dothan. ¹⁸And they see him from afar, even before he draweth near unto them, and they conspire against him to put him to death. ¹⁹And they say one unto another, ‘Lo, this man of the dreams cometh; ²⁰and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast hath devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.’ ²¹And Reuben heareth, and delivereth him out of their hand, and saith, ‘Let us not smite the life;’ ²²and Reuben saith unto them, ‘Shed no blood; cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and put not forth a hand upon him,’—in order to deliver him out of their hand, to bring him back unto his father.

²³And it cometh to pass, when Joseph hath come unto his brethren, that they strip Joseph of his coat, the long coat which is upon him, ²⁴and take him and cast him into the pit, and the pit is empty, there is no water in it. ²⁵And they sit down to eat bread, and they lift up their eyes, and look, and lo, a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to Egypt. ²⁶And Judah saith unto his brethren, ‘What gain when we slay our brother, and have concealed his blood? ²⁷Come, and we sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hands are not on him, for he is our brother—our flesh;’ and his brethren hearken. ²⁸And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silverlings, and they bring Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹And Reuben returneth unto the pit, and lo, Joseph is not in the pit, and he rendeth his garments, ³⁰and he returneth unto his brethren, and saith, ‘The lad is not, and I—whither am I going?’

³¹And they take the coat of Joseph, and slaughter a kid of the goats, and dip the coat in the blood, ³²and send the long coat, and they bring it in unto their father, and say, ‘This have we found; discern, we pray thee, whether it is thy son’s coat or not?’ ³³And he discerneth it, and saith, ‘My son’s coat! an evil beast hath devoured him; torn—torn is Joseph!’ ³⁴And Jacob rendeth his raiment, and putteth sackcloth on his loins, and becometh a mourner for his son many days, ³⁵and all his sons and all his daughters rise to comfort him, and he refuseth to comfort himself, and saith, ‘For—I go down mourning unto my son, to Sheol,’ and his father weepeth for him. ³⁶And the Medanites have sold him unto Egypt, to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, head of the executioners.

Chapter 38

¹And it cometh to pass, at that time, that Judah goeth down from his brethren, and turneth aside unto a man, an Adullamite, whose name is Hirah; ²and Judah seeth there the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, whose name is Shuah, and taketh her, and goeth in unto her. ³And she conceiveth, and beareth a son, and he calleth his name Er; ⁴and she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Onan; ⁵and she addeth again, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Shelah; and he was in Chezib in her bearing him. ⁶And Judah taketh a wife for Er, his first-born, and her name is Tamar; ⁷and Er, Judah’s first-born, is evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah doth put him to death. ⁸And Judah saith to Onan, ‘Go in unto the wife of thy brother, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother;’ ⁹and Onan knoweth that the seed is not reckoned his; and it hath come to pass, if he hath gone in unto his brother’s wife, that he hath destroyed it to the earth, so as not to give seed to his brother; ¹⁰and that which he hath done is evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and He putteth him also to death. ¹¹And Judah saith to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ‘Abide a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son groweth up;’ for he said, ‘Lest he die—even he—like his brethren;’ and Tamar goeth and dwelleth at her father’s house.

¹²And the days are multiplied, and the daughter of Shuah, Judah’s wife, dieth; and Judah is comforted, and goeth up unto his sheep-shearers, he and Hirah his friend the Adullamite, to Timnath. ¹³And it is declared to Tamar, saying, ‘Lo, thy husband’s father is going up to Timnath to shear his flock;’ ¹⁴and she turneth aside the garments of her widowhood from off her, and covereth herself with a vail, and wrappeth herself up, and sitteth in the opening of Enayim, which is by the way to Timnath, for she hath seen that Shelah hath grown up, and she hath not been given to him for a wife. ¹⁵And Judah seeth her, and reckoneth her for a harlot, for she hath covered her face, ¹⁶and he turneth aside unto her by the way, and saith, ‘Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee,’ (for he hath not known that she is his daughter-in-law); and she saith, ‘What dost thou give to me, that thou mayest come in unto me?’ ¹⁷and he saith, ‘I—I send a kid of the goats from the flock.’ And she saith, ‘Dost thou give a pledge till thou send it?’ ¹⁸and he saith, ‘What is the pledge that I give to thee?’ and she saith, ‘Thy seal, and thy ribbon, and thy staff which is in thy hand;’ and he giveth to her, and goeth in unto her, and she conceiveth to him; ¹⁹and she riseth, and goeth, and turneth aside her vail from off her, and putteth on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰And Judah sendeth the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman, and he hath not found her. ²¹And he asketh the men of her place, saying, ‘Where is the separated one—she in Enayim, by the way?’ and they say, ‘There hath not been in this place a separated one.’ ²²And he turneth back unto Judah, and saith, ‘I have not found her; and the men of the place also have said, There hath not been in this place a separated one,’ ²³and Judah saith, ‘Let her take to herself, lest we become despised; lo, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.’

²⁴And it cometh to pass about three months after, that it is declared to Judah, saying, ‘Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath committed fornication; and also, lo, she hath conceived by fornication:’ and Judah saith, ‘Bring her out—and she is burnt.’ ²⁵She is brought out, and she hath sent unto her husband’s father, saying, ‘To a man whose these are, I am pregnant;’ and she saith, ‘Discern, I pray thee, whose are these—the seal, and the ribbons, and the staff.’ ²⁶And Judah discerneth and saith, ‘She hath been more righteous than I, because that I did not give her to Shelah my son;’ and he hath not added to know her again. ²⁷And it cometh to pass in the time of her bearing, that lo, twins are in her womb; ²⁸and it cometh to pass in her bearing, that one giveth out a hand, and the midwife taketh and bindeth on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, ‘This hath come out first.’ ²⁹And it cometh to pass as he draweth back his hand, that lo, his brother hath come out, and she saith, ‘What! thou hast broken forth—on thee is the breach;’ and he calleth his name Pharez; ³⁰and afterwards hath his brother come out, on whose hand is the scarlet thread, and he calleth his name Zarah.

Chapter 39

¹And Joseph hath been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, head of the executioners, an Egyptian man, buyeth him out of the hands of the Ishmaelites who have brought him thither. ²And Jehovah is with Joseph, and he is a prosperous man, and he is in the house of his lord the Egyptian, ³and his lord seeth that Jehovah is with him, and all that he is doing Jehovah is causing to prosper in his hand, ⁴and Joseph findeth grace in his eyes and serveth him, and he appointeth him over his house, and all that he…